Monday was a perfect day for a bike ride, and that is what we did about 9;30 am. We have not done a lot of bicycling over the past 3 months, and this would only be the second time in that span, so we are a little rusty to say the very least. It was TLE's choice whether to ride our singles (Cannondale F600 and Cannondale Bad Boy), or the tandem (Cannondale), and she chose the singles. The ride from our location on Rockhouse Road to the traffic circle (Christmas Circle) is exactly 7.8 miles, so round trip is just under 16 miles........easy for me, and doable to TLE. After checking each of the bikes over (air pressure in tires, wheel alignment, lube, cyclo computers, etc.) we were on our way.
Initially when we turned on to S-22 it was downhill at a 1-3% grade for about a mile, and then it leveled off a little, but we were still gradually losing elevation all the way into Borrego Springs.....of course this means the ride back will be all uphill, and you can be sure TLE was intimately aware of that fact.
S-22 (photo courtesy 'Bayfield Bunch')
S-22 about a mile out of town
It took us just under an hour to reach Christmas Circle as I suspected it would. We rode around town in search of a suitable coffee/breakfast place.......we had observed several possible candidates on our visit the day prior.....one was closed on Mondays and Tuesday, and the others either had no alfresco dining, or were too crowded......eventually we settled on the 'Red Ocotillo'.....Yelp gives this eatery 4.5 stars on 78 reviews, and we would have to agree......good service, ambiance (they have alfresco dining!), and wonderful, freshly prepared food......
.....TLE had a half portion of their Smoked Salmon Benedict and seriously loved their hollandaise sauce, which she declared the 'best ever' on the spot. I had my usual 2 eggs over easy with two strips of bacon and their Rosemary Garlic Potatoes......it was all good, including their coffee.....
The now famous Smoked Salmon Benedict
........by the time we finished it was approaching 11:30 am and it was time to get busy climbing that grade back to Rockhouse Road. Fortunately the air still had that 'cool' feel to it, and there was no headwind. Surprisingly we arrived back home in about 50 minutes having covered just over 16 miles.
Sometime around 1 pm fellow bloggers Tom and Deb Duchaine (Celebrating the Dance) who have been following our blog for a while, and just so happen to also be staying here off Rockhouse Road, stopped by to meet us and chat....and chat we did, for over two hours.....we had lovely afternoon getting to know each other and look forward to hanging out some more whilst we are sojourning here........
Tom and Deb - courtesy their blog....I neglected
to take a picture of my own!
......soon it was approaching 3:30 so we bid our adieus until next time.....hoping to share a fire with them later this week!
TLE decided two fires two days in succession was enough for her so we headed inside around 5 pm just after the sun set over the local mountains.....once that sun leaves the sky it begins to get chilly quite quickly!
Another day lived well in the Anza Borrego Desert.....thanks for stopping by!
The roads in this area are great for long bike rides looks like you had a good day for it too.
ReplyDeleteNice that you met Tom and Deb, they are a super couple, we met up with them last year.
We thoroughly enjoyed meeting the two of you, also. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon.
ReplyDelete