Uncle Dan's Bike Ride: El Paso, TX to San Diego, CA

After seeing snow capped mountains in Lincoln National Forest east of Alamogordo, NM I decided to take the most southern, warm, and probably the most boring route through NM via route 9. Route 9 parallels the US-Mexico border and is used mainly by the Border Patrol. There really isn't any other reason to be there as far as I could tell. There are a couple small old railroad towns, Columbus and Animas, but not much else except a couple hundred miles of dust and the desert.

The lonely, windy, dusty Route 9 through NM, just a couple miles north of Mexico. For about 200 miles the most exciting thing is crossing the Continental Divide.

Way back in Louisiana, Chris and Billy recommended a visit to Chiricahua National Monument, which is on the west side of the Chiricahua Mountains in southeast AZ. Since I didn't have a very adventurous ride through NM, I decided to ride to Chirichahua through Portal, AZ and then over the mountains on the forest roads. To go around the mountains on paved roads would be an extra 100 miles.

Portal is is a very small town on the AZ-NM border known for access to the national forest and birdwatching (it is the northern limit for several tropical species, most notably the Elegant Trogon and many hummingbirds). Apparently the computer security guy, John McAffee, lived in Portal before going to Belize. Surprisingly there are a couple Warmshowers hosts in town and I spent a great night with Ron in his off-grid house. After arriving, Ron took me for a tour up the canyon road in his car and we met another cyclist, John from Canada. Ron invited him to spend the night.

Ron once owned and operated an inn in northern VT, and he knew how to host. He cooked a very large and delicious meal with pasta, salmon, bread, veggies, and wine. John out ate me, and may have had a bigger appetite than the the other Canadian cyclist I met (Curtis, the monster PB, nutella, honey burrito guy). We got to talking about food, and John said a block of lard one was of his staple foods, as it was one of the few things that kept him warm at night. He also confessed to eating road kill on at least one occasion. Other dinner time conversation included religion, as John was riding to spread a religious message: something big and Christian was going to happen in the next couple years. I would know when it happened. The conversation ended without any converted minds, but confirmed that everyone does the bike touring thing in their own way and for their own reasons.

Ron and John with the wind turbine and solar panels.

The view from Ron's backyard!

From Ron's I rode up Portal Rd., which becomes dirt forest roads a few miles in, and up and over the Chirichua mountains to the entrance of Chirichaua National Monument. I was a bit worried about the condition of the dirt roads, but they were good enough to ride my loaded bike. With over 3,500 feet of climbing in 15 miles, then 15 miles down a washboarded dirt road, it was a challenging ride, but also very rewarding. There was no traffic, and the beautiful forest was a most welcomed change after my 200 miles through dusty desert.

Up and over the Chirichaua Mountains on dirt forest roads. A great ride.

Chirichua National Monument is a popular spot and the one campground was full when I arrived. I didn't make it half way around the campground loop before Jan and Dave from Eagle, AK invited me into their campsite. They also treated me to a cold beer (Corona with lime) and told me about life in Alaska. After 25+ years year round in Alaska, they now spend their winters in a nice RV in Mexico, but still spend summers in a small Alaskan town, where they have a very small cabin with no running water. If you are thinking about moving north keep in mind it takes a caribou, half a moose, and 4 cords of firewood to get two people through an Alaskan winter.

I spent two nights in Chirichua so I could do a day of hiking. Thanks to a shuttle van that brings hikers to the top of the mountain from the visitor center I covered just about all of the hiking trails. The rock formations throughout the park are incredible. The Heart of Rocks loop trail is the highlight. I met more friendly people hiking on those trails than I can remember, including some other cyclists, and many invited me to their camp for food and drink in the evening. However, I was exhausted and sleeping by 8PM.

From the Heart of Rocks trail

Good thing I went to bed early as the next day was an 8 hour 73 mile ride into a 20-40 mph headwind. The route through the Dragoon mountains was scenic, but hard to enjoy given the wind. Not only do you go painfully slow in that kind of wind, but the constant whooshing sound makes hearing traffic from behind impossible, making for a very unsettling ride. On the bright side I managed to stay out of the dust, which was swirling in the basin to my north and east. On the even brighter side my Warmshowers hosts in Benson, Jerry and Lainie, had cold beer ready for me upon arrival and made me an awesome dinner of smoked salmon and salad. Then I got to sleep in their comfy and quiet RV, and Jerry made me one of his famous veggie omelets for breakfast. By time I left I almost had forgotten about my windy ride.

Next stop was the highly anticipated family visit to visit Uncle Tom, Aunt Pat, and first cousins Kelly and Meghann, & my many second cousins. I have 6 second cousins in AZ and prior to this visit I had only met Isaac when he was a baby, so I was very much looking forward to the stop. As I rode up to my cousin Meghann's house there was a crowd waiting on the street corner. The adults in lounge chairs, drinks in hand, and Owen and Isaac on their bicycles waiting for me to arrive. The warmest welcome of the trip! While visiting I was given the full Tucson experience: a nice Mexican dinner, lots of ice cream, and a horseback riding outing, which included wranglers and cowboy boots. I'm not sure the movie Joe Dirt is part of the original southwestern experience, but it was an experience.

Me and Owen in the driveway with the "Welcome to Tucson Uncle Dan" sign on the garage. Isaac's front tire in the bottom right. I have yet to see Owen make a normal face in a picture. I still have that habit, that I am getting better.

Then up to Phoenix to visit cousin Kelly and family. The ride up to Phoenix was pretty uneventful. Long, flat and hot, but generally plenty of places to stop and get a cold drink and/or a smoothie (there is a really good smoothie place called Inta Juice in Chandler). I had another warm welcome in Phoenix, this time with balloons and chalk drawings, and even more kids. The visit to Phoenix included lots of good healthy food (there are hundreds of grapefruits and oranges on the trees in their backyard), birthday cake (to balance all the healthy food), yoga, a lot of jumping on the trampoline, a spring training baseball game (with Uncle Tom and Tucson cousins too), an evening of successful babysitting, an elementary school speaking engagement, and the best send off of my trip. Kelly has it well chronicled on the March 25 post of the Iannacone family blog: http://ourlittleiannacones.blogspot.com

The Ianaconne family send off. From L to R: Braeden, Hudson, Juliana, Justin, Nikola, and Kelly.

My visit to AZ was great, and I rode away thinking how nice it would be if we all lived closer together. Madeline and Lily would certainly like it. From Scottsdale I rode a couple hundred miles west to Joshua Tree National Park. It was about 40 miles of riding just to get outside of Phoenix, and then a couple hundred miles of riding on I-10, where I spent a night camped out behind a highway rest stop and behind a Bait & Tackle shop. Yes, riding on the interstate is legal in these parts and isn't all frightening as the shoulder is usually wide. Crossing the exit ramps is a bit tricky. The worst part is the bits of metal wire from pieces of truck tire. I sat outside a McDonald's in Quartzsite and pulled 6 pieces of wire out of my back tire. I ran out of patches but discovered that clear Gorilla tape with patch kit glue works as well or better.

I managed to meet a number of nice people despite all the highway riding. At the Burnt Wells rest stop a cyclist, Henry, driving to LA struck up a conversation and left me with a bag of energy bars, fruit, and iced tea along with a cup of ice. At the AZ-CA border I spent the night in Blythe, farming town on the lower Colorado River, at Wayne's bait and tackle shop, where cyclists are welcome to camp out. A number of people live on the property in trailer homes and someone had cooked up some fine tasting cornbread and a huge crock pot of ham and beans. I was told to help myself to as much as I wanted. Wayne was encouraging me to stick around and drink as much beer as I wanted, but I moved on as the forecast was for the wind to pick up. And it did with a vengeance.

After another 80 miles on the interstate I was standing at the southern entrance to Joshua Tree National Park on a quiet road thinking about taking a picture of my bike with the park sign. Then I heard a small voice behind me say hello. I turned around and Ester, a solo female cyclist from Holland, was standing behind me. That day was the first of her trip, and she had just done a long ride with a lot of climbing on a heavy looking bike. I rode with her the final climb into Joshua Tree's Cottonwood campground, and we ate and set up camp in the dark.

Ester was riding through Joshua Tree NP and then on to the Mojave Desert, Grand Canyon and eventually to Las Vegas to fly home. We decided to ride together to the next group of camp areas, about 30 miles away. One of the difficulties with Joshua Tree is the lack of water inside the park. Only the southern most and northwestern most camp areas have water, which means cyclists need to carry a lot if they plan to stay long. So with very heavy bikes (Ester's much heavier than mine) we left for what I thought would be a relatively easy short ride. The first 10-15 miles was downhill into Pinto Basin. Then there is a 10+ mile climb out of the basin to the north end of the park, which would have been a challenge with a tailwind, never mind the 30+ mph headwind we had.

While stopped at the Cholla cactus garden a nice guy in a big pickup truck asked if we wanted a ride, saying the winds at the top had to be blowing 60 mph. I told Ester I would ride, and she said she would too. Oops! My mistake. The climb was difficult and dangerous, and I was literally blown off the road several times. I got ahead of Ester on the way up and while waiting at the top for her I was thinking that was one of the hardest rides I had done so far. This was the second day of her trip. I might have called it quits if that was my second day.

Ester all smiles while battling the wind in Pinto Basin. Dust starting to kick up in the background.

But the day turned out to be a great one. While waiting I saw a pickup truck go by, and Ester was in the back with her bike. A friendly family from Vancouver, Matthew, Sharon, and their daughter Ella, saved the day. Not only did they give Ester a lift, but they invited us to spend the night at their campground in Jumbo Rocks. We spent a great couple days with them camping, hiking, eating and sharing stories over a propane campfire with smores (new to Ester). Matthew and Sharon have sailed all over the Pacific, from Vancouver down to Baja over to Hawaii and back, so they know what adventure is all about. They also have a delightful daughter, Ella, who is the best 8 year old hiker I have ever seen. Their kindness and company made up for the tough riding conditions 100 times over. I was delighted to see how surprised and excited Ester was by their generosity. Apparently Ester later ran into them in the Mojave Desert and spent more time with them. I hope to visit them in Vancouver, CA.

Up on top of Ryan Mt. with Ester, Matthew, Ella, and Sharon

The finest Canadian hospitality: warm beverages, comfy chairs, and a propane grill.

The camp from above. Ester below.

Matthew and his dirt bike. He does long rides in remote places. We got to see some GoPro video after this ride. Looks like a lot of fun.

After a resupply trip to Palm Springs on the north end of the park, Ester and I parted ways. She rode northeast to Mojave and on to the Grand Canyon. I rode west into the NW entrance of the park and found out this is the best way to come in. The southern part of the park is not that exciting, as it is low elevation Sonoran desert, which I had been seeing for hundreds of miles. The Joshua trees and cool rock formations are in the north end of the park, where the elevation is higher and the presence of yucca plants marks the transition from the Sonoran to the Mojave desert.

Riding among the Joshua Trees on the west entrance road

I rode into the Hidden Valley campground, anticipating it to be full, which it was. The entire park was at full capacity due to Spring break. As I was riding around looking for someone to join and a couple I passed from Washington said "you look like you are looking for a campsite". So I got a big campsite, along with 3 cold beers. Then two cars of 20 & 30 (?) somethings rolled by looking for a place to camp. I invited them to join me and they were delighted. They cooked up a big delicious dinner and there was no shortage of firewood or drinks. In the early morning the wind returned, and nearly blew one of their tents over. It took until mid morning to calm down, and I got some peaceful exploring in before riding up to Keys view and back to the Cottonwood camp on my way out of the park. Riding back down the 10 mile hill into Pinto Basin was great fun!

My camping friends from LA at Hidden Valley. No shortage of good company.

Climbing on the rocks around sunset with David and Julia from LA.

Spring time in the desert. I found many flowering plants on my walk to Barker Dam, and lots of birds, including a Road Runner singing from atop a cliff.

The next day I rode through Box Canyon, through Mecca (farming town), along the west side of the Salton Sea and then turned west towards Borrego Springs. Until I turned west on the Borrego Salton Sea Way I had a tailwind coming from the northeast. About 3 miles before making the turn, the wind shifted to the west, blowing like hell, as the wind does in the desert in the spring. I could see the dust kicking up so I stopped in a gas station, bought a bandanna, soaked it in the bathroom sink, and kept that over my face as I rode 30 miles into a 20-40 mph headwind through a dust storm at a gruelingly slow pace. I got to the Anza Borrego State Park in the dark, and slept off the parking lot in the visitor center under the stars. Thankfully the park is right up against the east side of the mountains and the wind was much calmer. I woke up a first light to a couple rain drops, the first rain I had seen in at least a month, which created a faint rainbow over the mountains as the sun came up.

Early morning view at Anza Borrego SP in Borrego Springs

Then I did a big climb out of the desert to a Warmshowers host in Julian, a town in the mountains that separate San Diego from the desert. It was a long wonderful climb. The higher I got the more lush and green the vegetation became. Near the top I was riding in the shade of big oak and sycamore trees. I couldn't remember the last time I was riding in shade. The air was cool (upper 40sF) and fresh.

Riding up into the mountains. Green!

The Warmshowers hosts were awesome. Ben and Delaney are a young couple working at Camp Stevens in Julian. They've done a 3/4 of the way around the US trip themselves. I was expecting to be camping in their yard, but they set me up in one of the very nice rooms at the camp, which I had all to myself, private bathroom and huge tea selection included. Just what I needed after a few days of camping with no shower. The weather the next morning was cold, windy, and rainy with occasional snow mixed in, so I spent a second night, hiked up to Vulcan Mt. in the afternoon and joined a group from the camp for dinner and a movie in Ramona. Delaney even treated me to the movie (Divergent), as she was worried I wouldn't like it. There was universal agreement it was not a good movie.

The view from Vulcan Mt summit in Julian. The valley on the left is where the road comes up. A little bit of snow sticking to the trees from the storm that passed through the previous night.

The next day I had a beautiful ride out of the mountains and into San Diego. I figured I would be going downhill entirely, but managed to climb a couple thousand feet in the rolling hills and canyons before I got to the Pacific. The first few nights I stayed in a little casita of Warmshowers hosts, Merle and Linda, in the Normal Heights section of town. It has a couple cots and sink inside, with laundry, shower and toilet in a shed next door. A couple hundred square feet of comfort and everything you need.

The casita at Merle and Linda's place

Merle has a home made bike stand outside the casita, which I decided to make use of. My rear derailleur wasn't shifting well (since Texas) and I had been constantly adjusting the cable tension. I was starting to doubt my mechanic skills but after some reading online I decided it was time for a new one. So $25 later and the new one worked perfectly. I also put on a new rear tire in SD. I got about 6,000 miles out of the first one (Schwalbe Marathon). The back one wore out much faster since I have my bags in the back. This time I went with the Marathon Plus version, which supposedly has a bit more puncture protection.

Lots of cyclists stay in the casita and the neighbors are very friendly. Merle, Jay and another neighbor took me out for beers at the Blind Lady Ale House. More neighbors, young couple that live next door, arrived and I stuck around for more food and beer. I also got to see Tanya, a long lost friend from my summer in Cape Cod (2005?). She moved out to San Diego a year or two ago with her boyfriend Darren, and they live in the North Park section of town. We went out for a good Mexican dinner.

Merle, me and Jay in Normal Heights.

Out to dinner with Tanya, Darren, and a friend.

After a few days in Normal Heights, I moved into a hotel downtown with my friend from New Haven, Emiliano, who was attending a conference in San Diego. Good timing! I did a couple nice rides around the city and relaxed while Emy went to the conference. I like San Diego. The weather is perfect, people are laid back, food is good, and I could easily live there without a car (the airport is adjacent to downtown). The city is mostly friendly to cyclists as the have made a good effort at putting in bike paths and bike lanes. They definitely have more work to do though. Riding down Friars Rd., which is basically a freeway, bike lanes spontaneously disappear in some very critical high speed locations. And of course there are some big hills, but nothing to do about that except get stronger.

When the conference ended, Emy rented a car and we took a road trip to Death Valley NP, Yosemite NP, and ended up in San Francisco. We drove a lot, more than anticipated due to the mountain passes still being closed for the winter, but we did a lot of great hiking, and even a bit of biking in SF. We made it to the top of Wildrose Peak and down to Badwater Basin in Death Valley. We hiked to the top of Vernal Fall and Yosemite Falls in Yosemite, which was definitely the highlight of the trip. I didn't realize how amazing Yosemite is and my jaw dropped when I saw those waterfalls. We spent a day in SF then Emy flew back to CT and I flew back to San Diego. I spent a night at Tanya's after going out for fun 91 cent live music in North Park, and now back on the bike heading up the coast. After going to Yosemite, I've decided to make a side trip out to Sequoia National Park, so stay tuned for pictures of my bicycle with lots of big trees.