Woke up to clouds, wet roads and 34°. As such, this would be day two of altering the route.

We drove down to ‘scissors’, the intersection of C78, San Felipe Rd and the Great Southern Overland Stage Road. Our new route was to ride to Yaqui Pass, Borrego Springs, climb Montezuma Grade, Ranchita and return on San Felipe Rd. One problem, the wind. It was so windy that most of us decided to drive on down to the base of Yaqui Pass and begin riding there. Joanne and I decided not to climb Montezuma due to the wind (been there, done that and fell down).

We started up Yaqui Pass with a powerful tail wind at our back. We hardly had to peddle. But when we crested the summit and began our descent, the tail wind turned into a strong cross wind. While it was as strong as yesterday, it was interesting descending at speed with the wind blowing the bikes around. However, once we reached the valley floor, the wind lessen. That was strange as we could see a wind blown dust/sand storm on the far side of the valley.

We rode into Borrego Springs and then headed out to the north following a route that the locals showed us last year. Then, just in front of us, we found the very same locals. We joined them as they wandered around Borrego Spings enjoing good company and windy roads.

Joanne and the Borrego Springs Locals

After a quick bite to eat, Joanne and I returned to our van via Yaqui Pass. This is a long, even climb that today was complicated with a strong tail wind. I wanted to ride it hard, but my coach wants me to continue my “base” phase of training and limited me to an average power output of just 178 watts. I was a tad bit over.

Yaqui Pass Climb Statistics

The descent back to the van was in a cross wind, so I stopped for a couple of photos.

Looking south from Yaqui Pass

Looking north from Yaqui Pass

I had intended to ride up the Banner Grade beginning from the Banner Store. Joanne dropped me off and I started climbing. I was feeling good and climbing well. The wind would occasionally hit me head on, but nothing too strong to cause me problems.

Then my front tire went flat. A careful inspection found two thorns, one the cause of the flat. This should have been an easy fix, but my CO2 failed me and I did not bring a second cartridge. I flagged down a pickup truck and the drive was nice enough to deliver me to my door.