400km San Diego brevet, April 2006

This last saturday I went on the 400km brevet organized in San Diego. The ride was cold, rainy, with even a bit of hail. And much more climbing than I had anticipated. When the sun started to go down after 200km, I decided that I would enjoy the night in my bed more than on my bike. I called it a day and tried to figure out a way to come back to my car. I was on the side of a highway, so I hitch-hiked back to Ramona. In Ramona I was lucky and found a couple who went out of their way and wasted more than an hour of their time to take me back to the ocean. The road was dangerous, winding with no shoulder so I would have stayed in a motel rather than riding it at night, but hitch-hiking worked...

6am. Bruce is here, I ride a bit with him	Leaving Cardiff-by-the-sea on the Pacific coast highway.	Top of the first long climb	Strawberries ? I want to buy some !
I buy strawberries, grapefruit, and try various homemade jams	after 60 miles, on the side of I-8	the sky is completely covered today.	First check point
Mario's wife brough lasagna, he gives me some	After lots of climbing, we enter the cloud layer	At 6000ft, it's extremely cold	One volunteer gives me newspaper to keep me warm
Top of the climb - I've climbed about 10000ft today...	Time to unpack a ham sandwich	Nice view	Mario's taking my picture. I have 'newspaper belly' !
Rain and a bit of hail	Some wildflowers for my girlfriend Chihiro	In Julian, we stop for a good lunch	Another flower on the side of the road
In the fog	Leftover cherry blossoms	down in the warmer valley.	It's getting dark, let's drop and call it a day