Day 1 San Diego to Alpine

We start the tour across America from a lovely ocean side inn that is extremely dog friendly.  The challenge ahead is shown in a panorama of the route.  We are east bound from San Diego.

Many, if not most, of the lodgers at the Ocean Villa Inn have dogs with them, since the inn lies directly behind Dog Beach.  Dogs off leash have a great time frolicking with one another.

Didn't see any aggressive dog behavior.  Perhaps given freedom and independence they get when released on the beach brings out dogs' better nature, as often times is the case for their keepers. 

The ceremonial start to the tour is to dip one's rear wheel into the Pacific Ocean and later, God willing, into the Atlantic.

I am the one on the right with the aerodynamic drag prone body, or big boned, challenged to keep up with the sleek.  Three riders didn't make the dip ceremony.  One is riding a brand new trike recumbent three-wheeler that is difficult to carry to the surf.  Two others have packs on their bikes that discourage the carry.

Biking out of San Diego without getting off the route is the day's challenge.  With about 50 turns on the way to Alpine, the ride broke out into the Garmin-rich and the Garmin-less.  Those who ride tours often rely on route maps built into the Garmin to traverse urban centers.  Three groups rode off with a Garmin-rich rider in the lead of each.  The handlebar mounted Garmin calls out turns.  Our group had a Swiss in the lead guided by a Garmin purchased in Europe and loaded with an American map chip.  Nik was doing a great job leading, until we tried to go through a dead end subdivision that his Garmin found.  Eventually realizing the error, we backtracked out.  Later at an intersection Nik's Garmin made another mistake and Nik followed his Garmin while, the rest of us followed a highway we knew to be on the route from sheets listing the 50 turns.  We eventually met up with another group led by an American with  Garmin made in the USA.  All was well for us.  Nik eventually showed up at the destination motel, having taken a 15 mile loop out of the way.  Don't feel too sorry for Nik, as he trains by riding in the Swiss Alps, so this was an equitable handicap for him.

At the end of the day's ride, the 44-year-old Englishman, Paul was looking for a chemist to buy a plaster for a corn that developed on his foot.  Actually in Amerispeak he wanted a pharmacy to buy a bandage.  Evidently on numerous vacations with his family to Florida they had not needed a chemist.

No stories yet about the 2 Dutch riders or the rider from Japan with his Japanese Garmin.

PS-I promise to not get so verbose in future posts.  The engineer ingrained in me will not allow that.  Photos and captions will predominate.