Arizona Dawg: Weather Window Opens!

Garmin stats from Arizona Dawg

Either "High Wind Warning" or 100 degree days have stymied this rando route for a month now. With less than a weeks notice, interest was good from riders. I did like the idea of a "split" start, with riders from south SD County starting at Dog Beach and others up north at San Marcos. Two slightly different rando routes, both going to the same place. What a concept!


Left home late with my overloaded SOMA and rolled over on dry roads to the start with 5 minutes to spare. Rained most of the day yesterday and I expected to chase the rain out of the county today. Dan Phillips rode in from Oceanside. Several others didn't show, including Mac Imacseng. (I correctly figured Mac was over at another route's starting point.) At the AM/PM some half-drunk guy in a trench-coat got out of his truck and said: "I thought you were the police with all those lights!" Only 3 rear blinkies. Sober up, buddy!

Tony, Mac, Dan & Robert DH on Hwy. 67

Dan & I rolled along with temp at 49F, slowing and looking for Mac at the Mission Road 7-Eleven. Nope. Entering Escondido, Mac was getting out of his car at Nordhal Road. Robert Abraham was there too. Now up to 4, our gruppo made it's way over to Poway on damp roads. Mile 22: Tony Long was waiting for us there, along with Mac's wife. (Mac forgot his water bottles!) Tony kept me company on the slog up Poway Road, as the other riders were out ahead. Some racer guy on a fendered carbon Trek motored by us on the climb. Traffic was very light. Felt like I was under water with the load. Nice quick ride down Hwy. 67 into Lakeside. With my load and smooth turning XTR hubs, I was off to the races downhill. After the steepish climb around Lake Jennings, we were slightly early for the 0800 rendezvous time at Burger King, mile 38. Five minutes alter, Dave Danovsky and Keith Olsen arrived. Time to refill bottles and moderate chit-chat.

Dan left group at Hwy. 79 to Cuyamaca

Getting ready to leave BK, Robert noticed his tire was flat. Dan stayed back with him as the rest slo-rolled to Alpine. We picked up another older rider who was riding for his morning coffee. Waiving good-bye to him at Starbucks, we had several short regroups on the rollers leaving Alpine. Robert and Dan joined up before we entered the few miles on I-8E. Light traffic this morning, no wind over the bridge and the weather was clearing.


The turn on Hwy. 79 to Pine Valley soon brought an end to Dan's group ride. He was leaving us and riding up to Cuyamaca Lake on his freeze-ride, then on to Julian, before returning home via Ramona. Just up the road, Robert has another flat, so Tony Long stayed with him as the group went ahead downhill to the mile 62 Pine Valley Store. A bit later, tough rando Greg Sherman from Alpine rolled in. Keith got a gallon jug of water to share, as we all hit the inside bathroom. Later, Robert and Tony arrived. Full group now. Chit-chat extreme & time for some pictures.

Pine Valley Store. Greg joined here

Climbers Tony & Robert were leaving us here for the return trip back to Poway,. As we were getting ready to roll, Dave D. notice a broken flat-blade spoke in his rear wheel. He taped it on with Greg's tape and we climbed away from Pine Valley. Great downhill into the valley as the temps were warming up. Patches of blue sky appeared. Large Search And Rescue training near Buckman Springs Rd. today lined the roadside with cars. Greg & Dave rode ahead on the last major climb of the day up to the Acorn Casino. Keith, Mac& I  worked our way up under full clear skies now. High point of this route is just east of the Casino at 4119'. It's all downhill to Yuma now (elev. 139').

Break at Jacumba Market

Temps rose to the lo 70's now. We couldn't wait for the blast down thru Boulevard/Manzanita to Jacumba next. Fast it was with bonus tailwind. Greg went ahead as the group stopped at the Jacumba Market, mile 92. Coconut Water was Mac's recommendation. Real sweet for me and I didn't appreciate the chunky coconut at the bottom. It works for Mac, as he was riding well today. Keith opted for Ice Cream Sandwich and shared his chips with Dave. Felt good sitting outside. Lots of people at the remodeled Jacumba Spa across the road.


Shocking new smooth road east of Jacumba. Add in a tailwind and the group was cruising along. The 13 mile plunge down I-8 into the desert was laced with strong winds thru the curves. Interesting watching the riders ahead leaning into the winds while riding a straight line. I managed to get some great rolling video shots of Mac and Dave with a desert background. Next stop was a a water stop at the Ocotillo Chevron, mile 108.

Keith splashes pristine Harley with coffee!

Temps had soared to 82F now. Winds were mid-teens from the SW. Mac hit the liter Coconut Water as Keith picked up a bottle of iced coffee. Dave was jawing with a Harley rider about how far we rode and where we were going. Keith joined in the chat with another rider, while shaking his coffee. Upon opening it up, the Harley got a bath of Starbucks Coffee! After a short clean-up, we decided to clear the area quick! Off into the Yuha Desert.


Hwy. 98 is a great ride with a pushing wind. No dangerous curves on this road. Dave & Mac did most of the 19 mph lead-out thru here.  Passed a mobile home with "FREE" painted on the side. Mac thought that might work for his desert home! Heck, just to tow it away Mac. Water drop flags were straight out blowing our way.

Keith, Dave & Mac at "Yuha Desert sign

Made the mandatory photo stop at the "Leaving The Yuha Desert" sign. Just ahead we could see the greening up of the desert, thanks to the Imperial Irrigation District and the Colorado River water. More new road, replacing the narrow farm road it once used to be. Thousands of acres of solar panels have replaced fields of crops now. Just outside Calexico, the road dips to the low point of our route... -44 feet! Our last Control stop was at JIB/Chevron, mile 139. Time to pack it in with the good stuff!


Looks like burgers and fries were the order of the day. Throw in a shake or two, slow service and stretch it out a little. I finished up my tag-along tuna/cheese with avocado and 1/2 a choc shake. Bottles loaded and feeling good, we left JIB just after 5:00 PM on the way eastward on horrible Calexico roads.

Sunset over the Imperial Sand Dunes

Outside town, the road and traffic get a whole lot better. Smooth bike lanes and tail winds made for some fast time over to the main truck border crossing at Hwy. 7. I was the only one who stopped at the flashing red light, noticing a police vehicle hidden behind a one-way truck barrier. Hwy. 98 roughened just slightly as Mac & Dave were leading hard. Plenty of daylight left as we finally spotted the Yuma --> 30 mile sign. Time for some off and on-again I-8 riding.


Cyclists are required to exit and re-enter at each marked EXIT. The bike lane was the usual lumpy-bumpy and finding a smooth line was difficult at times. At Grey Wells exit we made a extended stop to light up as the sun was setting. Mac changed his lenses and Dave hit the bushes. Just a few ORV in the adjacent Imperial Sand Dunes tonight. Keith led out toward the Ogilby Road exit. Riding was about to get a lot rougher.

Mac & Keith get "hooked up"!

Exiting Ogilby, we crossed over I-8 northward and entered Center Of The World frontage road. Rough then smooth, rough then smooth. Left side of road seemed to work best this trip. Never any traffic on this road anyway. Our butts were taking a beating on this stuff. MTB would have been perfect here. Road smooths by the large Highway Patrol HQ at Sidewinder Rd. A right turn took us over I-8 again. Dave needed a refill, so we stopped at the graveled-road desolate Chevron. Inside, a cheerful cashier was glad to ring up our overpriced drinks. Only a few mile left.


Keith led us back on the last stretch of I-8. Mac & Dave's lights disapeared behind me so I raced up and told Keith what happened. Finally Mac arrived and said Dave went back to pick up his wallet at the station. We'll wait for him at the next exit. Good enough, we pulled off at Araz Rd/Hwy. 24 Exit and waited. I was taking pictures of the guys, when this woman walked up and was invited into the shot. Must have been her working intersection? Soon we saw Dave blasting by, not exiting I-8. Mac, then Keith followed as I yelled "Go to the next exit and turn left." I continued on the prescribed route down Araz Road. Too bad for me.

"Welcome to Arizona" entering Yuma

Araz Road is really bad and getting worse each year. It's ride-able on a MTB only. I tried different lines and speeds and The round trip was a no-no after the beating on that road. Think I might eat something at Denny's in Yuma, chat with the guys and then ride east ala the Cactus Dawg route to Tuscon to check out Dome Valley/Hwy.80. Then I could return in the morning and catch the ride back to San Diego. Sounds good.  Didn't see any headlights and no one came by here, so I figured the group was already over the border, safely in Yuma. Instead they were back near I-8 on Winterhaven, looking for me!
finally rode on the poor shoulder in the sand. A few inches off line and you're down dude! Took me a long time to get to smooth roads again. I waited for 10 minutes at the jog on Hwy. 24, looking back for headlights and thinking a bit.

Dave fixes over-the-border flat tire

Road was smooth again and I was flying over the bridge into Arizona in a few minutes time. Stopped to take some pictures in the median of the "Welcome To Arizona" sign at mile 195. Pulled into the Food Mart by JIB for my final receipt of the route. Didn't see any other cyclists. Picked up a hot-chocolate, added some ice and went outside. Greg Sherman was there to welcome me. We were chatting about the ride and by then I thought the others were already ahead and over at their overnight Motel 6 by now. Just then, the Imperial County Sheriff pulled up. "Are you Kelly?" he asked. GULP.


Ahhhh, yes. "Your riding buddies are looking for you and thought you got lost or hurt back there somewhere! Looks like you're OK to me. I'll radio it over and they'll be coming over this way soon." OK, gee thanks officer. No photo op for these deputies today. They don't like that. Chatting with Greg, his girlfriend drove out to take him back to Alpine. He offered a ride back for 1 rider with his top rack for bikes. I'd run that by my RT partner, Mac when he arrived. The group finally crossed the border and checked in. Back together again, Dave was busy changing his flat tire. Mac would sleep over here with the Keith & Dave and then return with Dave's car rental in the morning. All set. I'd ride back with Greg to Alpine and ride home from there.


Good ride guys, we all made it with just a broken spoke, forgotten wallet, one flat tire and sore butts! Saying "adios", Greg helped me load the SOMA on the car rack and we were off westward. They were off to Motel 6, a few mile away.

Greg Sherman met us at the Yuma finish

On the way back, we talked cycling, RAW, Padres baseball and weather. Encountered high cross-winds going up I-8 to Jacumba and patchy fog on the way to Alpine. Be tough cycling west in that weather! Greg dropped me off at the Circle K on Tavern Road in Alpine. Thanks Greg!


I went inside and got a hot choc, tried to eat something and gulped a Cliff Turbo Shot Gel. That stuff has so much caffeine it's black! I needed something, it was 43 degrees and 1:00 AM was way past my bedtime. I hung around too long before leaving. Fast downhill leaving Alpine and I forgot to hook up my dyno-hub. Another stop took care of that. Next up was the "fork shake", caused from being cold. Couldn't wait for the next climb to warm up. A quick run into Lakeside and a easy climb past Lake Jennings. That Turbo was feeling good by now.


Made a stop outside the local Lakeside 7-Eleven to add some chamois creme to my sore butt. Next up was the climb up Hwy. 67, not my favorite one. I got sweat in my eyes and wiped it with my carry-rag. Of course that was dirty and then my eyes started to burn. Out come the Kleenex to wipe away the sting. After forever, I made the climb and decided to turn on Scripps Poway Pkwy. Another fast cold downhill. Slight climb up Pomerado Road kept me warm enough. Crossed Hodges on I-15 and then took the Inland Rail Trail over to San Marcos. Back home again for some food, hot shower and nap time. The sun wasn't even up yet!

Route VIDEO.

Overcast to full sunny skies
Hi: 91     Lo: 51 (Garmin)
Wind: SW to 17mph
248 miles

-randorides