Day 3: California is flat & the Central Valley is hot

(Napa, CA -> Dixon, CA)

Hi everyone! I’m Anna, checking in from Dixon, California!

First and foremost, huge thank yous to Wendi and Rob and their family for the breakfast we woke up to today - fresh fruits, granola, and lattes that I am still dreaming about. We did our daily bike check in the morning - oiled the chains and pumped up the tires - and discovered that Asia and my bikes were making a funny noise (that’s my official diagnosis!). We decided to power onward and get the bikes checked in Dixon - our end goal for the day!

So we pedaled out of Napa on a mix of super nice bike paths & less nice highway roads. Maceo surprised us with ice cold Boba as an afternoon snack which was a much needed caffeine/sugar/ice boost. I think it’s fun being the driver when you can bring such joy to 5 sweaty people for only $4.

It was super noticeable when we hit the Central Valley - it got super hot and super flat. It felt like home! We did a zig-zag of Ag roads until we reached Brad’s family’s house in Dixon - Brad is a Stanford Spokes alumni from last year so we sat him down and got all of his wise advice (take videos!). First we jumped/waded/sumersaulted into the pool though :)

Asia and I pedaled further to Fisk's Cyclery in Dixon, and we got our bikes fixed super quickly. I was frankly amazed at how the loud knocking sound that I had been hearing for the last 2 days and ~100 miles was gone just from twisting a little knob 2 milimeters! A huge thank you to Mr. Fisk from Fisk's Cyclery in Dixon for all of his help!

Excited for day 4! And a little scared for Day 5 - where the climbing into the Sierra Nevadas begins!