On January 14th I rode in the annual Stagecoach Century Bike Ride at Ocotillo, California.  Though it is a 100-mile bike ride, there are shorter options including 25 and 50-mile rides on the historic Great Overland Stage Route of 1849.  I managed to get to the Butterfield RV Resort and General Store at mile 33, for a 66-mile ride.

The road, or route, was originally the Imperial Highway, but a 1961 petition to change the name was approved, and the road is now the Great Overland Stage Route of 1849. This despite the fact the Overland Mail Route was never known as "Great," and it didn’t exist in 1849.