Day 45 (40 riding): Total overall distance: 2974.23mi Total distance today: 58.59mi Total time: 4.34.57 Avg speed: 12.8mph Top speed: 43.0mph

Random thoughts of the day:
-I haven't been cheered for this much since...ever I think
-This is the last climb of the trip...eventually I am going to say that and it is going to be true
-Goodbye mountains, it was nice doing business with you
-I rode away from the hotel 3 hours ago...and have gone .18 miles
-Mmmmmm
-Tomorrow will be quite a sense of accomplishment
-Yes!!!! A new personal best for high speed...coulda gone higher...but I thought about my tube exploding again and that would end badly for me
-If a leprechaun caught the easter bunny...would it create a super holiday...like Easter Patrick's Day?

Today was quite a day. Nadine and I got up and out of our "hotel" room by 8:30 and headed diagonally across the street to the only store in town to have a bite to eat and wait for Ricky and Paul to show up after they climbed the mountain that we climbed last night. They eventually showed up around 10:45 or so and we all had some snacks before heading out around 11:15 or so. They were planning on finishing in San Diego today and I was planning on ending about 20-25 miles short of the beach in order to have a nice easy short ride tomorrow as sort of a celebratory victory lap to the ocean where my brother would be waiting.

Over the next 3 hours, we rode through some neat little towns and were wven cheered for at one point by a bunch of kids on a school playground. It seems like everyone we pass knows we are almost done! We went up 4 separate 1000'-1200' climbs just to drop down the same distance just to go back up. Quite silly and tiring in the heat. Going down those descents was obviously quite fun, and on one of them I even set a new personal speed record of 43mph. I was about to pedal and try to get to at least 45mph and hopefully 50, but then the thought of my tube exploding or even just losing a little air crept into my head and I rode the breaks down to 35mph for the rest of the descent. Anyway, the ascents weren't too bad, mainly because I knew it was the last day of climbing! It was pretty hot which stunk but it wasn't as overbearingly hot as yesterday. We stopped to have lunch at a small diner in the town of Pine Valley which was just before the last major climb. We ate so much food that the waiter was so impressed, he gave us 2 free ice cream shakes as long as we finished them. They were gone 2 minutes later. Then we just hung around for a few minutes...not sure why, we just didn't want to leave. Ricky and Nadine fixed Nadine's back breaks before the long descent into the suburbs of San Diego and I called around looking for a campsite or cheap hotel to stay at. At that point, they still had 50 or so miles if they wanted to get to the beach and it was already 4:00. I had struck out on every level with finding respectable campsites or hotels before San Diego. The only good campsite was closed and the rest were outrageously expensive. The hotels on the route were as well. We left anyway with nobody really having a plan as to what to do after the descent from the mountains. We were so excited to leave the mountains behind us though, that we just went. The ride down was fun. It was very little pedaling and on good roads for the most part, including a small portion on Interstate 8 again. When we reached the bottom, it was just about sunset and we stopped to formulate a plan. The 3 of them decided not to go for the beach tonight but to stop early. Since that was my plan too, we then tried to find a decent hotel not too far away. We ended up finding a Motel 6 in El Cajon, about 30 miles from the beach but off the ACA route. So here we are, in a Motel 6 after eating at the Chinese Buffet across the street. We are watching the show "How it's made" on Ricky's phone that is attached to Paul's computer that is attached to Paul's projector which is set up to project the show on the wall of the room. We know how to travel. This show is really incredible by the way.

Nights like this make me really happy that I found these guys and was lucky enough to be accepted into their group. It makes me wonder how i even spent the majority of this trip by myself. I guess it's fitting though that I finish the trip by myself tomorrow. We will be leaving at separate times and to slightly different locations I believe. Anyway, it's fitting to finish the journey the same way I started it and spent most of it...by myself. I'll meet up with these guys again tomorrow night I think for a "last supper." It will be tough to part ways as they have become good friends. We have spent a good bit off time together in the last few weeks.

Now a brief note about tomorrow. I cannot believe that my journey is 30 miles from being completed. I have no idea what I am going to do after I finish. I haven't gone 2 days in a row with riding my bike since Jan 9&10. I have no idea what emotions I will feel upon dipping my front tire in the Pacific Ocean but I know I will have a tremendous feeling of accomplishment and for that I am excited.

So I will talk to you all on the other side of my journey...tomorrow night!

Day 43 (38 riding): Total overall distance: 2858.62mi Total distance today: 89.23mi Total time: 6.19.52 Avg speed: 14.1mph Top speed: 32.0mph

Random thoughts of the day:
-it's quite entertaining to pedal away from a jute box blasting Metallica's "Enter Sandman"...at 7:15 in the morning
-A homeless guy asked to recite a poem he wrote for a couple bucks...the deal died when it was a poem I've heard before
-This reflective vest makes me look fat, which coincidently helps my ability to be seen
-These sand dunes are awesome...now someone tell me how the heck they got here
-I miss VCR's and VHS rewinding machines
-What does the G stand for in 3G on phones?
-Bow ties look dumb on 96% of people
-Nadine you don't have a flat tire...it's still round...just with no air in it anymore
-California has to be the hitchhiker capital of the country
-The world is truly a tiny place
-Ricky is ridiculous

Today was a beautiful day to ride a bike. We left at 7:15 and it was already sunny and 70 degrees outside. After a quick stop at Starbucks where a homeless guy tried to pull a fast one and get paid for an "original" poem about Timbuktuh that a few of you have probably heard before. It didn't work and I don't think he was homeless anyway, I mean he was drinking a coffee from Starbucks which had to of cost at least 5 bucks. Then we took off for what we heard would be the most dangerous road yet. It took about 25 miles to get to the bad part, but for 20 miles, it was easily the most dangerous section of road thus far. For starters there were no shoulders at all and on top of thr, if you went off the road...you were in a ditch. That was especially bad in this section, because it was full of big dips and hills meaning while going down into a dip and then back up out of it...you couldn't be seen by cars coming into the dip from behind you at 50-60mph. Long story short, the idea was to go from top of hill to top of hill as fast as possible while there was no traffic. Plus we wore reflective vests to add a bit of safety. We made it through those rollers and came out at the Chocolate Mountains which are named that because of their dark brown color. Really cool looking mountains and there was a US Navy artillery firing range at the base which we couldn't really see but is still cool.

Shortly after the mountains, we stopped for a quick lunch at the entrance to the Imperial Sand Dumes just past Glamis, CA. These dunes may very well be the most impressive naturistic things I've seen on this whole trip. They last for about 10 miles and are probably 15 miles wide. They are absolutely incredible to see and are a very beautiful sight. I have absolutely no idea why they are here or how they formed, but they are awesome.

Shortly after we left the dunes and entered into the ugly part of the desert, just shrubs and dirt, Nadine got a flat in her back tire. As you can tell by the pic below, changing the tire was pretty dirty business. It took a little while but luckily we had an hour till sunset (we spent a while in the dunes posing for pictures and just looking at their awesomeness) and 15 miles to go. That meant the timing was going to be about perfect in terms of arriving in Brawley, CA at sunset. After the desert, we rode through a lot of fields of I'm not sure what and some cow pastures. It was a really pleasant ride minus the slight odor of cow manure. The sun was setting behind mountains in the distance, birds were chirping everywhere, and the sky was still a beautiful blue color. Just fantastic. We rolled into Brawley and stopped to determine our home for the night. The only campsite was 6 miles off route and 8 miles away...so we checked into a hotel. Then we went shopping at the grocery store and bought $70 worth of food for dinner and lunch tomorrow. As we were starting to prepare dinner, I text Ricky asking him where he was. His response was odd...saying "more importantly where are you guys?" I let him know and we texted a couple more times with him never telling me where he was. Then he called me and told me to open the door. The fact that he was standing outside was ridiculous. He started 60 miles behind us and 150 miles away from here!! 150 miles in one day is incredible, and through the desert no less. Anyway, it's cool that the 4 of us are back rising together for the last few days.

It's insane that I actually have to have a really short day in order to reach San Diego beach on Saturday and not on Friday. My brother Kyle isn't available to meet me at the beach on Friday so Saturday it is. Luckily, there is a hot springs campsite that is reachable tomorrow to kill half a day.

Here comes the fun part...I am at sea level now and obviously the beach is at sea level. Therefore I had an assumption that it would be an easy last 135 miles or so to the ocean. However, I forgot about the 4,600' mountain in between here and there. I guess America isn't going to let me finish this trip easily! So tomorrow we plan on climbing up 4,600' in 20 miles to the hot springs in Jacumba, CA. Should be awesome!!!! You can see the steepness of the mountain in the elevation picture below.

Oh, and we met a guy going east to D.C. Who has the same exact business card as me and is even using crowdrise too as a fundraising site...what a tiny world!!