Notes From the Road
Day 1: Ocean Beach to Alpine
September 20th - a date which had been circled on our calendars for a long time had arrived. With cold Pacific waters christening the tires, we pulled ourselves away from frolicking puppies, turned our backs to the ocean, and headed eastward towards the rising sun. MILE ZERO of 3,000 that will eventually carry us across California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and finally on to Florida & the Atlantic. From the proverbial sea to shining sea… Team Navarro’s EPI-Coast to Coast ride has officially embarked.
Day 2: Alpine to Desert Tower
Pushing onward through the Anza-Borrego Desert, we skimmed the southern boundary of our nation and glanced into neighboring Mexico. This was to be our first, but certainly not our last interaction with the borderlands. The climb towards the Jacumba Wilderness led us to the iconic Desert Tower for the night, where we were treated to incredible views of the Imperial Valley below. The tower provided the perfect perch for watching an incredible full moon rise over the rock outcroppings.
Day 3: Desert Tower to Brawley
Dropping 3,000 feet in 15 miles, the morning started off with a spectacular descent, followed by a HOT (111 degree) cruise through the Imperial Valley, a vast agricultural zone just south of the Salton Sea. Farmers here harness water from the Colorado River to produce prolific amounts of alfalfa, among other commercial crops. Sitting at 112 feet BELOW sea level now, we pulled into the farming community of Brawley for some outstanding Mexican food & a bed for the night.
Day 4: Brawley to Blythe
An impediment to human travel for centuries, our morning began by crossing the vast Algodones Sand Dunes (known to most simply as Glamis). 45 miles long and 6 miles wide, this “erg” - the technical term for a large collection of windswept sand covering a desert floor, is out of this world. Thought to be the remnants of a massive inland sea that covered the Imperial Valley until as late as the 1400’s, this spectacular sandbox is actually moving about 1 foot per year thanks to the prevailing westerlies. Star Wars fans might recognize it as the filming location of Tatooine from Return of the Jedi.
The sand gives way to jagged peaks, which in turn open up to a fertile valley surrounded by mountainous wilderness areas on all sides. Salvation from the harsh Sonoran Desert comes from the modest tail-end of the now diffused Colorado River, forming the natural barrier between California and Arizona. The town of Blythe, where we spent our last night in California, is so hot that the local baseball team, in an intimidation power-play, called the team… The Heat. You can expect temperatures well over 90 degrees for about half the year around here.
Day 5: Blythe to Salome
ARIZONA: Winter is at 6am, Spring starts at 10am, Summer is at 2pm, and Fall starts around 4:30ish.
How many cyclists out there can say they’ve ridden clear across California? Sure, it may be a little easier going west to east as opposed to north to south, but nonetheless crossing the border into Arizona was reason to celebrate. The Colorado River rolled on underneath us as we laid tread on the first of seven state lines this journey will require us to cross.
Aside from the natural beauty, the ruins from more prosperous decades past gave us plenty to look at. The whole scene felt a bit post-apocalyptic as we approached Salome… the town “where she danced” (a reference to a 1945 western drama loosely based on the life of Lola Montez).
Happy to have completed a nearly 3,000’ day, we joined for the weekly fish fry at the Stanford Inn and called it a night.
Day 13: Lordsburg to Deming
***FOLLOW THE HIGHWAY! Do not take Continental Divide Trail as it appears on the RWGPS map