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| Jules before leaving the Ocotillo Community Center |
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| Looking Northeast over Anza Borrego |
Easy and hot. Short mileage but a warm desert day. I've never been a fan of the desert; however, after spending several days pedaling through quiet stretches of lonely roads, I began to appreciate the beauty and the silence the desert offers. The colors of dawn to the east as the sun rises over the warming desert floor and the craggy silhouettes to the west as the sun sets behind the peaks of the Anza Borrego Desert. After several hours of riding on the desolate stretches of California S2, we arrived at our lunch respite--Agua Caliente Hot Springs. Needless to say hot springs on a hot day just seemed like a cruel joke. What typically was a quick 45 minute break to hydrate and fuel up ended up being close to a a 4 hour break which is an eternity when you're not really sure how many miles are left to ride. Jules managed to relax at the pool and I complained the whole time about having to "rest" for so many hours in the heat when we could have been pitching our tents at camp while drinking the beers we brought to keep us sane. When we finally received word we could leave our desert prison we pedaled for 3 miles, and like a mirage, our camp appeared around the last corner. We broke camp at Vallecitos Station; an old outpost along the stage coach route between the Imperial Valley desert and the coastal mesas of San Diego. We later learned we couldn't check into the campground until 3; thus, the interminable wait at Agua Caliente. So much for all the complaining. That night the beer was cold. The next would bring unexpected surprises, a trip back to San Diego, and 7 miles of climbing out of the desert.
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| Keeping an eye on the ants |
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| Regrouping before several miles of curving downhill |
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