High Temp: 109
Wind: Mostly light to very strong on the pass
Leave Jacumba: 6:20
Arrive Brawley: 12:50
Rest stop 1: Ocotillo at 17 miles
Rest stop 2: El Centro at 43 miles
Lodging: Gateway Church in Brawley, CA
It was an early start from Jacuma because of the forecast high temperatures. Jacumba is near 3000 feet elevation and as a result it cooled down nicely during the night. Some riders wore jackets to start ride.
Before starting out I had a breakfast of bagel, Vienna sausage and dates. After airing the tires and cleaning the chain we were off.
The ride started with an easy 1000 foot climb. I say easy because it was not as steep as day 1 and day 2 climbs. We also had to enter Interstate 8 near the end of the climb.
The reward for the last 2 days of hard climbing in the brutal sun was a 8 mile descent into Ocotillo. Too bad it was over so quickly but it was a lot of fun even for chickens like me who brake most of the way down. I hit a bump right at the top and almost immediately my bike started to vibrate. I thought whatever I hit had caused the front wheel to go out of true. It turned out it was the strong side wind we had for most of the descent. I was really happy that the vibration went away when the wind was shielded. The road was good for the entire descent except for a couple of rough patches near the bottom. The guy in front of me yelled a warning and I braked had and was able to slow down. However it did give me and the rest of the group a good scare.
Rest stop 1 was at a gas station and an exit from the interstate. As a matter of fact the gas station was all there was to Ocotillo. We only took a short break and headed out to beat the heat. The road fro Ocotillo to El Centro was the worst road I have ever ridden on. It was more suited to 4 wheelers than bicycles but that's what we had and made do. The good thing was that it was flat as a pancate from Ocotillo on east.
Our rest stop at El Centro was at an event hall. The owner opened it up for us and provided ice water and a cool place to regroup.
Four of us left the rest stop and went to a bicycle shop in El Centro to get one of the bicycles repaired. It was well into the 90's by this time but it was only 8-9 miles so no big deal. After
dropping off his bicycle we went to a deli for lunch.
The ride from the deli to the church we are staying at was not so pleasant. It was 101 by the time we reached to church. I was happy to get here. The church has showers, w-ifi, laundry and a swimming pool. Real nice place and we all appreciate their support.
Dinner was at Del Taco after a team meeting to discuss tomorrow's ride. It will be our longest ride yet at 94 miles and the heat will once again be a factor.
So far the scenery has been miles and miles of rock, sage brush and not much else. Looking forward to a change.
I take that back. El Centro is in the Imperial valley which has a lot of agriculture. Not much growing right now because of the heat but some fields were being prepared for the fall crops. We passed a section that had gigantic hay sheds. There were a half dozen rows of the sheds and then there were huge tents filled with hay. 5 or 6 tents deep that went on for over a mile.
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