Happy Mother's Day to all......

Started the day with a phone call to Mom.  "Oh - have you started your trip yet?"  Yes, mother.....

We started the day with absolutely flat riding (11 feet up in the first 6 miles) until we started to climb out of the valley.  Past these cell phone towers disguised as palm trees.

Started climbing at about 6 miles and climbed off and on until about 20 miles.  First big climb was the best.  Beautiful scenery, wide shoulder, nice grades.

Second big climb was a bit more annoying with less/no shoulder and some steeper grades.  Oh well - SAG stop at the top and then a big downhill - wheeeeee! - into Yucaipa City.

Out the other side and lots of gentle downhill towards San Bernardino.  We passed lots of orange and grapefruit trees.  Apparently there were some avacado trees in the mix as well but I didn't recognize them.  There was SO much wasted fruit on the ground around the trees.  Not sure why so much spoilage; it would feed a large village for a long time!

Passed an $8M bridge reconstruction project.  Based on the volume of water going under the bridge (none) I'm guessing there's no rush to get it done.  If you look up in the left-hand quarter of the picture below, it looks like a big dam.  If it is, I can't imagine the damage downstream if it ever let go.

We spent twelve miles pedalling around the outskirts of San Bernardino to get to our hotel.  Apparently SB is the 17th largest city in California and the second poorest in the country (behind only Detroit).  The city itself declared bankruptcy in 2012.  It seems to have a lovely location in the San Bernardino Valley, with hills all around.  I'm guessing the climate is pretty agreeable if they can grow citrus fruit here.  I didn't see too much evidence of downtrodden-ness on my way in but then we really just skirted the eastern and northern edges.  We are staying close to the university, which is the city's largest employer and the area seems to be a more prosperous part of town.  In light of the current Fort McMurray fire situation, it is interesting to read that SB lost 284 homes to a fire in 1980 and over 1000 homes were lost in 2003.

A beautiful ride today.  Some of the hills were a bit challenging, but the second half of the day was pretty easy.  Sunday traffic was quite light and roads were pretty good, although the some of the roads within SB could use a little work.  Rooming with Fiona from Wisconsin tonight.  I'm really liking this group of women - troopers on the bikes, positive and helpful attitudes, and everyone is pretty good at taking everything in stride - love it!!

Stats for the day:
84 km / 52 miles from Hemet CA to San Bernardino CA
3624 feet up
3684 feet down
Weather:  cooler than we were anticipating.  We started out with a bit of sun in the morning, but pretty much full cloud cover for most of the day.  Started about 12C, and got down to about 10C at the top of the climb, gradually working its way back into the mid-teens.  Finished in SB about 2PM at 18C.  It has been warmer in Calgary throughout the entire trip so far.  Hoping to see some more sunshine and warmer temps in the days to come (except for the climbing parts :) )