Saturday, August 17, 2013

The riders are home. They flew into Dulles International Airport around 3:20pm today and we picked them up. They are already talking about doing a Century Ride Labor Day Weekend.

I'll post some of the pictures Karl took with his good camera when I get a chance, which might not be until next weekend.

Friday, August 16, 2013 Last Full Day in San Diego

Today was Karl and Zach last day in San Diego. They were touring an old wooden battleship when I spoke to him a little while ago. He said they had been sightseeing around the harbor.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Karl and Zach rode their final 8 miles around San Diego before dropping their bikes off at the bike shop to be boxed up and shipped home. They will be using public transportation for the rest of their time in San Diego before their flight home Saturday. I can't wait to see them again and neither can Zach's family.

Wednesday August 14, 2013

I just spoke to Karl. He told me they ended up with a total of 26 miles yesterday and they put in a total of 32 miles today. They didn't make it to Sea World today, instead they went to Sunset Cliffs and Mission Beach. At mission beach they spend some time in the  amusement park. I don't think  they will get many more miles in tomorrow since they have to get their bikes to the bike shop to be boxed up and shipped home. Karl did say they are changing hotels to one closer to the bike shop tomorrow, which has a shuttle service for them to use when they no longer have their bikes to ride.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

I spoke to Karl a little while ago. He wasn't able to get plane tickets to fly home until Saturday so they will be relaxing and doing some sightseeing until then. They were on their way into a Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum when he called. He told me tomorrow they might visit Sea World. He told me so far today they rode 10 miles around San Diego and will probably add a few more miles before the day is over. He has made arrangements to have their bikes boxed up and shipped home through a bike shop but they won't be able to do that until Thursday so they will have a few more days to ride them around the town.

Monday, August 12, 2013 Finish Line

Karl and Zach finished their ride today by reaching San Diego, California. They rode 37 miles from Alpine, California to the coast and then 4 miles to a hotel giving them a grand total of 3401 miles for the trip. Tomorrow they have to look into getting their bikes and themselves home. They will also do a little sightseeing.

Karl sent a few pictures from the beach. Sorry they are a little blurry.

Here is a map of their entire ride.


more...

Sunday, August 11, 2013

I heard from Karl just after 7pm our time. They are still riding. They have gone 44 miles so far. He told me it was a 14 mile uphill ride to highest peak of the Sierra Nevada Mountains they will ride over. After making it over the peak they have gone done down into several shallow valleys only to have a long climbs back out, Karl called them humps. He said they have two more humps to go over in the next 12 miles to go before it is all downhill into San Diego, which appears to be their goal for today. He wasn't able to tell me how many miles until they reached San Diego because his GPS was set to avoid highways and he plans to be on one at some point. Karl mentioned they can only go about 4 miles per hour up the mountains.

Karl is going to call me later to give me another update, so I will post again when I hear from him. He did send me a picture.

Just heard from Karl again, They didn't make it to San Diego, they stopped in Alpine for the night. The rode 66 miles today and have 35 left to go tomorrow. Karl said they stopped at Alpine because Zach had a flat tire about 2 miles outside town and it was getting late enough he was afraid the sun might be in a position to prevent drivers from seeing them.

Karl told me their ascent today was 5000ft and currently their elevation is 1750 ft. Tomorrow they won't have to do any climbing.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Karl and Zach rode 40 miles from Brawley, California to Octillo, California. This brings their total mileage to 3294. Karl told me it is just under 100 miles to get to San Diego. He said if they can get an early enough start and feel okay when they reach the top of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, they might go the whole way to San Diego tomorrow. Karl said they didn't realize how  hot it was until they stopped riding and were walking around the town.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Karl and Zach rode 87 miles today from Blythe, California to Brawley, California, bringing their total miles up to 3254. They have around 150 miles left to go. Karl said at one point today his GPS said they were 100 feet below sea level and currently they were at 80 feet below see level because they are in the Imperial Valley.

Karl was telling me they will probably do a short ride tomorrow because they don't want to ride over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in during the hottest part of the day. So they will get as close as they can tomorrow to put them in position to ride over them early in the morning.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

After Zach hit his head on the nightstand of their hotel room, drawing blood. Once they got it cleaned up it was like a brush burn. Karl decided they would take a break from riding today. They did ride to the bike shop so they could get their bikes checked and their tires trued before their last push to San Diego since they still have to go over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The trip to the bike shop will add 2 1/2 miles to their total miles.

I spoke to Karl again just a few minutes ago. He mentioned another reason they didn't ride today was because it started to get late and with a long ride to the next place they can get lodging he wanted an early start. He also mentioned that they ended up riding another half mile for a total of 3 miles today.

Karl sent me some pictures of their campsite when they spent the night in Hope, Arizona. Along with some pictures from their ride into California.

 

 

Wednesday, August 7 2013

I spoke to Karl around 4:10pm our time and they had stopped for lunch in Quartsite, Arizona after riding 32 miles from Hope, Arizona.  He told me they still have about 22 miles and I will update this when I hear from him again.

Below is the map for their ride till they stopped for lunch.

It's 7:46pm and Karl just called to say they made it to their destination of Blythe, California. They ended up with 55 miles for the day and a total of 3164 for the trip so far. They crossed the Colorado River today. Karl said they took some pictures and I will add them when he sends them to me.

They were hoping to find an  open bike shop when they reached Blythe to do some adjustments to their wheels but the shop was closed. They will be on the lookout for one tomorrow that is open. They want them adjusted before they go over the last of the mountains.

Karl told me he asked the desk clerk at their hotel the high for today and was told 105 degrees. He said that it didn't feel that hot when they were riding, I guess the breeze they get while riding helps and most likely the humidity isn't as bad where there are.

Below is the map for the entire ride today. 

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Karl and Zach enjoyed their jeep ride into the desert last evening. Their tour guide took them up the side of a mountain and showed them old mine shaft. He also showed them what cactus in the desert is edible. They took pictures but as far as I know they were all with their good cameras and not the ones on their phones so I won't be able to post any of those until they get back.

Today, they rode 62 miles from Wickenburg, Arizona to Hope, Arizona bringing their total miles up to 3109. Karl told me it rained while they were eating breakfast this morning. By the time they got on the road the rain had changed to a cool sprinkle which lasted for their first 25 miles. Karl mentioned the temperature starts getting cooler around 4pm their time. When the sprinkle stopped the wind changed to a headwind which they had to fight the rest of the day. They are camping tonight.

If all got well they should enter California tomorrow.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Karl and Zach decided to take a little break by only doing a short ride today. They rode 31 miles from Surprise, Arizona to Wickenburg, Arizona. Their total miles are now 3047.

Karl told me the high for today was 101. He mentioned yesterday the high was 109 in Phoenix but he said it didn't seem like it was that hot to him. Karl told me they are going to take a jeep ride into the desert this evening.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Karl and Zach rode 63 miles today from Apache Junction, Arizona to Surprise, Arizona, which is west of Phoenix. This brings their total miles to 3016. Karl told me today's ride was pretty flat. They rode 30 miles getting to Phoenix and 20 miles on the Arizona Canal. Karl said most of the canal path was paved with tunnels going under the streets.

I spoke to Zach and he told me that he had his first encounter with a rattlesnake yesterday. He said he didn't actually see it but heard its rattle when he got too close to the grass along side the rode. He told me he saw lots of palm trees and cactus. He mentioned some of the cactus are little and others like trees.

They have a week to go unless hot weather forces them to shorten some of their riding days.

Saturday, Ausust 3, 2013

Sorry for not posting this yesterday but with the three hour time difference by the time they finished their ride I had gone to sleep.

Karl and Zach rode 64 miles from Graham, Arizona to Apache Junction, Arizona, bringing their total mileage up to 2953. They stopped in Superior, Arizona for lunch around 6:30 our time. Karl said they did a lot of climbing and winding to get there. He sent me a text when they got in giving me their mileage for the day. It also said their max elevation for the day was 4615 and their total ascent 2018. He mentioned they had snowballs at Top of the World, Arizona. He didn't say what time they reached their destination, the text he sent reached me just before 1am this morning but I don't know how long they had been in before he sent that.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Karl and Zach rode 70 miles today from Safford, Arizona to the Best Western Apache Gold Hotel, Graham, Arizona which is just west of San Carlos. This brings their total miles up to 2889. The ride today started out flat and then turned hilly. The last 6 miles was downhill. Tonight they will be enjoying a seafood buffet.

Karl sent a picture of the nice pool at their hotel. 

Thursday, August 1, 2013

As expected, Karl and Zach crossed into Arizona today when they rode from Lordsburg, New Mexico to Safford (Arizona). They are now 3 hours ahead of us because Arizona doesn't use daylight savings time. They rode 78 miles getting into Safford at 2:15 Arizona time, bringing their total miles up to 2819.

Karl told me they had a tailwind today so riding was good and they could have ridden further if they weren't concerned that they might not find lodging for the night if they did. He said about the first 15 miles after they rode into Arizona were rolling hills before it flattened out. Just as they arrived across the street from their hotel, Zach's tire went flat. They walked the bikes across the street and planned it fix it later this evening.