Day 0 (Mon, 11 Feb)

Day 0 (Mon, 11 Feb)

A few updates for today:

1. I made it efficiently into San Diego today - good flights and nice weather (55F) in San Diego.  Bike and equipment all made it safely on the flight.  I'll assemble it all today and be ready to go by 7a on Tuesday.

2. Here is a picture of the gear I'm bringing along with me.  Amazing that it all fits in the bags...

3. A couple of notes on gear choices.  Overall of course a goal is to minimize the added weight, but with that said the extra gear, rack and bags will add about 40 lbs to my normal bike weight.  For the most part I'm just bringing along 1 of everything that I think I'll need for cycling clothes and 1 set of street clothes.  Add to that sufficient capacity/capability for water/food and bike repair to make it 90-100 miles even if there is no place to stop along the way.  I've also needed to bring some colder weather gear that I'll use for at least the first 2-3 weeks going over the mountains in CA, AZ and NM.

4. Below are some pictures I took today on the flight into San Diego:

A. Julian, CA is in the mountains somewhere under those clouds.  That will be my goal for Tuesday.

B. Brawley, CA is at the end of that lake (which is the Salton Sea - I believe it is at or just below sea level).  This picture is looking south.  That is the goal for Wednesday night.

C. Southeastern CA and perhaps western AZ - I'll be riding through that on Thursday.  Looks kind of desolate...