Rose Pedals . . .: Hurts So Good

Day 1
Sunday, September 13, 2015
San Diego, CA to Julian, CA
78 miles
8,200 feet of climbing

As we expected, it was a very challenging first day: hot, sunny and plenty of hills. Almost all of the day's climbing took place in the first 56 miles, which made for some very long, unrelenting climbs and sore legs. I had that John Cougar Mellencamp song, "Hurts So Good" playing in my head all day. Art & I "christened" the ride by making our customary wrong turn at mile 5, which added two miles to the day's planned route (which included a steep one-mile climb). It was good to get that mishap out of the way early and establish my reputation as a person not to follow. As we climbed, we rode on roads that provided very little shade from the blazing sunshine, so the heat was really beating us up. Many of us riders experienced leg cramps and other issues due to the extreme heat. When we arrived at our lunch stop at mile 56, we loaded up on Endurolytes, Gatorade and lots of salty foods to restore balance to our respective electrolyte levels. After that, I felt much, much better and, although my legs were feeling the pain of all the climbing, I was able to convince them to keep pedaling. After lunch, the remaining 22 miles of the ride consisted of rolling terrain with a fair amount of descending as we dropped down into the town of Julian. Julian is a small, historic, gold-mining town with a population of about 1,500, and is a California Historical Landmark. Art & I had a fantastic dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant just a block away from the Julian Bed and Breakfast, our lodging for the night. We were so stuffed from dinner that we didn't have room for apple pie - a specialty of Julian.
Although today's ride was tough, it was a great day on the bike. It's sort of a metaphor for life: as long as you keep the pedals going, you're going to get to your destination. Even if you take a wrong turn. : )