SC Route - Day 3

45.9 miles - 3993 ft. climbing

We got rolling even later on day three, getting coffees and breakfast sandwiches at the hotel cafe before we rolled out. It was misting lightly with a marine layer. The route thru the Otay wetlands, a new part of the route this year, was scenic, winding past mini lakes with ducks, across wooden bridges. A few parts were strange, like an area that seemed to be a half deserted plant nursery, and another place that seemed to be event parking for a water park, but overall great. After rolling up thru the Otay Hills we topped up our water and grabbed an early lunch. Some of the greenways rolled past charming neighborhoods, and finally we rolled up a different, slightly obscure entry to the Sweetwater trails than on the old route.

The Sweetwater trails are mysterious, sometimes steep, but beautiful. Often obscured by waving grass, bushes, and wildflowers you can’t always see where the trail is going ahead of time. 

After a break at the tiki hut, we continued on. This part of the trail was made more thrilling by running close to an old barbed wire fence, but tetanus be damned, we came to ride bikes! After a few miles, Ed had a flat tire after crossing some rocks. We were 6-7 miles from Campos Road ahead or the campsite behind (on last year’s route), and the leak along the bead didn’t want to seal. We considered our options. After adding sealant, using an air cartridge, and pumping like crazy, it was reduced to a slow leak. We pressed forward, walking over rocky areas so as not to anger the tire gods, intermittently pumping the tire. It was slow going.

At Campo Road we called the bike shop in Alpine to see if they could help if we could get there. The person who answered was weirdly unfriendly for a bike shop, something we also experienced there about 3 years ago. We decided to ride up the pavement to try to get there before their early closing today, and also so we could flag down help if things went further south. The dogs of Sloan Canyon will have to wait for another day to have a go at us! The sun finally came out, and it was humid, but not windy. 

In Alpine, the bike shop guy grudgingly sold Ed a new tire, super unpleasant but we got what we needed. We checked into the Ayers Lodge then had a great pizza and salad at the local brewery. It was a hard day for short miles.