Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Boulevard KOA to El Centro Quality Inn








Today was a great ride with almost 4000 foot downhill ride.

We started at the KOA which is down a thousand feet from the town of Boulevard. We packed and get going a bit later than planned. We had about 10 miles of mixed flat and climbing. Along the way we found a quick breakfast at a convenience store. We were also chased by a very fast happy looking dog, the concern was hitting him vs being bitten. Soon after we road along the Mexico boarder and the wall which is a literal and figurative scar across the country. Then we hit the downhill section where we dropped at a 6% grade for 6+ miles. With 50 pounds of gear the primary challenge was to keep the bikes below 25 MPH! At the bottom we found a gas station and refilled our waters and had a snack. I also checked my brakes and found my front rotor was discolored from the heat of braking. From there we headed to S80 which was our route, we found a "Bridge out 3.5 miles" sign and started to head back. By luck a Sheriff was behind us and told us we could go around the bridge (dry gulch), good thing because the "alternate" route was 11 miles longer and no services. S80 is by far the roughest road I have been on. It shook a bolt loose from my rear rack, lucky I had extra. A quick stop at a convenience store for bananas and an electrolyte drink and we finished the day in El Centro at 104f. The easiest day so far!

Check out my ride on Strava.
https://strava.app.link/52GhqQDyKjb


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