Lydia took this picture of me as we left Mauricio's place. My white shirt is now a day old, and still relatively virgin white although it will, I am sure, soon be all shades of gray and brown with all the sunscreen and chain oil flying around us... the collar is up to protect my neck from the sun, so this is completely a look guided by function, not some pretentious style. Nonetheless, the latter is palpable...
We needed to fill up our fuel bottle for the stove, so I pulled into the gas station on my bike. I bought 30 cents worth of gas, which should be fine for cooking for the next week or two. Lydia astutely shot this photo, recognizing the ridiculous juxtaposition...
thats a share-the-road sign up ahead!
Much of the riding is like this...
after leaving san diego and chula vista behind, we biked about 20 miles into the mountains. The sun started to set and we began looking for shelter or at least a place to refill water. Both we found at the San Diego County fire station #37. They have a spigot for filtered water outside, where all the cyclists coming up this beautiful road know they can refill at any time. But the three firemen we met there - the oldest was perhaps in his late 20's - were exceedingly generous and let us use their shower, cook our dinner on their huge gas range (baked sweet potato with onion and green pepper, with some quesadillas on the side for me), and recharge our electronics from their outlets while we set up camp in the field adjacent. It was really fantastically lucky. In the morning, after I carved my new poplar wood down-tube derailleur cable hangers, we met Lisha here, who'd ridden up from san diego on her ultralight carbon fiber bike. A round of bike-weight-comparing, much like injury or scar swapping comparisons, ensued. She was astounded at her inability to lift our bikes. I would put good money on a bet that any one of my pannier bags weighs more than her bike, and that the remaining three panniers -outweigh Lisha herself... she tried to lift the Lydia's bike, and was astounded.
As we rode on towards Descanso, we climbed from up to an elevation of 3600 feet. The topography, and ecology, are changing over each hill. As we came to the top of a particularly hardwon hill, we did a little celebrating and photography of the vista beyond (which we'd climb in the next hour or two).
Arriving in Descanso, after dark, we stopped into the general store only five minutes before they closed, buying bananas, rice, beans, and chocolate milk. I forgot lydia has an allergy to milk and gluten and can't eat hardly any of my favorite foods: pasta, bread, cheese, milk... so of course I had to down the whole half gallon myself. This took about 20 seconds, and I wanted more.
we were wondering where we might find a place to stay. Fortune smiled on us: the descanso library has a nice pagoda in back, with a smooth wood floor surface, and not too much light on it. We set up camp, and Lydia found this beautiful toad. Lethargic with the cold (it was 55 degrees at night), it obtusely squatted there, basking in the warmth of her hands and the bewilderment of her headlight...
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