From Triumph to Breakdown: My San Diego Cycling Disaster
When Everything Felt Perfect on the Bike Some days on the bike surprise you — not because of what goes wrong, but because of how right everything feels. That’s how it started for me on June 1st in San Diego. I had trained for a full year, preparing for what was meant to be the final leg of my long-distance cycling tour across the United States. I’d already ridden from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Lubbock, then all the way to Florida. All that remained was the west: San Diego to Las Cruces. Over 6,500 miles of training — much of it on Texas roads — had prepared me for this. I focused hard on climbing, knowing the first two days of the ride would be steep. When I rolled out of San Diego that afternoon, I felt stronger than I could’ve hoped. The hills didn’t intimidate me. My legs had power. My breathing was steady. I felt ready — not just physically, but mentally. So ready, in fact, that I pushed beyond the plan. Day 1 was supposed to end before the toughest climb. Instead, I decided t...
