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Today was utterly fantastic. It started out miserably: the brake pads in my rear brake were clearly fried. The last straw was probably the grit and sand from the the previous day. So in this morning I attempted to take out the old pads and put in some new. This resulted in my not getting either the new or the old pads back in, so I was completely without a rear brake to start the day. This isn't a killer if the front brake is still good, and I only had 3 days and 126 total miles left (70-31-25). However, the front brake seemed to be fading a bit in the first 20 miles, so I started getting worried. Brielle texted me the name of a couple bike shops so I raced ahead of all the other riders (maybe the first time I had been in the front?) in an attempt to get to a shop and get my brakes fixed in time to rejoin the other riders before we got on ... Interstate 5 for 8 miles. Camp Pendleton now being closed to non-military folk, it is the only other feasible way south. Sadly, the shops were closed.

I continued on, hoping to get to another town, and then my rear tire explosively blew out. I had two Kenda tubes (now sold branded as REI), and both of them flatted by the inflation valve breaking in half. This is absolutely crazy. I flipped the bike and put in my spare tube. I'd given up on going to a bike shop, but as long as I had the bike upside down I started messing w/ the rear brake again in full daylight, and was able to get one new pad and one old pad into the calipers. I had a rear brake again! Crazy noisy and not full power, but maybe 70%, good enough!

The others caught up and Pam, Anne, Jim and I ended up riding together, going through some crazy rollers through residential areas. Anne and I were talking and without realizing it we started riding pretty hard. I was having a good day and rode the rollers until I was out in front of the others for a while, but Anne is probably the strongest climber in the group and soon caught up. The rollers turned into bigger climbs, then into the old I-5, which seemed a bit sketchy, and eventually we were 52 miles into the ride and were at I-5.... so we got on the interstate.

I wasn't worried about the cars, we had a broad shoulder and signage informing drivers about cars. I was more worried about flats: I've ridden three other interstates and gotten flats on two, so I was very careful to not ride close enough to Anne that I couldn't see the kind of truck tire detritus that causes them. I-5 was fun! I got a Starbucks double shot espresso at a rest area and was feeling very strong so I climbed the hills w/ Anne and caught Doug and Molly (who did <a href="https://www.duvine.com/tour/alps-challenge/">this</a> tour) on an uphill.

Overall, on the day after the horrible 69-mile day mostly in the freezing rain, this 69-mile ride I felt stronger than I had so far on this tour. Really a great feeling.

Also, Brielle's husband Dan brought her to pugs and pizza to the campground. Overall, a great day.

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