Day 1, San Diego to Alpine

Well day one is in the bag. For this Florida flatlander it was a hard day. Up to 13% grades with a headwind!

I did have fun and rode with and had a great lunch with some nice people.

Dinner here in Alpine was salad, prime rib, chicken, roasted veggies, baked potatoes and brownies for dessert! Not too shabby for a bicycle camping trip huh?

Tomorrow is even more climbing :-( but the great news is that I have booked a massage with our in house masseuse for after the ride!

Is all this just plain decadent or what?

What is seriously cool/interesting/startling, at least to me, is how relaxed and unconcerned I am. I am so use to being in charge of every detail, every aspect of everything when I bike (or just about everything) . I am usually spending all my time thinking about and planning and worrying over whatever needs to be done later that day or the next day or the next. I am really enjoying not having to concentrate on basically, ANYTHING but riding.  Very different for me and very cool.

Being the guy who always likes to take care of others, I find I could get used to being pampered!

Posting this from my phone, in my sleeping bag in my tent with poor data service here in the mountains. I'll try to add some pics but might have to wait to do that tomorrow afternoon with the campgrounds Wi-Fi.

the traditional dipping of the rear wheel at departure

somewhere east of SD

home for the night