Start
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Fiddlers Cove Coronado CA
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N 32.65228 W 117.15072
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S-N mi 8.2
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End
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Mexico/USABorder Tijuana Mexico
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N 32.53446 W 117.12278
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TrlLgth 12.8
Ride 20.8
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Ride hr 3:33 AVS mph MXS 26.25 mph DST mi WSW 15 mph TMP 64-70 KCal 1666
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Maze boys properly attired in TAVRTO tee shirts and hats at Border Field State Park. The original goal was to get to the border via Friendship Park but no one I spoke to seemed to know anything about Friendship Park.. Border Field State Park is a California state park that is at the southwesternmost point of the contiguous United States and the most southern point of California.
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Last leg of TAvRTO from Fiddlers Cove on the Bay
of San Diego to the United States - Mexican Border |
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After my getting lost and pushing our bikes through
a mile of soft sand we arrived at the Mexican Border
fence. Geoff and I are actually three feet inside Mexico
according to a Border Patrol officer. He claimed we
were further into Mexico at this point than had we
made the 2 o'clock deadline to enter Friendship Park.
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Chris, Geoff and I left Long Beach an hour later than planned so naturally I was becoming very "Dad Like" in hustling down to the start point . Geoff made up a little lost time by speeding a bit on Pacific Coast Highway. We got to Fiddlers Cove on San Diego Bay about 10:30 am.. This start point just south of Coronado overlapped the latitude of the Trinity Trail that I rode in Ft. Worth, Texas. We unloaded the bikes and headed out for the most meaningful ride of the last leg---the Bayshore and Silver Strand Trail to the Mexican Border. Like the Canadian Border experience, we found frustrations at the southern border of the United States. Chris and I rode the trail to thirteenth street in Imperial Beach. At that point we met up with Geoff and filled out empty tummies at a Burger King. It's not a good idea to fill up when the next segment of the ride was to ride up (200 feet of elevation within a block of overdosing at Burger King. Needless to say, the Old Man couldn't['make it up the first hill and had to jump off and push. Somehow I was able to make it up a similar hill by putting Rudy (my bicycle's new name) in its lowest gears (24) and cranking by standing up. After a mile or two of uphill climbing at Beyer Blvd.and then Dairy Mart Road we were gifted with several downhill miles---my kind of biking! As official guide, Geoff drove ahead of us locating the proper turns to get to the border. It was good that he led us so we could pump hard without needing to stop to confirm directions. We needed to be a Friendship Park before two o'clock. By the time we met up again it was only fifteen minutes to make it to the park. Panicking that I wasn't going to make it to Friendship Park, I hailed down a Border Patrolman and asked him about Friendship Park. "oh, Frank left early today, the park is closes". "WHAT!!!" I shouted. I have ridden my bike three thousand miles from Canada. You telling me I can't make to the border?"
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The Border Patrolman is telling Chris and me that Friendship
Park closed early and the only way to the border was going to
the beach and then walking south along a couple miles of
beach. Going that way turned out to be the best route.
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Chris and Geoff came up and started talking to the patrolman. Somehow I picked up that it was still possible to get the border by hitting the beach route. I thought I knew where this route was so I pumped my butt off riding horse, bike and trekking trails toward the ocean, but because the whole area was covered with eight foot bushes, I could not see where I should go. I was lost, damn it! Geoff bailed me out once he figured out where I had gone. A group of people on horses helped reorient me as well---although reluctantly. Horse people don't like bikes because bicyclists apparently spook the animals when you ride by them. The proper etiquette is to give the horse the right away. Because riders tend to only walk their horses, it makes more sense for the biker to ride ahead of horses. So that is what I did, not only for the horse's sake but also work off a bit of anxiety that had been building in me since our late start leaving Geoff's house. After thirty minutes of stress, I could see a path heading toward the ocean.
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When horses tromp on bicycle paths, the horses win.
When they poop, they win again. Bicyclists don't much care
for horses on the trail and the horse folks feel the same
about bikes. In all the TAVRTO riding across America, I
only dealt with horses a few times in all the
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Unfortunately the last half mile of this trail was extremely soft sand, primarily due horses tearing deep holes in the the trail. That meant more bike pushing but thank goodness not as strenuous as False Cape State Park, in Virginia. Possibly because this trip was end of TAvRTO, and I was pretty "pumped-up" knowing I had completed my goal of crossing America, north to south, on trails only. The border fence was intimidating and seeing patrolmen watching us gave me the "willies". But I was done. I owe the battle. I think I am the only one to achieve this feat following the TAvRTO. At least I am going to claim it so.
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Looking south from the beach toward Tijuana
The Border Patrol sat in a vehicle to watch us
until we headed away from the fence. I didn't
want to inflame them by taking a picture while
they sat there, so this is after they left. |
It was Mother's Day so Chris wanted to stop and get some freshly picked strawberries for Connie. Not far from Border Field State Park, we found a farmer selling strawberries. They were big, juicy and full of flavor. So Connie had a special Mother's Day and other than a seven mile "filler-gap"trail in St. George, Utah, I was done, finished---"el completo". What a great feeling.
FILLER GAP RIDE IN ST. GEORGE, UT
Although I made it into Mexico, there was a seven mile stretch of latitude that I needed to ride when Chris and I could not finish the False Cape State Park trail (see Segment #37). Luckily a trail along Virginia Creek in St. George, Utah gave me the latitude (37.09889 - 36.99621) needed to fill the only gap left in my border to border trail ride.
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