Day 0 - Mile 0 - 23 (Today: 23 miles, 891 ft ascent, 284 ft descent)

Imperial Beach to Pio Pico RV Resort & Campground, CA

Being not tall, the back of the 4Runner is pretty comfortable for me, Tim seemed to manage.  Just after 7 AM, Jimmy was poking his face into the windows of the 4Runner to see if we were awake.  Since we went to sleep at a decent hour, we had actually just woke up.  Most of them had already eaten breakfast and was dressed in their bicycling gear.  Tim and i have a lot to do before we are ready to go today.  We have to finalize what we are taking with us on the ride and what we are going to leave in the 4Runner till we see it again in May.  This shouldn’t have been too hard, except it is still raining. 
Around 8:45 AM all the bicycles and people were packed in the 4Runner and Patrick’s pickup and we were headed to Imperial Beach for the start of the ride…in the rain.  Tim, Mary, and I drove to the storage place as the others headed to Imperial Beach.  We filled out the paperwork and by the time Patrick dropped everyone off at the beach and came to pick us up, we were ready to park the 4Runner.  Oh…by the way…it is pouring rain.  ​

According to the radar, there will be a pause in the rain around 11 AM, so when we were all finally at Imperial Beach we threw on our helmets, grabbed the bicycles, and headed onto the beach to dip our rear tires in the Pacific Ocean.  At this point the rain had subsided some, but it windy and just not too fun to be out there.  Patrick did get some awesome shots though:

Imperial Beach, San Diego, California

Gerri

Tim

Jackie

Jimmy

Bill

Mel

Mary

Rear tire dipped in the Pacific Ocean

Finally, at 11:01 AM we began our ride from Imperial Beach, California with our destination being St. Augustine Florida…well, today’s destination is Pio Pico RV Resort.

Last minute adjustments

Finally...on our way

It was drizzly, but everyone seemed pretty happy to be underway.  It was decided that we will all stay together today since there were many turns to get out of San Diego, and yes, we did miss one turn.

The drizzle turned to flat out rain and we continued to pedaling until we made it back to the RV park and Patrick at 1:41 PM.

Mary pedaling between puddles

Jackie and Jimmy arriving in the rain

Pouring at the end of the ride

It was still raining, so we popped in The Terminator and vegged out a bit before we decided that we would drive down the road for dinner and then found out that we were trapped in the RV Resort due to flooding on the roads.  Luckily Mel made some vegetarian “meat” sauce, so her and Jackie prepared spaghetti and “meat” sauce for dinner.  It was actually really nice having everyone scrunched around a table in the RV eating dinner together.

Yes, 8 people can fit around a table in an RV

After dinner, Patrick and I walked down towards the entrance of the camp to see what the situation was.  It wasn’t good.  The bridge we came over right when we enter the camp had a river of water going over it.  On the walk back to the RV we stopped a truck that had made it over the bridge.  He said he thought the river would peak around 10 AM and that by noon we should be able to get out.

So now, as we are getting ready for bed, we are just hoping that the bicycles and Patrick will be able to get out here tomorrow and continue our ride.  There is a chance we will be stuck here one more night and would have to then skip the next 35 miles, but at this point, we are all hoping for the best.

Again, because of the rain, Tim and I decided not to pitch our tent.  Tim is sleeping on the floor of the RV and I am currently laying here in the back seat of Patrick’s truck where I am going to sleep.​

Yes, the start at the beach was windy and wet; yes, we got a little lost; yes, it rained the entire ride on us; and yes, it was a great start to what promises to be a great adventure.