What a Difference!

(I'm posting this from a little park on the Cahuulla Reservation. This is the post for yesterday.)

Today was a different ride (in a number of ways). The terrain was desert, the hills were mostly down and I didn't see any other cyclists except one gal who exited the road onto a trail before I caught up to her.

I left Mt. Laguna with a nice long descent. The views were spectacular of the desert below and the mountains (hopefully, I'll get a chance to post pics soon). It was pretty quiet on the road until I got closer to Julian. There were a few hills on the way to Julian, but nothing like yesterday! I pulled into Julian hoping for some place with Wi-Fi. No such luck. But, I did find a bakery! Actually, there seemed to be several in this little one-street town! Could be due to the "World Famous Julian Pies" which, strangely, I didn't have. It was only 11:00. I had a cinnamon roll. I spent the better part of an hour eating that and posting yesterday's blog from my phone.

After Julian, it was more downhill to Santa Ysabel where I met two couples who were very interested in Stella and her gear. Turns out the one couple are Warmshowers hosts on the Southern Tier Route. They said if I ever do S.T. to stay with them.

I wanted to top off my water because I knew there was some climbing ahead and I didn't want to run out. Then I was back on the road. The road out of Santa Ysabel started going up soon. It seemed long because it was hot but, again, nothing like the day before. I also tried out my solar phone charger. I'm not sure how well it worked, but I was able to leave it in the sun for a long time when I got to Oak Grove.

I went through a couple more small towns, Warner Springs and Sunshine Summit before getting to Oak Grove (pop. 100--97 pleasant people and 2-3 grouchy ones--so the sign says). Tonights camping cost $15, but there are no showers. Funny thing--when a park has H/B sites, they seem to be as far from the restrooms as possible. Here, I can camp in any site. I chose a nice one close to the newer looking restrooms. After I paid for my site, I realized those restrooms were closed. I STILL had a long walk to the nearest restroom! At least my campsite is very nice. Besides, with all the sun and sweating, I don't have to go that much anyway...

Since tomorrow appears to be another long day of climbing (from 2200 ft. back up to over 6000 ft.), I'd better get an earlier start.

Total miles: 58.2
Ave. speed: 12.6
Max: 37.4
Ride time: 4:35
Actual time: 6 1/2 hours