Day 2 - Granny Gears and Mazda Miatas

Polly's brother-in-law Myron

The route from Escondido to Julian was only about 36 miles. That was the good news. The bad news was that it was mostly uphill. Thank you, Lord, for granny gears that allow you to motor up hills more comfortably than one otherwise could. Granny gears are the lowest gears on your bike. I have 30 gears to choose from and I was on the next to the lowest. There was a stretch several miles long that was winding, narrow with not much shoulder. We were on that stretch the same time a local car club of souped up Mazda Miatas decided to conduct a road rally, busting around those hills like there was no tomorrow. However, they were as respectful to us riders as a car club can be and there were no incidents. Noticeable road kill today included a dead calf someone hit and a dead bobcat, something you don't see very often. We got outside Julian and noticed a whole squadron of sheriff cars and search vehicles, including ATVs and helicopter. I thought they were looking for an escaped convict. Instead, they were looking for a man who called in at 4:00 this morning who got lost in the mountains. I said a little prayer for him. I stopped at the Julian Pie Company, which has become a Wheels tradition over the years, and had a delicious piece of boysenberry apple crumb pie; definitely worth the stop. Weather was in the upper 50s and lower 60s, sometimes overcast, sometimes sunny; good temperatures for a day of climbing. The scenery was breathtaking with huge hills (we would call them mountains in Indiana) on both sides of the road alternating with beautiful, deep valleys on other stretches.
Again, click on the "map" to see our progress. If you click the + button and you are in satellite mode, you can zoom in and get a little bit better of an idea of the terrain.

Bob from AZ - 81 years young and still biking!

I continue to run into very interesting people on this trip. I am including a picture of Bob from AZ. Bob is 81 years old and probably put in more distance training than I did! He has bad knees and gimps along quite noticeably. But get a bicycle under him and his gimpy knees seem to disappear and his age is merely a number. BTW Polly, I did meet your brother-in-law Myron. These guys are amazing!

Devotional Thought: Already, I have been inspired and challenged by some of the people I am with. I hope that I have the "hutzpah" that some of these guys have when I am 75 or 80 (assuming the Lord lets me live that long) to even consider a ride across the street, let alone the country or to keep serving Him. These guys have learned to deal with their physical limitations and not let typical excuses that most of us would make and sit at home and wait to die at their age. It reminds me of Joshua and Caleb, who at a rather advanced age, still had the vision, passion and energy to claim God's promised land. God, don't let me make excuses!!