Southern Tier- the hard part is getting there





 San Diego to El Paso by Bike - the hard part is getting there 

10/23/21. After spending the better part of the past week boxing my bike and figuring out what I need for about 3 weeks on the bike, I’m finally sitting in the airplane. The alarm went off at 330 this morning and so far the trip consists of a 45 minute drive, 45 minutes getting my bike checked and 45 minutes in TSA. Cycling should be easy after this. 

American has a bike rate of $30 which is a deal. Unfortunately the gate agent had no idea about the rate so it took her and 2 others to figure it out- thankfully it didn’t turn into the $200 oversized charge. The bike box came in at 49 pounds against a 50 lb max!

I’m meeting my friend Brian Blair in San Diego. Earlier this year we rode the OTET trail from Cincinnati to Cleveland with a group of four. The last time I biked with Brian was in 2011 when he and Susan Spinelli let me join them for the Seattle to Glacier National Park part of their cross country ride.

Today we will assemble the bikes at the airport, ride to the ocean and then head east to Lakeside where we will camp. 

Later in the day- we landed at 10 and got the bikes together and were on the road about noon. Rode to the ocean and did the traditional dip the wheel in ocean. Then a wave came in and buried me to my ankles. So I sit here 15 miles in having a quesadilla and drying my socks! Getting on the road again and heading to the campground on a minute…

We made it to the campground a bit before dark. Brian had the First flight of the trip after he had a rock while going down a hill. Luckily there was no damage to the tire. We are planning out the trip tomorrow and have a heck of a lot of climbing to do and then a long downhill depending on how far we make it.




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