Bombay Beach Run, Feb. 11, 2012

It was an interesting and exciting ride today as we left the Salton Sea area. We decided to end up in Cambria, and travel first through the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. It was pretty, but cloudy, cold and windy with sand blowing across the road. Sideways riding, a little sand.

At this point I was already cold. I did not have on either long johns or heavy socks. I had plugged my electric jacket liner in but decided to finally plug in my gloves. That helped a lot and I knew I'd be okay.

Mountains, cold, wind, fog. That's what you'd want to ride in down here in sunny California. NOT!! But that's what we did. We did the stretch of road that ended up in Santa Maria, about 113 miles from the other side of the mountains. We'd gone from below sea level at the Salton Sea to the summit of one mountain that was about 5,000 feet, others were 4,000. I could see snow and hoped we'd not run into any because there's nowhere to stop, nothing. I could only imagine that this ride would be a favorite if the weather were warmer, and more cooperative, and it was daylight the entire way. On the way down we did see an incredible sunset with pinks and oranges. But I was really cold now. We had stopped for gas and I used the ladies room. My legs were so red and splotchy I didn't think they were mine. That's what I get for not planning for this trip properly. I'm too used to riding in the hundred-degree stuff down here and not thinking this could be cold down here. February, duh!!

Finally got to Cambria in the dark, arriving at the wrong hotel. We backtracked to the right one. The motel manager was still there, waiting for us as it was nearly 9 p.m. He'd seen us go by and wondered where we'd went. The manager told us to park in the handicapped spot so we put Jaz's bandana over the handicapped parking sign and moved on into our handicapped room for the night. We ordered up a pizza and salad before we'd even unloaded the bikes. Being so cold, we stayed fully dressed in nearly all of our gear until after we'd finished eating. Wore socks to bed, and swore that tomorrow I'd dress better for the weather. But all ended well after a day of hard riding.