All the gear was packed up and ready to go early enough yesterday that I was free to spend the evening trying to remember all of the things that I am sure that I have forgotten. I went through my list again (twice) and made sure that everything was checked off. After shipping the bike I knew exactly how much it weighed and against my better judgement, I weighed all of my gear once it was packed up. This is how I absolutely knew this morning that even with 43lbs of bike and 35lbs of gear I absolutely needed another shirt and more socks. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and corralled me with a reminder that I didn't have any food on board yet and that is how weight adds up. The shirt and socks went back in the drawer and we headed for the airport. Now that additional 10lbs of gear that I tossed after the test ride (hammock, crazy creek chair, extra clothes, bike locks, duplicate knives) seems like a really good idea.
Fortunately, Yosemite hiking gear (boots, small pack, and more socks) are being mailed directly to Yosemite and won't have to be hauled on the bike.
The flight was uneventful with the exception of getting orange juice spilled in my lap by an overly apologetic flight attendant. As I mopped it up she passed me a few mini bottles of vodka and assured me that it would help with the mess. As it was 6:45 in the morning and I am pretty sure she wasn't suggesting it as a stain remover, I offered to trade them to her for a wet towel. Problem solved and now I don't have to worry about keeping my pants clean as long as possible.
After arriving, we took the bus to the train station and found our bikes waiting for us with no issues. We spent some time putting the bikes together from the minor dissambly needed for shipping and then unpacked and re-packed everything now that airplane consolidation was over.
Can I cram any more colors in there?
The next order of business was to head to the grocery store to stock up on food for the next two and a half days. We won't be passing any sizeable grocery opprtunities for a bit after today.
We mapped out a route to a grocery store a bit less than 20 miles from the train station. It was on the way to our destination for tonight and would minimize how far we have to carry it. The bug in the plan is that after getting up so early and not having breakfast, the idea of a twenty mile ride before lunch was not enticing. We turned off and took a brief tour of the gaslight district in San Diego and hit a Subway for a veggie sub.
Turns out this is the nightclub district and not very historic
We had a few minor mechanical issues which slowed us down a bit in the first several miles. After banging around a little bit on the train, my front disc brake was rubbing quite a bit and besides slowing me down quite a bit it was making quite a bit of noise (annoying). It took two quick stops and one longer stop to get it all squared away and we were on the road again. Once we got through the not so scenic industrial parts of of the city and were headed out of town, Sarah had shifting problems that required another stop to fix. Hopefully everything is now good to go for a while and we won't have more of those stories.
We encounted what is sure to be the first of many roadkills encountered on the trip and it may be a regular feature in the daily events.
Day 1 roadkill
We stopped at a TraderJoe's and a Von's (California Safeway) in Chula Vista and stocked up for the next couple of days.
Groceries are the same all over
Shortly after, we were out of anything resembling town and enoyed a nice tailwind and some scenery.
Finally out of town
Tonight we are staying in an RV park/campground. It is not my first choice but there is really nothing else between here and Tecate (another 17 miles) and the camping in Tecate (right on the border) received several negative reccomendations from fellow cyclists. We are going to wait to start the "camp wherever you like along the side of the road" portion of the trip for when we get to the National Forests in a couple of days.
Not exactly private but the warm shower was nice
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