Me talking to Paul, my son, after finishing on Wed night:
Me: "I'm hungry"
Paul: "What did you eat today?"
Me: "Some cookies, some Cheetos, some beef jerky, a chocolate milk, a bear claw, a strawberry milk, some cokes"
Paul: "So you eat like an unsupervised 8 year old"
Me: "yeah, that's about it"
I was in Idyllwild two years ago. Got sick the night before the ride started, and barely was able to get my bike into my car and drive home. Think I drank one Coke the whole day, then slept for a whole weekend. Not sure what the heck happened, but was hoping it didn't happen again.
Left Tucson on Thursday morning and made the dash to Idy. Scored a great hot dog at the rest stop on I-10 where the CAP crosses west of Buckeye ( who would have thought, but this guy was selling hot dogs like ganbusters! ). Into Idy in time to checkin to the hotel and get down to a rider's meeting. Hooked up with Sarah and Ed and Mike and we had dinner and then went back to hotel rooms to pack our stuff, figure out where to park cars and get ready.
Day1
Tanya and some folks at the coffee shop had a great breakfast thing going and we got well fed and at about 8 am, started rolling. I stayed in the back, letting the fast people hammer down that steep hill leading out of Idy. The ride went well, past Lake Hemet, up Thomas Mountain and down the back side of it towards Anza. It seems like that descent goes forever. I stopped at the Jilberto's and grabbed a couple of taco's. Ate only one of them, but drank a giant Coke and felt pretty good. Nice ride to Sunshine RV park where I met Sarah again. The two of us rode out of there together and started towards Warner Springs.
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| Ready to roll out from Idyllwild 8am on Friday morning |
I felt pretty good, all along that section of CRHT, climbed up the hill south of Chihuahua Valley Road. Started getting tired by the time I got to Indian Flats campground. There still is a bunch of uphill and I had forgotten about it, and I was starting to get slow. Also, I knew the gas station in Warner Springs was going to close at 5 and didn't have cell reception to call and ask them to stay open just a little bit longer. Finally got on 79 and called them, and they stayed open for me and then two or three others came in, including Sarah. Think we had about 6 of us hanging around. I ordered a couple of cheeseburgers to go, got water, topped off my camelback and started out.
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| CRHT in the land of a thousand false summits |
By the time I got to the Warner Springs info center, my back and butt were soaked from the leaking Camelback. I pulled the bladder out and looked at it and didn't see an obvious problem. Put it back together and by the time I got to the Caltrans yard, I was even more soaked. And it's beginning to get dark. Turned onto 76 and then turned at Josie's and Sarah was there. We got a couple of cokes, and then started up Mesa Grande Road.
No good places to camp and Sarah wanted to get some more miles in. Stopped at one place where a road went off to the right that looked like a possibility and we walked down it ... skunk smell all over the place! ... this is NOT the spot.
Sarah remembered the wide spot in the road campground after the turn off Black Canyon and we stopped there for the night. Something like 80 miles in for the day.
Day 2
We both work up at about 5:00 or so and were on the road by 5:30, riding out of the campground area in the dark. Up Forest Road 12S07 and by sunrise were were at the gate to the single track along Pamo Road. That was a cool section of singletrack, I really enjoyed it. And we heard some turkeys calling and saw them way over by the creek.
Getting to the top of Pamo Road, back on pavement, we decided that we were hungry for real food ( my cheeseburgers were just awful! ), and took the mile off route detour into Ramona. That was an excellent decision. Found a breakfast place, and coffee, eggs, bacon, toast, jam are so much better than some beef jerky and tortilla's.
Got back on route, and the rest went really well. I think we both rode more of the Raptor Ridge trails then before and we got to the Chevron in Escondido. Saw a big rattler on the bike path and waited for him to move along, and then hit the Lake Hodges singletrack. Did better than last time, only walked a little short uphill rocky piece and we stopped at Hernandez Hideaway for lunch. Can't go wrong with sit down food again, and we were ready for the dam and the switchbacks. Was good to finally get onto pavement by Fairbanks Ranch. Del Mar came up pretty quickly and we hit a Starbucks. Probably the slowest service of the whole trip, but drinks finally came.
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| Almost to the pavement near Fairbanks Ranch .. and missed that hole next to the cattle guard |
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| The Beach |
Stopped at Torrey Pines beach, got a couple of photo's and made that climb up to UCSD. There's a section of single track through some woods and it was really fun. And lots of improvements have been made on the bike path going to the In-Out-Burger. The route by Mission Beach is one convoluted thing, so many, many cars! But finally you get to Dog Beach.
As we left, we heard a couple of people cheering and asked if we wanted ice cream or anything. It didn't register to either of us that they might have been watching our dots and we both said we're good and kept on rolling. I feel bad that we didn't stop and chat for a little bit, so whoever you were, we were just a little bonked and wanted to get over the big hill and into a couple of hotel rooms for the night.
There was a deli on the route and we did stop there and scored a couple of great sandwiches! Then navigated through the area by Sunset Cliffs mostly in the dark, up Hill Street and found a Ramada. For $259 each for a room, we were done.
Day 3
Up at about 6, and went to McDonald's and got a couple of big breakfast's. Those things are about the only thing I will eat at McD's, and I really like them. Then we started riding towards the airport and discovered some traffic lanes were blocked off for a half marathon. So we rode in these great blocked off lanes down to the Midway avoiding all of the bike path that starts and stops at every little parking lot. The marathon was starting a little past the Midway, stopped and cheered a few of them on and south we went.
The climb up Sweetwater to the pagoda went really well this year. Last time it seemed like I was walking/pushing through a bunch of tall grass and I knew I was going to get snake bit. It did take us on one piece that had a sign saying something like "this isn't a trail" and we were def routed straight onto it and other riders came down it. At the top at the pagoda we ran into three other riders and they were tracking us!
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| Pagoda at the top of Sweetwater |
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| Apparently we're not supposed to cross this bridge .. ever! |
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| Sweetwater River Bridge |
More riding along the Sweetwater, up and down, up and down, amazing how that area is so close to all of the metropolis and still isolated and fun to ride. Before we got to Sloan Canyon we had turned onto Dehensa and saw the restaurant at the golf course was open. Stopped there and waited a few minutes, got a table outside, and had some lunch. Then rode Sloan Canyon, which is a fun isolated section.
When you get to the end of Sloan, the road pitches up a little, but after that, it's very rideable, and climbs and climbs and then you make left turn back onto the CRHT and it's pretty much straight up hike a bike. Push, push, push towards a red barn on top of the hill and finally get there!
We got to Alpine, stopped at the Shell station where Brendan, Shelly, Cedar and I watched a guy get busted for car theft 5 years ago. We headed out of town and weren't sure if we were going to make Descanso before Veronica's closed, so stopped for pizza. Each of us took some to go and headed out.
Viejas Grade just goes on and on. And the mileage signs tell the mileage past the top, when you get right to the top you have one mile to go!
It was cold, cold, cold going downhill to Descanso and we hit Veronica's at about 7:30 and they close at 8. I got taco;s and Sarah got a soup ( better choice! ), then we rode up the Merigan fire road and camped for the night on the side of it.
Day 4
The weather forecast for Monday in Alpine was going to be an inch of rain and much colder weather. We woke to clouds and a low hanging marine layer. As we went up 79 the sky cleared and then it cleared quite a bit. It was pretty on the trails to Mt Laguna, but towards the top of Indian Ridge the weather really started moving in. Got to where the Pine Mountain Trail came in and I stopped, then immediately continued down Indian Ridge. I thought we were supposed to hit Pine Mountain Road ( there's a difference! ) .. got down this hill and the weather was really coming and we took Skyline Road to Sunrise Highway.
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| Where the single track intersected Indian Creek Road .. and the sun was out |
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| When we finished the summit Evan was there to get our photos and the storm had moved in! |
As I get there, a camper truck is parked and I see someone scrambling around and a guy comes out and says "I'm supposed to photograph you" ... It was Evan, from Bikepacking.com. He took a couple of photos as Sarah and I tried to dig out warmer stuff for the descent.
We tookoff, fighting heavy winds and cold and rain that was just starting. Felt luck to get down the mountain and made the turn towards Oriflamme and the sun was back out.
Rocky descent as always, stumbled, almost crashed, banged a rib on a handlebar that came around and walked entirely too much. Finally down to the sand and Sarah points out a rattler in full on strike ready mode!
Nice quick ride to Butterfield and we resupplied at the store there. The rain was lightly coming down and you couldn't tell if it was going to just blow over or come a deluge. Rode out of there with awesome tailwinds, bathroom break at Vallecito and we bypassed Aqua Caliente.
As we turned off the pavement, Eric and Shaun (sp?) pulled up in a car and chatted. They were packing it up, between numb fingers and a knee that got hurt hammering up Hill Street in Ocean Beach.
The sand in Arroyo Tapiado wasn't too bad, but the wind was against us, so the combination made for slow going. We were close to Diablo Dropoff at sundown and the wind was picking up so we camped. I got some cover from some bushes that worked a bit and Sarah ended up having to setup and then move her tent due to the wind. I rained quite a bit in the night, but the tent kept me dry.
Day 5
Up early, beautiful sunrise. Diablo Dropoff was rideable! Sweet riding until we encountered some mud and then it went really really slow. I left camp first and somehow Sarah passed me ... the Fish Wash area is just all spread out. Cleaned mud off the bike a few times, carried it a few times, I could ride in some of the wet sections and the water would help wash the mud off the bike. In other places just crossing two or three feet of wet stuff would muddy up the bike and make it unrideable.
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| Early morning before Diablo Dropoff |
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| Smiles before the wind kicked in |
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| Could hear the metal in the sculptures moving in the wind |
But we finally got out and I met Sarah at Split Mountain Road.
And then the wind started.
I think that was the worst wind I have ever ridden in. When I passed the American Legion on Borrego Springs Road I could barely peddle forward. Got blown into the traffic lane once, scared the daylights out of me as I just had no control. I walked a little bit, stopped and saw some of the metal sculptures and finally got to Jilberto's. Ordered huevos rancheros and it was delicious! Resupplied at the liquor store and went to the little park at the circle. They have bathrooms and few electrical outlets and I recharged for about 15 minutes or so. Sarah came over and we left about 3 pm.
The wind was still kicking and we were thinking Bailey's for the night. At sundown I was still a mile or so south of the gate to the Middle Willows. I camped and knew Sarah was behind me. Told a driver going the other way to tell her I was camped at that spot for the night. I left a blinkie on the back of my bike so Sarah could find me. The wind blew and blew ... I finally pulled my tent pole down on top of me and fell asleep.
Day 6 - the finish
Woke up and the tent almost blew away as I was packing it up. Wondered where Sarah was and I was pretty sure I saw her tracks, so she had passed me earlier before I woke up. Ran into her at the entrance to Middle Willows.
Middle Willows is amazing, so much water in the middle of the desert. Went well until my chain fell off and somehow the chain got wrapped around the derailleur into one tightly bound mess ... couldn't roll the wheel forward or backward. Knew I'd break things if I forced it, so stopped and tried to pull the rear wheel .. too bound up to even do that ... then undid the screw holding the derailleur on and got enough looseness in the system to get the rear wheel off, and straighten things out. Got it all back together without destroying anything as Sarah came back from scouting out the best exit ... seemed like there were tracks going in a couple of different directions from that point.
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| Middle Willows |
Things were pretty rideable after exiting the Willows. Slow going but rideable and the wind had died! Got to Bailey's and someone had left some water and I drank one of the bottles. The road from Bailey's was pretty sandy and the wind kicked up a little more and it was slow going for me getting to the climb.
At the climb Sarah and I met a wildlife biologist lady. She was scouting bighorn sheep. Seemed nice enough but she started going on about how she "rode all of this stuff" and her husband "rode the willows nonstop" and it was kinda annoying. Actually it ticked me off but that was what I needed as I said a few words under my breath as we pushed up the rubble to more rideable sections.
Get to the entrance gates at the top and it's all graded smooth stuff going forward. Got to the top of one of the climbs and some local folks, the "Anza Peloton" were waiting for us. We talked with them for a bit and they rode with us to Terwilliger Road. Sam, one of the members, decided to ride with us to Paradise Valley Cafe.
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| Sarah, Sam and I |
We stopped at Lake Hemet, and then up Keen Camp summit. I stopped and a car pulled up behind me and it was Sam and his dog Cookie. Petted Cookie and talked to Sam and then Sarah pulled up and Sam had these bananas from Thailand that were delicious!
One quick downhill and we climbed into Idy, briefly chatting with Brendan as the sun was sitting and finished at 6:24, so about 5 days 10:24, call it 5 1/2 days. Pretty much the same time as I had in 2015 and 2017.
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| Finishers sheet at Idyllwild Inn ... we made it! |
Susan got discharged from the hospital by the time I finished, and was resting at home. I drove downhill, hit an In-Out-Burger in Indio ( still having dirt and mud from the Willows on me ... one stinky old man waiting for his burger! ), and then drove to Blythe, got a room for the night and drove home the next morning.
Got home, checked on Susan and washed my bike. My poor bicycle was making so many weird noises ... it would squeak and squeal going forwards or backwards ... turned out to be just dirt in the brakes ... pulling the wheels and washing both calipers really good fixed that issue, and the derailleur is working just fine, so ready for more miles.
Thanks to Brendan for originally setting this thing up and to Meg for organizing and running the current event! It's crazy hard and just amazing that some folks finished in under 2 days!
Maybe next year? Who knows?
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