Sunday, June 30, 2013

Taste the ocean.

We are so close we can almost taste it. 

It's another hot day. Thermometer reads 108 in the shade. 

Woke up before the sun in our tent. Jim had made oatmeal and quinoa with cranberries and granola and some more stining nettle tea. It was a good breakfast. The boys were still up playing computer games. 

We left and were joined by a pack of small stray dogs for a little while. We were glad it wasn't a pack if cats. Jim said one of his neighbors has over 100 cats. He trapped more than fifty of them last year but the remaining cats keep having kittens. As we rode out by the railroad a passing couple remarked on our bags and we told them we were riding to San Francisco and they were very impressed(if only they knew where we came from) and they said "well, welcome to the armpit of California!" We found the image amusing. 

We made decent time in the morning before it was too got and windy. 

Stopped to eat at a gas station bar around 10. Then rode until noon or so when we stopped at a Mexican gas station for lunch and to cool off for a little. We probably drank about a gallon of their strawberry lemonade.  

A bunch of people asked if we were going over Paterson pass and said they hoped we weren't going to do it in this heat. 

We were. 

It was really cool but we kept passing all these signs 

It was probably because it was super narrow and winding and hilly and hot without a shoulder up and down a mountain. .

It was really hot but beautiful. We were riding through a giant wind farm. Which meant huge headwind the entire way. 

It was the first time on our trip that we had run out of water. We drank the 4 bottles we had on our bikes and the 4 extra we were carrying. The heat, the hills (mountain) and the wind all made us really thirsty. 

We also cracked open one of the ice packs for our first aid kit to try and cool us off. It was cool(not cold) for about 30 seconds and then just a bag of warm chemicals. Worth a try and I'm glad we didn't really need the ice pack for anything. 



We rode down the other side and stopped at the first place we saw to fill up. It was a casino bar. 

Never ask random people for directions. They always go on for ten minutes debating the merits of different roads. They also bring in other people and opinions. The whole bar was discussing our route and we were trapped. Happens every single time. We usually just say we have our route planned or "oh yeah that IS the road we were taking, thanks." But they sometimes go on. And on. And on. Anyway. 


We had called another warm showers host earlier in the day and they agreed to host us. So nice on such short notice. We got there around 7 and they showed us inside. 

They had a beautiful home on a golf course. Rick (our host) is a (soon-to-be-retired-and-tour-across-the-country) software serial entrepreneur. 

We showered and had a great meal of spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread with shortcake for dessert. It was nice discussing bike touring and their experiences. 

We went to bed after turning down their offer to do laundry (feels wierd to have enough clean clothes for the rest of the trip..) 

Daily stats
Miles 67
Elevation gain 2400
Ave speed 9.8

Haiku
Wind farms are great things
Pedestrians not advised
One day left, can't wait!

Our favorite sign:

1 comment:

  1. Are you there yet? We're all on pins and needles to find out your final day(s)! The Portland contingent!

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