And on the 48th day... we ran out of road!!!
We, the Sloyer Men, have made it to the beach!
Before going to sleep last night we checked the weather forecast on our computer, and found that early morning temperatures in Pine Valley were going to be in the high 40's. It was as if we hadn't been in the Yuma desert the previous day! Since we didn't have warm jackets (or crazy heat to avoid), there was no reason to wake up early. We left the Pine Valley Motel at about 9:30AM excited about completing our journey, and about the supposed downhill into San Diego that we had heard so much about. After going up a big hill to get out of Pine Valley, we flew on I- 8 for about 10 miles. We were not allowed on the Interstate in that area, but the frontage road would have added 5-10 miles to our ride, and we were prepared to talk to the California Highway Patrol Officers if they stopped us (that didn't happen though). About 7 miles into the ride we stopped for water at the top of a hill. We were impressed by the sign indicating that we had reached 4000 Feet, but what was more spectacular was seeing the Pacific Ocean far off in the distance for the first time! Soon after we left the Interstate onto the frontage road, the terrain was more hilly (the Interstate takes the path of least resistance, but these older roads go through the mountains). Our hands were in pain from braking so much on the 6 degree declines of the Interstate, so it was nice to get a break. As we got closer to San Diego, we saw signs of civilization. We stopped at a Starbucks with about 20 miles to go, and got some hot chocolate (it was about 60 degrees outside). The next 15 miles were very tough. We were riding on the streets of downtown San Diego, something we do not recommend. Although they had some bike lanes, they were mostly for show. The bike lanes were in bad shape (uneven pavement) and would disappear without warning, leaving us in regular rush hour traffic. There were also many entrances and exits onto Freeways, and cars were not sympathetic to us. With about 3 miles left, we hit the Ocean Beach Bike Trail. It was great! The trail is for bikes only, and twists and turns next to the Freeways (and occasional dips under the Freeways) until you arrive at the beach (see video below). My dad thinks that it is ironic that all the signs on the trail pointed to Dogs Beach, since we haven't had the best relationship with dogs throughout the trip. The sky was cloudy and the temperature was about 65 degrees as we came to the end of the trail. We had run out of road, with just the Pacific Ocean in front of us!!! To the right was a beach for dogs and their owners, and to our left was the beach for humans only, Ocean Beach. We decided to go to the left. As we got closer to the water we became emotional thinking about what we had just accomplished. We talked about how we are not avid bike people - we had never been on a bike ride longer than 20 miles - but what we had just done was absolutely awesome. We also spoke about how lucky we were. In terms of our health, in terms of the weather, and in terms of the people we met (and didn't meet) along the way... God was clearly watching over us. We did the traditional dipping the bikes into the ocean, and got some random people to take pictures of us (see below). When we got out of the water we savored the moment for a while and then headed to Bernie's Bike Shop. The owner, Roger, packed up our bikes to be shipped back to Connecticut. Roger used to be a professional bike racer, and treated us like a member of the biking tribe. We then took a bus to the San Diego Airport where we picked up a rental car for our drive to LA.
So what's next? Well, we completed our dream adventure by checking into Shutters on the Beach (very nice upgrade). On the toughest days, the thought of making it to Shutters was part of what kept us going. For us, Shutters on the Beach is more than a great place to visit, it is a state of mind, which brings a smile to our face every time we think about it. Later we made it to Jeff's Gourmet Sausage, walked along the beach, then got very good chicken for dinner! We also worked out a bit in the fitness center/spa. We just got back from the hot tub (its pretty cool out at night in LA), and we plan on having a great night sleep!
What was a wild, unfathomable fantasy eight weeks ago, has become a reality!! We have overcome headwinds, lightning, beat- up roads, rabid dogs, scorching heat, treacherous mountains and a root canal. We have defeated the word "can't." We continued biking, even when our bodies begged us to stop. We have emerged victorious and closer than ever! This may have been the last time we have ridden our Surly Long Haul Truckers cross country(they were truly incredible bikes), but we can assure you, this will not be our last adventure!
We would like to give a sincere thanks to everyone for their support, good wishes, donations to Folds of Honor, and for riding along with us on our blog! I would especially like to thank my mom for letting me borrow my dad for 2 months to embark on this incredible journey.
One last word of advice...Dreaming never hurt anybody (please don't do anything stupid!) In the words of my wise Grandmother - "never reject yourself", and in the words of CS Lewis - "you are never too old to dream a new dream." No matter what your dream (we understand that not everybody wants to bike across America) you are never too old, too out of shape (my dad lost about 15 pounds) or too inexperienced to make it a reality. Eight weeks ago we knew next to nothing about bike touring or bike mechanics, but we have certainly learned a lot since then.
Thanks for coming along for the ride, and we hope you will join us on our next adventure! (we are about to google Mt. Kilimanjaro).
May God bless you, our troops and our great country. Our country and its people are even more beautiful than we imagined!!!
Check out our route at the link below:
Check out these vids from the 2 bike trails we went on in San Diego:
congrats!!!!!!!!!!
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