Jacumba to Brawley, Day 4

This is perhaps the most anxiety producing ride in the first week. We leave the sleepy border town and head up into the mountains to meet up with the 8. The downward mostly 6% grade is scary for drivers and truckers but can be petrifying for cyclists,.

We were taking the road after some significant aftershocks had shaken the area. Poolside on Friday we watched water slosh in the fountain as the dog Sheeba fetch rocks from it. Since the mountains in this area look like precariously piled marbles, we expected to see lots of debris on the road. There was actually very little.

We got to El Centro and then on the last leg up to Brawley Dave had his first blowout on his new bike. He was in luck, because in an otherwise pretty desolate area there was one patch os lush soft green grass. Took awhile cause we kept messing up the inner tubes, the the learning experience made it quite worth while.