January 26, 2022
San Felipe Creek
While waiting for the morning to warm up I hear a seductive coo outside and step out to investigate.
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It’s 42 when I first check the weather this morning, but the prediction is for another spectacular day - warm, partly sunny, calm. We get an even earlier start this morning, leaving just after nine; and by the time we start climbing Yaqui Pass five miles later it’s already warm enough to shed the last of our outer layers.
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2 years ago
Yaqui Pass is another of the best rides around Borrego Springs. Climbing a thousand feet in five miles at a steady 4-5% pace, it is enough of a workout to give you a feeling of accomplishment without wearing you down before the rest of the outing. Views are outstanding as you climb the broad, open bajada (my new word for the day) and rise above the valley floor.
Nearing the top of the climb the road passes through a narrow gap before dropping steeply down the other side for a mile through a series of tight bends (which our new Garmin Edges helpfully warn us of in advance in case we aren’t paying any attention and crash into a cliff or careen off into space because we didn’t notice the switchbacks ahead). At the bottom we stop in for the usual reason at conveniently placed Tamarisk Grove Campground, the only spot with facilities we’ll see before returning this way twenty-five miles later.
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The next dozen miles are an unbroken climb as we follow dry San Felipe Creek uphill - first westward on Route 78, and then northwest on Route S2, San Felipe Road. This stretch of the 78 is a fantastic riding experience as it snakes through a narrow gorge - if you’re here on the right day at least. There’s little or no shoulder and often little room between you and the nearest cliff is a giant truck or RV comes by - as happens from time to time. Today though with so little traffic it’s not really a concern as long as you’re paying attention.
The main thing to keep in mind though is that everything changes on the weekend, when the road can be filled with an unbroken stream of pickups and vans hauling off-road vehicles to or from the vast Ocotillo Wells SVRA (State Vehicle Recreation Area). It wouldn’t do to be here on a bike at the wrong time.
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It’s not a bad climb, but today it feels easier than I remember. For awhile I’m feeling bullish about the state of my climbing legs, until gradually it sinks in that we have a not insignificant tailwind doing much of the work for us today. We really have gotten out here at the perfect time for this ride! We’ll be biking into it on the way back, but of course going downhill then.
The traffic stays lIght all the way to the turnoff to San Felipe Road, but still it’s a relief to be on this quiet road with the same characteristics as the ones in the Borrego Springs basin - wide, smooth, and with a generous shoulder dedicated as a bike lane. It’s a beautiful, relaxing climb - and once more nearly effortless as our tailwind is still with us.
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Rachael’s ahead of me a ways, but not that far for a change - perhaps a quarter mile or so. I don’t really know how far we’ll climb until I see her coming back at me 25 miles into the climb - farther than she had been expecting to go today when she was complaining of feeling off her peak on the climb up Yaqui Pass.
It’s an out and back, so the rest of the ride is what you’d expect - mostly downhill except for that short but steepish southern ascent up Yaqui Pass. It’s a beautiful ride the whole way, gorgeous really - and even more thrilling going this way, downhill and into a headwind that must be around 20 mph by now. It makes us appreciate our new radar taillights because the wind is so loud that it’s hard to hear the occasional traffic until it’s almost on us.
We stop for lunch at the entrance to Anzio-Borrego State Park, its entrance sign providing us a much needed break from the relentless wind. After that we drop a few miles more to Tamarisk Campground and the turnoff to Yaqui Pass, and then face the only real work since we turned back. Surprisingly though it’s nowhere near as bad as either of us remembered. Maybe we really are working ourselves into some kind of shape.
Video sound track: Heart of Gold, by Neil Young
(A note on the music: chosen today as a tribute to Neil Young for his refusal to share the Spotify platform with Joe Rogan.)
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Ride stats today: 50 miles, 3,500’
Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 2,056 miles (3,309 km)
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