The plan for the next few days is to get up and moving early, get the miles done, and then wait to check-in to wherever I’m staying. I want to get the miles done before the heat sets in.
I love having an alarm set for 4:30 and waking up at 4:15. You almost want to try to get that extra 15 minutes of sleep. I didn’t and let the feet hit the floor. It took me a little longer than I would have expected to get rolling, but I enjoyed the visit with my father-in-law while I was getting ready. He even sent me off and watched me roll away.
Leaving my in-laws’ house I was immediately happy for the fact I had given them some thinner and lighter simmer riding clothes for this leg of the trip. I was a little cool to start, but warmed up immediately with a quick climb right out of the gate.
I made my way east to connect with Lytle Creek Road. When I got to where I was to join it I found it was closed off due to construction. I checked Google Maps and found another road that should get the job done. As I started up Coyote Canyon Road it wasn’t long when I saw a “No Outlet” sign. I continued on as Google showed it went through. I came up to a gate for construction access and decided I would keep going to see if I could go through. Besides if Google showed it going through it would eventually and if I was lucky it was already complete. Well luck was on my side and all I had to do was push Shadow over a small berm to get through to Lytle Creek Road. Sweet!
Now I got this great quiet road all to myself in the eastbound direction. Didn’t have a single car going my direction, but there were a couple construction guys coming my way. I assume they were working on the new distribution center that is under construction.
I eventually made it over to Cajon Boulevard which is also historic Route 66. Of course I had to make a stop to grab a quick pic with a Route 66 shield. This also started the lion’s share of the climbing. The road my way was very quiet, but the opposite direction was much busier. I had expected this with people coming down from the high desert for work.
As I approach the end of this section of Route 66 I started getting nervous about not only the interstate riding, but the monster climb up Cajon Pass. Perhaps as a preview, there was a nice kicker to take me to the on-ramp. I stopped at the bottom of the on-ramp, took a deep breath, and pushed off.
I’ll be honest, in hindsight it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had made it out to be beforehand. I’ll also admit that I’m my own harshest critic and doubter. As I started I had serious worries that I might not make it to the top. Something would happen or I would fall apart. Nothing of the sort happened and I just kept spinning to the top. I spotted the Oak Hill Road Exit 1 Mile sign and started getting worked up. I saw the sign for the summit and said, “Your damned right I’m getting a picture with that sign.” Once I made the exit I was yelling for joy. I pulled off to let the wife know I was at the top, off the freeway, and safe. Also allowed me a few minutes to compose myself before continuing on.
As I started along Mariposa Road not only was it downhill I had a tailwind as well. I put my head down and without even pushing hard I was cruising at 30 MPH. I was flying and had a grin going from ear to ear. Kept telling myself, “I earned this!” Shout out to the Cycling Gods!
I checked the time and I had made amazing time. I told my father-in-law that if I made it to Victorville before noon I would call it a win. Here I was and it wasn’t even 10:00 yet. I found a nice Starbucks that was along my route to the hotel and pulled off to hang out until check-in time.
Around 2:00 I called it and rolled over to the hotel to see if I could get checked in early. Nice guy working the lobby got me checked in immediately. Now I get to chill out and relax for the rest of the night. I will get to bed early to leave early for Yermo. According to Garmin it’s not much climbing and overall downhill. I’ll also be riding a stretch of historic Route 66 for most of the day. Hopefully get some cool pictures.
New bike fund: $21.76 (+$0.25)
44.64 new miles — From Wandrer.earth
Clear-Sunny, 66°F-97°F, Feels like 64°F-99°F, Humidity 69%-10%, Wind NNE 2mph-S 15mph – by Klimat.app
— myWindsock Report —
Weather Impact: 0.8%
Headwind: 90% @ 0.5-9.2mph
Longest Headwind: 04h 55m 44s
Air Speed: 12.2mph
Temp: 63.8-77.5°F
Precip: 0% @ 0 Inch/hr
— END —
Max elevation: 4043 ft
Min elevation: 1446 ft
Total climbing: 3518 ft
Total descent: -2077 ft
Total time: 09:05:21
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