Day 1: Update from Tim

The weekend before the ride was very hectic getting everything organized and packed on the RV.  Laura and I got a late start out of Mesa on the 9/27; it took forever to get the RV loaded.  So, we stopped in Yuma.   

While in the parking lot of the Yuma hotel, I backed the RV into a security post.  Well, I backed the bike rack into the security post and damaged my bike rack and one of my bikes.  I was sick.  On Tuesday 9/28, we took the bike into Holland bike shop in Coronado, which is where I bought the bike a few months ago.  The frame was cracked; the downside of a carbon fiber frame.   

Fortunately, they had the same bike in stock.  They gave me 15% off and assembled the bike that afternoon.  I was grateful and my sickened feels diminished.

Tuesday night 9/28 we (Logan, Virna, Ron, Jeremiah, Laura, and me) had dinner at Kettner Exchange.  The chef, Brian, is a friend of Jeremiah’s.  The food was excellent, and I ate too much.

I didn’t not sleep well Tuesday night: anxious, nerves, and too full of a stomach.  I was up at 5 AM, went for a coffee.  At 6 am, we all met in the lobby, ate some breakfast (I didn’t eat much, still full and too nervous).  We loaded the RV and headed to Dog Beach in San Diego.

It was a beautiful morning; about 65 degrees, no wind, and mostly overcast.  Lisa Saas had two interviews set up: one with San Diego Fox and the other with KUSI (an independent station).  One interview was at 8:30 AM and the other was at 9 AM.  

At about 9:45 I started the ride with Jim Monahan and Kelly Hale.  The route was not easy to follow, and I was having trouble with my GPS device.  Thankfully, Jim and Kelly were able to get us to our meeting spot with the RV.  We met up with the RV at about 11:30 AM, 18 miles into the ride.  Shortly thereafter, Laura took an Uber to the airport. 

In the afternoon, it was Logan driving the RV, and me riding.  I found it easy to take a picture of the map on my phone and work from that.   Logan and I picked meeting spots.  I started the afternoon ride on my recumbent trike; the morning ride was on my road bike. 

At our first meeting spot, I pulled up along the RV and noticed that our grey water- black water drain was dangling.  The value connecting the two sections and that provided the coupling to drain the grey and black tanks was gone.  After looking at it more closely, it was clear that someone stole it.  

We bungie-corded the pipes securely and continued on.  Our goal for the day was Pine Valley.  At 5:30 PM, we were about 7 miles out and decided to call it a day.  We drove to the hotel, checked in, went to a local restaurant and had a really good meal.  We’ll start day 2 (9/30) from where we left off yesterday.