Headed to meet with Mark

Day 51, 45 miles (3097), Yuba City to Chico, CA.  Why didn't I think of this sooner, short riding days are wonderful, plenty of time to stop along the way and snack or sip a cup of coffee without worrying about logging miles. Tonight Mark drives down from Ashland....hooray.  I made my late lunch stop at Sierra Nevada Brewery, had a pint of IPA and then took a tour of their extensive solar electric installation. Impressive.

Day 52, 69 miles (3166), Chico to Anderson, CA. Mark and I had a great breakfast and a nice ride through the countryside (all flat), ending the day nearRedding. We really wanted to camp but there are NO tent campsites anywhere near Redding, so we joined Tom Bodette at Motel 6 for the night. Had GREAT burritos for dinner.

Day 53, 58 miles (3224). Rode from Redding to Weaverville, leaving the flat land in our rearview mirrors , we had a good day of trails through the Redding area and then a sweet climb over the mountain to Weaverville. It was a bit cold during the day, so when we arrived in Weaverville and discovered that the only camping site was "several miles further down the road", we took the smart choice and stayed in a motel in town. We had a superb dinner and a beer to cap the day, shopped for a few groceries then hit the hay. More climbing tomorrow.

Day 54, 79 miles (3303). Leaving Weaverville heading north on CA Hwy 3 took us to a serious climb, maybe 5-6 K feet of 6 to 7% climbing for many miles, headed to Etna, where we looked forward to a microbrew and a burger at the famous Etna Brewery. It was a long day but we made it for a beer, a burger, and then a bowl of chili each for dessert. We camped in the City park and slept VERY well.

Day 55, 50 miles (3353), another day of climbing, this time the Hwy 3 segment between Ft Jones and Yreka. The sun was shining and the winds were light, so we had a glorious day. We camped in a secret little spot right along Interstate 5, knowing that tomorrow we would be HOME........

Day 56, 35 miles (3388). We had some more climbing to the Siskiyou Summit (in the four days Mark has been riding with me, we have ridden about 300 miles and climbed almost 21,000 ft), then a stop at Callahans for a delicious lunch and cold beer.  Our final miles took us to Neil Creek Road where we found Winnie and her welcoming crew (Jack and Shannon Deckwar) waiting to greet us. Home at Last.

Heading North

Day 48, 75 miles (2913). Rode from Chowchilla to Escalon. The citrus groves are mostly gone, replaced with more nuts and fruit trees.

Day 49, 77 miles (2990). Rode from Escalon to the south side of Sacramento, the forecast called for a strong front with rain and much cooler temps to hit about 2 pm. I rode in the rain and gusty winds for an hour or two, just to be a little wet and cold to feel that I deserved to spend the rainy night in a warm motel room.

Day 50, 62 miles (3052), left Sacramento headed for Yuba City when there was a brief let up in the rain showers, the let up didn't last long. Between the continued downpours and the puddle splash from passing cars (the first 20 miles was in heavy urban traffic, I used sidewalks were possible but the traffic spray was still heavy) I was quickly soaked. Once I cleared the city, and was riding the wonderful bike trails along the American River and the levee headed north, the rain was much less frequent and things dried off quite a bit. The birds along this part of the ride were magnificent, due to the close proximity of the Sacramento River Delta.

California

Day 44/45. Drove across the California Desert. The first day out I picked up a cyclist riding Interstate 10, he was trying valiantly to crank out miles riding into a 30 mph headwind. I pulled way off the shoulder of the roadway, hopped out of the car and watched him struggling against the demon wind, very glad that wasn't me. He gladly accepted a ride. It turns out that he sent all of his camping gear home and he was trying to jump from motel to motel, hoping the lack of gear would give him greater speed and thus range. I was glad to get him 100 miles further west.

Day 46, 110 miles (2740), I rode from Bakersfield to Reedley CA, through hundreds of citrus groves, the smell of orange blossoms adding a sweet smell to the long day of riding. Discovered that almost all of Hwy 99 is off limits to cyclists, which means more work plotting a ridable course homeward.

Day 47, 98 miles (2838). I rode from Reedley to Chowchilla, around Fresno the citrus groves gave way to vineyards, pistachio trees, and peach/nectarine orchards. Most of the irrigation canals are empty but plenty of water spewing from wells in all the orchards. Riding in the rural orchards is rewarding, all the workers wave, some even try friendly conversations in broken English.

I saw a heartwarming scene early in the day, out in the middle of a citrus grove a dad was carefully unloading five or six youngsters from a pickup truck, the girls were in dresses, the boys had ties, ages probably 4-8. There was a large blanket spread out, with high backed chairs for the kids to sit, I couldn't tell if it was a party or a baptism or similar, maybe it was a celebration of Lent? Whatever, they didn't require anything more than the orange grove to celebrate (they were definitely a Hispanic family). It would be hard to find a sweeter smelling place to have a celebration.

The inability to ride Hwy 99 dealt me a setback today. I needed to cross the San Joaquin River NW of Fresno, I tried to access the bridge west of Fresno but Hwy 41 did not allow cyclists, so I continued on to the Hwy 99 bridge hoping it would allow ciycists access. No luck. I only needed about two miles to cross the river, so I decided to stick out my thumb and solicit a ride. I gave it an hour, not a single car or pickup even slowed to indicate they were even thinking about giving me a ride (I was right after a traffic signal, where traffic was moving slowly, with a huge open shoulder where a vehicle could easily stop and talk to me). When my hour elapsed I decided it would be faster and much more rewarding to simply ride slightly south and another 20 miles west to utliize the closest bridge that would let me cross. It was more pleasant riding in the friendly confines of more vineyards and orchards.

Tempe and Decision Time

Day 43, 86 miles (2630). The ride from Globe, through Superior, and on to Tempe is mostly a descent, but possibly on the worst section of road on the Southern Tier. The road is twisted and narrow with little shoulder, where the road climbs the minimal shoulder is sacrificed to make a passing lane, so cyclists are forced into the drive lane where they compete for space with large trucks (many mines nearby), RVs, pickup trucks and cars. I have no gripe with the Southern Tier mapmakers, they have chosen the best route available from the limited options. But this highlights a major drawback in attempting travel by bicycle.

In a perfect world there would be roads for the autos and dedicated bike trails for cyclists, parallel networks taking motorists and cyclists alike to where ever they would like to go. The reality is that it is difficult to build and maintain our network of roads using motor fuel taxes, little revenue remains for cycling infrastructure.  The construction of an  independent network of bike trails is happening in certain areas where cycling is popular but these trails rarely provide the cyclist a reliable route to real destinations, they generally serve the cyclists who can load their bicycle on a bike rack and drive to the trail, where they can take a ride. Using these trails to cycle as an alternative to driving is limited, very limited. What this means is that if you want to travel somewhere solely by bicycle you are, sooner or later, going to be in conflict with motorists. Regardless of the route you take, even if it is a roadway with a generous shoulder, or even better, a roadway with a marked bike lane on the shoulder, at some point you will reach the spot where a sign announces "bike lane ends". At this point you are truly on your own. Your safety will depend greatly on the willingness of the passing motorist to acknowledge your existence (and legal right ) on the roadway and to behave in a courteous and generous manner. It is my experience that this is placing tremendous faith in motorists that may feel differently about cycling.

The Share the Road philosophy is an attempt to give the cyclist a chance to use roads in co-operation with motorists where complete separation between the two modes of travel is not possible. But for it to succeed, there needs to be an understanding between motorists and cyclists that addresses the disparity between a multi-ton vehicle traveling at 70 mph and a 200 pound vehicle traveling at 15 mph.

Someone asked me if I have any idea how much the presence of a cyclist on a busy highway frightens and annoys a motorist. I have been driving for 40 plus years, I have encountered my share of surprises on the roadway: cyclists, debris, live animals, stalled vehicles, etc. Sometimes these encounters were frightening and annoying, the more so when they arrive completely unexpected. The only way to eliminate cyclists from this list is to ban them entirely from our system of roads, anything less will continue to annoy the majority of motorists. That still leaves plenty of road hazards for fright and annoyance.

I believe most people are kind hearted and will lend a hand to someone in need. Encountering a elderly shopper in the aisle of your supermarket, may draw some annoyance if you are late and in a hurry, but generally you will give the shopper some extra consideration if they slow your shopping progress. Encounter that same shopper a few minutes later, when both of you are maneuvering in traffic and you may not be so generous. When we settle into our automobiles, embraced by our climate control, piped in music, linked to the outside world via our hands-free phone, we often feel like the world should move at our game speed, anything less, regardless of the source, is an annoyance.

How often do we curse the car ahead of us, who seems unable to decide on which driveway is the correct one, without noticing the out-of-state plates?

Cycling on roads where I cannot stay entirely separate from motorized traffic has taught me what it must be like to have a physical or mental handicap in our high speed society. When the shoulder narrows, or a bridge pinches me onto the roadway, or a construction zone sends me directly onto the drive lane, I become that handicapped person. With no way to plead my predicament to the passing motorist, "I am so sorry to slow your progress, I hope you can lend me some of your road space for the 15 seconds it takes for you to pass me", all I can hope for is their understanding and co-operation. Perhaps that is amazingly naive, but it is not that much different than the guy on crutches ahead of you in the airport security line (who is really making the same entreaty....I am going slowly today, please cut me some slack.....), except in the security line you aren't in your car.....

More on this theme later.

Because I have been dreading the need to cross several hundred miles of the Calofornia Desert by bicycle, on roads ill-suited for cyclists, I have been wrestling with myself. Ride the desert or rent a car?

I am currently traveling on four wheels, whizzing from Tempe to Bakersfield in comfort, in a rented car. Last night I  camped in the Desert, this morning I will tour the General George Patton museum, then cruise through Joshua Tree NP on my way to Bakersfield. There I return the car and continue north on my own two wheels.

More New Mexico, then Arizona

Day 40 , 0 miles (2347). Explored Silver City, visited the bike shop and purchased a very nice Osprey hydration backpack. On really dry days (mid-day in these arid desert-like areas often has relative humidity levels below 10 percent) it is hard to drink enough to stay properly hydrated, so a backpack should help.

Day 41, 84 miles (2431), left Silver City NM at sunup, climbed a few miles and crossed the Continental Divide and soon left New Mexico. Had a great camp in Three Way AZ where I met two Canadians (from Nainimo BC).

Day 42, 114 miles (2544). Left 3 Way at sunup and immediately had a 10 mile, 2K foot climb, followed by a nice downhill. After only 32 miles I was faced with a dilemma, stop for the night or press on knowing that the next legitimate camping site was 74 miles away! The majority of the 74 miles would be through the Apache Indian Reservation, where camping was by permit only, and permits could only be obtained very near the end of the 74 mile jaunt. No help there.

If I stayed with the short riding day, there was a camping spot nearby with 102 degree clothing optional hot springs.......but I made the fatal mistake of looking at the weather. The next days forecast called for blustery SW winds, not what I wanted for riding the narrow, debris choked shoulders of the only highway through the reservation. So I wistfully bid goodbye to the hot springs and saddled up.

In the end it was a very long day, nearly 11 hours of riding, but I am damned glad I did it. The road shoulder was crappy, frequently overgrown with bushes, and traffic was heavy and fast. It would have been much more difficult with gusty winds. Tonight I am camped at a cute RV park in downtown Globe AZ.

Emory Pass

Day 39, 58 miles (2347). I left Hillsboro NM way before sunrise hoping to get a jump on the west wind that was forecast to blow strong by afternoon. The 3K of climbing was easier in my opinion than what followed it, pedaling into a stiffening headwind. It felt like I was cycling in slow motion for 40 miles of rolling hills. The wind was so strong on some of the hills that I was forced to walk my bike on the steeper grades. I arrived in Silver City NM totally dead. Since the forecast calls for strong west winds the next two days, tomorrow will be a day to rest and stock up on food for the barren miles between Silver City and Tempe, AZ.

A note on tires. When I started the trip I was riding on a Maxxis tire 700c x 38mm that uses a Kevlar belt in the main tread for puncture resistance. I had a total of 9 flats in the first 1,000 miles, mostly from fine tire wire. I installed Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires (35mm) about 1350 miles ago and I have had only one puncture- a toothpick! The new tires have more rolling resistance but the trade-off is well worth it. If you ever want specialty bike tires that your local shop does not stock, try Bike Tires Direct in Portland OR, they worked a miracle supplying me with the tires I wanted but could not find anywhere in Houston or San Antonio.

Headed to the NM mountains

Day 38, 106 miles (2289). Rode from Anthony to Hillsboro NM, the first 90 miles  along the Rio Grande River. Although the river is dry now, the river supports a great deal of agriculture on it's banks- cotton, grain, and a lot of pecan orchards. With the river dry, water to sustain the crops comes from wells, big diesel pumps are running everywhere, pumping well water into the irrigation canals the run everywhere.

The last twenty miles my route turned away from the Rio Grande and started climbing into the treeless NM foohills. Although the climbing was modest, maybe 1000 ft of climb, the headwind made those miles excruciating. It felt like I was pulling a stalled car with my bike. I was relieved to make it to the nearly deserted town of Hillsboro, where the only open business was the wine bar, a glass of red wine helped with the leg pain.