flagstaff onwards

here is my attempt to recall what happened.
flagstaff was a really nice city. we stayed at the hampton inn courtesy of cole's aunt patty. we enjoyed real food for two days, nice weather, nice city and better yet, the grand canyon.

we hit a couple of bike shops up, one guy was super nice and hooked me up with two tubes and two presta converters for under 5 bucks. the other larger bike shop was not so kind, full price.. ha ha.

i've already blogged a bit about flagstaf so i'll leave it at that. it was an amazing city and we had an amazing time there thanks to aunt patty.

from flagstaff we rode on 40 west and dropped down 95. there was one night we camped at lake havau or whatever it was called and it read 102 degrees at 9pm.. it was hot as balls, we camped out at the home depot parking lot.

the next day it was long but we crossed the colorado river and into california where we camped at a park right over the border in a city called blythe, again it was hot as hell.

pretty much the most difficult days imo were the rides through southern california. the rolling hills were gargantuan and the temerature was constantly in the triple digits. we had to wake up at 3:30 am to ride and even then it was pushing 85 degrees.

the hottest day imo was going through the deseart to quarzithe (sp). the firefighters said it was probably pushing 120 in that stretch, i sure as hell noticed it.

the 2nd to last day we rode though this pass, gained 5200 of elevation in about 5 miles constant uphill. it was pretty rough, but it was the final exam. the last day of riding, though it had its climbs was more of a celebratory climb. we met this older rider who was finishing up his own century and rode with us to PB (pacific beach). from there we just carried our bikes into the ocean.

san diego has been an amazing time. it's wrapping up soon though.

thursday night when we got here the girls had some people over and we grilled up some food. friday we enjoyed the beach took care of a few things at rei, chad and i went out to millers field for happy hour and then we cruised the boardwalk for a while and came back to relax before the night out.. unfortunately we never made it out... by the time 10pm rolled around cole was passed out and i was on the verge of falling asleep.. that was pretty much it..

saturday was filled with fun.

started out with a nice morning hike at torre pines, followed by swimming with the sharks and the some grilling at ricky's place (which is a 4 br house on north pb with private pool).. needless to say flipcup was involved and before long everyone was either running around naked (chad) or doing rolls on the ground, or making rap videos (bordwell). but we didn't let the fun stop there, we decided to go out to miller field but on the way i realize i lost my gum pack which contained all my cc's etc... the 2nd cab went back to the house and found it in the bushes somehow... maybe i should have just went home at that point.. but i didn't and that's why there is more story to tell...

so we're at millers (at this point my stories are actually memories of others and not mine) and i'm somehow walking back with drink after drink, no one knows how i'm getting them and everyone is pretty sure i'm not paying for them. my last recollection of the night was the bartender pouring about 12 shots at once (literally) and i somehow get handed two of them. i think they were delicious. at millers field there is an upstairs (where we all were) and a bunch of people are sitting on the railing, apparently i think it's a good idea to stand on the railing.. thanks to my idea no one else was allowed to sit on the railing for the rest of the night. i know, i'm that guy.. but i made it up.. to the guys at least. so chad tells me i'm in line for the mens bathroom with him (chad tells me he decides to follow me around the bar because i somehow keep getting free drinks and he wants in on the action).. i don't believe in lines and i sure as hell don't like to wait in line when i have to urinate. the mens room has TWO stalls, that's it.. so i'm in line trying to convince guys to pee in the sink to move the process along.... one guy takes the bait and bam.. a revolution has started.. now we have 3 stalls.. i am happy as i have to wait in line 33.3333% less...

there's about a 30 minute gap where no one remembers anything.. i wish bordwell had made another rap video, but she didn't. but she did tell me that i was cut off by the bartender so i gave her some money to get us a couple hefs.. and while we're up there i decide to play bartender and make my own drinks.. the bouncer comes over and tell her "you need to tell your friend he can't just make his own drinks at the bar".. she relays the information to me and that was that... i also have the habit of collecting pint glasses, mainly ones from bar and while the bouncer is there i apparently put the pint glass in my pocket, again instead of telling me he tells bord to tell me i can't take that. with all my wit i tell him (bords words, not mine) "no no no, i'm just bringing this downstairs to put away" something like that.. he takes the glass away from me.. magically though, the cup somehow ends up in chads hands and has just been put through the dishwasher. amazing.

i was then thrown out of the bar, for the 3rd time apparently....

sunday was good, slightly hungover but considering how much was put back saturday i felt like a million bucks. we went out for some grub and spent the next 6 hours on the beach.. surfing, sleeping what not..

then i was taken to yogurtland.. think this.. delicious frozen yogurt and rediculous toppings.. they even had leechee for topping and coconut flakes.. ughhhhh so delicious. 30 cents an oz.. what a deal. the girls said they have never spent more than 3.50 or so.. my first one cost me almost 5 dollars. later that night we had some mexican food that was pretty damn good and called it a night with a movie (pride and glory).

today we're going to check out coney island (i think)... and probably ship out the bikes within the hour...

that is it for now.. everyone talks about how crazy it gets here on PB on tuesdays.. it's taco tuesdays... apparently cheap tacos and drinks all over san diego.. i'm excited to say the least.