Sacramento ⇒ Sly Park, Sly Park ⇒ South Lake Tahoe
I apologize that there was no blog post yesterday, I couldn’t post as we were camping in a campground with limited wifi. I’ve heard that some mega(n) fans missed the post yesterday.
Yesterday started out with our very welcoming host cooking us breakfast. Having breakfast ready and made is such a welcome change of pace from oatmeal cooked over a camp stove. She sent us with the leftovers and then some. Our host even repaired a hole in Timothy’s shorts!
Our first leg of the journey was on a very well-maintained path in Sacramento. These past few days have really made me appreciate the difference that a good bike path makes. Not having to worry about approaching cars lets us enjoy the view a lot more, and maybe chat as we ride. After a bit, Parth noticed that their rear wheel was a bit loose. After a bit of Googling, we headed to a bike shop. Parth made a very good call–turns out the bike was bordering on unrideable. The bike shop fixed it up, thankfully, though!
We continued on to the next leg, which had the most climbing of any leg we’d done this trip. We definitely felt the climb. Parth and Aja took a well deserved rest in the car for the rest of the legs, leaving Sophia, Timothy and I to finish out the legs. The three of us entered a state that Timothy later described as “cult-like”, though I’d maybe use the phrase high-hype. We cheered each other up the hills, which made the elevation gain much more bearable. However, we were halted by the coming dark, and had to call the car to pick us up, out of safety considerations.
We were delighted to find, upon arrival, that Parth and Aja had already set up the tent, and begun making dinner. There’s nothing like coming back from a ride, and the food being ready. We finished setting up in the dark, and went to bed.
Day 6:
We got going early for our big day. I was admittedly nervous: today was a big day. We would bike over 50 miles and climb about 5000 ft, which is more than anything we’ve done. Moreover, today was a tricky day with logistics. We were heading into an area where we may not have cell signal.
Timothy climbs a hill that was burned by a forest fire
We enjoyed the beautiful descents amidst the amazing scenery of the start of the Sierra Nevada. The climbs were also pretty, but also pretty sweaty.
A sampling of our views today
To conserve my phone battery (my backup battery was drained), I didn’t listen to anything on the ride today. Instead of laundry listing each leg of today, I will provide some reflections that came from those hours of quiet biking.
Sophia taught us a useful trick for climbing the hills: keep your head down. Not only does this save your neck muscles, you also don’t see the hundreds of feet you still need to climb. This makes a good metaphor for today’s riding. I’d been worried about today’s ride for a week now; I referred to it as “the crucible” of the first stint of our trip. Yet, now that we’ve emerged from the ride, I realize life would’ve been a lot easier if I’d just “kept my head down” and focused on each day individually.
I am struck by the adaptability of humans. None of us have biked anything close to the mileage we’ve put in the books the last few days. Yet, not even a week in, this life feels normal. Cheering my teammates up a hill in who-knows-where California feels like normal life now.
A selfie from 8,500 ft after an intense climb
Cresting the pass into Tahoe today was an unparalleled experience. After a long day of climbing, finally reaching the end goal was a great high.
All smiles upon arrival!
I’m writing this as our host in Tahoe gives us free range of his kitchen, including full use of the pantry. I continually am blown away by the generosity of Warm Showers hosts, and so many others along the way. The kindness takes all sizes, anywhere from Bubba’s Diner letting us use their bathroom on a rest stop to the gift of a prepared dinner.
Echo (the neighbor’s dog) came to greet us as we arrived, which made for a more entertaining stretch (photo creds to Sophia)
Onward,
Joel