Yosemite (May 29, 2014)

Oh, what joy.

Much like trying to describe the reality of bike touring to someone who has not experienced bike touring, trying to describe the overwhelming beauty of the Yosemite Valley is equally difficult.  Very hard to describe the impact of the sheerness and beauty of the walls of the valley and the elegance of the waterfalls.

Since last posting, Sarah, Alex and I have climbed a great number of climbs, camped at a number of campgrounds, and experienced the many joys of touring.  But the most recent day of touring (Tuesday, I think), brought us into the Yosemite National Park.  After riding/viewing what has become the norm ... vast vistas of beautiful tree covered mountains, lush meadows, rushing rivers ... the road, taking a slight curve to the right, brings the Yosemite Valley into view ... BREATH TAKING.

Because of the great number of visitors to this area, it is always a question as to if there will be campsites available.  Sarah's brother (Bruce) and his girlfriend (Lilia) are on a two week vacation that includes backpacking in Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks.  They had reserved a campsite, and Sarah was gracious enough to invite me to join the group.  Bruce and Lilia left yesterday for a two-day backpack trek; Sarah and Alex left early this morning for a one day hike.  Me ... I am doing the wifi thing and getting caught up on the usual financial tasks, as well as enjoying reading up-to-date newspapers.  Ah, the life of being somewhat urbanized once again.

Viewed a couple of half-hour movies yesterday extolling the beauty, history and spirituality of Yosemite National Park.  Exited the theater feeling the mood of the movies ... a comment about the campsites ... because of the great number of people visiting, the campsites are by nature not very much nature-y.  Kind of has the feel of camping in a parking lot.

Tomorrow we head out once again, with Lake Tahoe the next city/area of note.  In between here and there awaits Tioga Pass (at nearly 10,000'), as well as a couple of other passes in the range of 8,500' to 9,000'.  I have done a quick take-off of elevation gains, San Diego to Lake Tahoe ... 55,000' or so.  Kind of amazing and very much difficult, but very satisfying. 

The rest of today I will be playing tourist, doing some clean-up and minor maintenance on the bike, and generally not going anywhere down the road.

Ah, the joy.




There They Go (May 25, 2014)

There they go ... Alex and Sarah are heading off to Fish Camp, CA for a few days.  We parted ways this morning and I rode to Oakhurst.

Having met Sarah and Alex back in Buckeye Flats Campground last Tuesday (today is Sunday) I have been truly enjoying their companionship.  Riding and camping with them has made the difference between "I think I may stop this drudgery in Lake Tahoe", to "Hell yes!!  Let's get on to the Northwest!!"  While we do not actually ride together all that much (their riding usually starts as I am easing into my second cup of coffee), we do manage to meet in the small towns along the day's route ... then again at the predetermined campground.

The three of us are pretty much on the same page politically and also "life outlook" wise.  Our derogatory observations of the general camping population are mutually acknowledged.  There is great comfort in having confirmation that my thoughts are always completely correct.  When you are hauling a minimum of gear around on a bike and camp adjacent to a couple with an RV, two shade tents, comfortable chairs, a generator, a big screen TV (and requisite DISH satellite disc) ... and a weed whacker ... well how can you not make a derogatory comment, eh?

The magic of the road continues to amaze me.  Yesterday we intended to end the day's ride at the Forks Campground along side Bass Lake.  Being the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, we anticipated that there might be a problem if the campgrounds were all full.  Upon reaching the campground and talking with the campground host, we were informed that we would need to head another two miles down the road to the reservations office to see if there were any cancellations (Jack, the host, was pretty sure all the sites at all of the campgrounds along the lake were full).  "Two miles" is easy (four miles round-trip) in a car ... not so much after a day of riding.  We asked Jack if he might be able to reach the office via his radio.  He did, and it was confirmed that there were no campsites available.

Enter the magic ... while Jack was attempting to communicate with the office, our savior arrived.  The head honcho-ette of the many campgrounds in this area (Michelle) has her 5th wheel trailer in the site next to Jack's site ... she apparently heard the radio transmissions and came walking over to our group.  Once she figured out the situation, she offered the area around her trailer for our tents ... and the picnic table ... and the shower in her trailer.  The magic comes in as she could have very easily said we were out of luck, so keep moving.  Michelle and Sarah immediately bonded ... smiles all around.  In a show of appreciation of her generosity, we asked her to join us at a nearby restaurant for dinner.  The conversation was extremely lively ... she interested in who we are and what we are doing and us interested in the travails she endures being in charge of such a large operation.   And being that this day was really the first "big camper occupancy day", Michelle had her hands full getting ready and coping with the events of the day.  That she has such a positive and vibrant attitude was a joy to share.

Unexpected joys come out of making friends with such a person ... prior to heading to dinner, I  noticed a guitar in her trailer.  As we walked back from dinner, I asked her what types of music she plays ... among playing the music of several groups, she enjoys playing Beatles music.  This morning, while sipping my coffee and slowly (per usual) gathering my gear, Paul McCartney's version of "Michelle" played constantly in my mind.  Pure joy.

There is often much humor to be found in tragedy ... yesterday afternoon a lady stopped at Jack's site and asked if he had seen her small dog.  The dog (Lucky) had slipped the leash and disappeared into the woods.  For the following three or four hours the dog's owner could be heard beseeching Lucky to "come here boy ... here, Lucky, come on boy."  While recognizing the sadness that the owners must have been experiencing, it got to be somewhat amusing after a while.  The good news is that, indeed, Lucky did eventually "come here".

Anyway, Sarah and Alex headed off to Fish Camp to spend a couple of days with some friends, and will be meeting up with Sarah's brother in Yosemite for a few days.  As per my usual, I am not sure how long I will spend in Yosemite Park, but we spoke of trying to meet-up again in Lake Tahoe.  I sincerely do hope we will be getting back together as it makes all the difference in the world to travel with people that you truly enjoy.  This new friendship has spurred me to think of all of the interesting and enjoyable people I have met out on the road over the past five years.  Again, pure joy.

I have set a rule for myself ... I do not read the journals of riding companions as I think it might skew the relationship.  Both Sarah and Alex are blogging.  Sarah: honoringmycompass; Alex: reroutedheart.  I consider myself to be very lucky in many ways.  Having met up with Sarah and Alex is at the top of the "lucky" list.

I am currently lounging on a very comfortable bed, in a nice hotel, having taken a wonderful hot shower ... wonder what is on the TV tonight?  I am indeed lucky. And joyful.

Up and Down ... Repeat Repeatedly (May 24, 2014)

One day riding at 8000', the next at 2000' ... the next 8000' ... the next 2000'.  Repeat.

An exaggeration to be sure, but if one intends to follow the Sierra Cascades route, one had better enjoy climbing and descending ... repeatedly.

Since leaving Three Rivers, the route has gone up into the Sequoia National Park, home of the giant Sequoia redwood trees.  Notice the adjacent photo ... that little white speck at the base of the tree (on the left) is my cycling helmet.

The ride up out of Three Rivers was to be about a 45 mile day, with a massive climb ... intentions are sometimes just that ... intentions.  After about 13 miles of 3 mph climbing (with another 15 miles of climbing awaiting), it started to rain.  Temps were in the low 50s ... reports of snow at the top of  the climb.  I decided to go back down about 2 miles to a campground.  Descending in the rain is not a joyful event.  Nor is setting up a tent in the rain.

As is usual, often good comes out of bad ...  two touring cyclist also camped at this campground.  Sarah and Alex are doing the Sierra Cascade route as well ... I had seen them as they rode through Big Bear Lake.  They have been gracious enough (and tolerant, I suspect) to allow me to camp along with them over the past several days.  In a few days we will be parting ways in Yosemite, but I hope we can reconnect possibly in the Lake Tahoe area. 

So we have now been back down to desert setting and again heading upward.

As of this moment, I am feeling much better about this adventure and anticipate continuing on to the northwest.  Even with all of the ups and downs and the camping ... for the moment ... life is good.

Goin' Downhill ... (May 19, 2014)

Quite often you will hear that someone is going "downhill", and the intended message conveyed is that the person's life is in a downward spiral.  Well after today, I say, "To hell with that!"

Upon leaving the "wide spot in the road" (Camp Nelson), I enjoyed a most wonderful downhill run of approximately 14 miles of extremely steep roadway ...  but a roadway with gentle turns.  Most wonderful.  The road then flattened out, followed by a gentle 800' climb ... followed by another exhilarating downhill.  Guess I should not get too exuberant as tomorrow I am facing a 5,000' climb.  Yikes!!

Some good news ... doing some additional research, I have discovered that, indeed, there are two hiker/biker campgrounds at Yosemite (no reservations required) ... takes some of the worry out of my mind (other than that little voice in the back of my mind reminding me that I was, at best a "C" student, so any research I do is suspect).  For this evening, I am at peace with this particular question.

Had an interesting "happening" this morning ... the kind of happening that makes bike touring enjoyable.  While enjoying the initial 14 mile downhill ride, I was passed by a beautifully restored 1965(ish) pickup truck with a beautifully restored camper and trailer.  My thoughts were immediately taken back to one of my favorite books, "Travels with Charley", by John Steinbeck.  One of the great, in my humble opinion, conversations about "rambling about".  Steinbeck had toured the U.S. in the early/mid 1960s in a pickup truck w/ camper.  Most enjoyable read.  Anyway, after having enjoyed the wonderful downhill and the remembrance of  Steinbeck's writings, I came around a corner and the "beautifully restored truck and trailer" was stopped along side of the road.  I stopped.  The driver said hello and asked how I was doing (an American way of saying "WHAT DO YOU WANT?").  I said I really like his truck/camper/trailer (to which he nodded humbly), then I asked him if he had read "Travels with Charley" (Charley, by the way, was Steinbeck's dog).  He said not only had he not read the book, but he had never heard of the book, nor Steinbeck.  I wrote down the name of the book, and suggested he might enjoy reading the book.  Will he read the book? Who knows?  I certainly hope so.

Anyway, it was a great downhill ride, a great looking truck/camper/trailer, and a great read ("Travels with Charley" (speaking of Steinbeck, if you have not read Steinbeck's "East of Eden", do yourself a favor and do so)).

While riding across the 20 some miles of Yokohl Valley today, I came across this one and only sign in the adjacent photo ... interesting in that in all of the time riding through this area I had not seen one pedestrian, nor any other cyclist, and maybe 6 cars/trucks.  But I do have to say that that sign seems to be working as none of those 6 vehicles buzzed me.

Amazing what downhills can do for a person ... feeling good once again.

What to do ... (May 19, 2014)

Took yesterday (Sunday) off from riding ... took the day and tried to calm my mind and make a decision about what to do.

The humor is that I made several firm decisions throughout the day, see-sawing back and forth between pulling the plug on this ride or continuing on.

Stopped Saturday evening at a wide spot in the road (cafe/store/bar/motel) near Camp Nelson, CA ... thoroughly worn out from a very hard day of climbing (4,000') from a desert setting to pine forest. If you tap the adjacent picture (to enlarge), you might be able to see a small section of the highway (just to the right and a little up from the dying (brown) tree in the lower left).  It is beautiful country up here, but I have discovered that when ascending at 3 to 4 mph, it is best if I stay focused on what is directly in front of me (usually the far edge of the road) ... if I look around, the bike usually veers to one side or the other.

Anyway, spent the day thinking and making decisions, only to re-think and re-decision ... multiple cycles.  Filled the day with crosswords and reading a book that I had read sometime in the recent past.  Felt good to not place my butt on the bike.

One of the points of "worry" is that I will most likely get to Yosemite National Park next Friday or Saturday ... Memorial Day weekend.  Best I can tell, all of the campground spaces are typically reserved well in advance.  I have read there is one campground set aside for hikers (bikers not mentioned), but the spaces are allocated first thing in the morning to those who have been lined up since 6:00 A.M.  What to  do?

My final decision is to head on to Lake Tahoe (about two weeks), then decide if I continue on or return to Tucson.  This ride is much, much, much harder than I anticipated.  Think climbing Mount Lemmon everyday ... with a fully loaded bike (90 pounds +/-).

But then as I ride this morning, I may well change my mind once more.

Hard Day (May 15, 2014)

After spending the most of last week in pine covered country, two days ago I dropped down into the Mohave Desert in the Palmdale, CA area.  While the initial warming felt good, the temps worked against me yesterday.

Yesterday proved to be the hardest day to date on this particular ride.  Leaving the Palmdale area I rode for about 20 miles heading due north on a couple of straight roads that sloped gradually upward.  For all of those 20 miles there was a fierce wind coming out of the east-north-east.  Finally, the road took a slight bend to the west ... but it also took a slight upward projection.  For the next 8 miles I rode steadily upward on a 4% + grade ... and not really getting much help from the wind.

Speaking of wind, there are (my guess) several thousand wind turbines in this area that cover an area along about 10 miles of the highway.  Kind of a statement about the windy conditions in this area.

So after riding the 8 mile upward trending road (2000' elevation gain), I reached a point where the road headed down ... only to kick back up another 800' in approximately 2 miles (7% +).

Water ... when I left Palmdale, I had plenty of water.  My map indicated that there was a store about 20 miles into the 57 mile ride.   I planned on filling my bottles at this store, as well as putting a couple bottles of Gatorade into my body.  Alas, the store is no longer in operation.  So there I am, in the Mohave Desert, nursing my water supply as the climbing progressed.  Fortunately the temperatures were not so high that I felt threatened ... just kind of thirsty.  There was plenty of traffic on the highway, so I was sure that, if need be, I would be able to get water from a passer-by.

When I reached my overnight town, Tehachapi, my first stop was at a convenience store to down a couple bottles of Gatorade and replenish much needed electrolytes.  Feeling good this morning, so will head on to Lake Isabella today.

Strange feeling the other day.  Riding northwest from the pine country around Big Bear Lake, I traveled along a highway called "Rim of the World".  For the past week I had been traveling through mostly rural and out-back areas, and had the feeling I was far from any major urban areas.  All of a sudden, looking down from the "Rim of the World" highway I saw the San Bernardino Valley ... freeways, major airport, industrial buildings and housing for as far as one can see.   All this travel and I am on the edge of the L.A. metro area.  And currently I am not that far removed from Bakersfield (proud home of Buck Owens).  After today, I will be heading up into the Sierra Nevada range.

All is good, and while the days can be hard, the body feels good.


Ahhhh ... (May 11, 2014)

10:00 A.M. ... 40 degrees ... 20 mph winds with a High Wind Advisory of gusts up to 55 mph.  Was 34 degrees when I awoke this morning ... however since I decided to motel it last night, I was at a comfortable 68 degrees.  I knew of today's probable weather last night, which was the reason I tossed and turned all night long, waking for good around 4:00 A.M.  Fully meaning to ride today, I stewed and fretted about heading out all morning.

Ahhhh ... decided what I need is a day of rest, so have booked the room for another night ... nothing fancy, but indeed, a room.  So here I am, lounging on a soft bed (at room temperature) in Big Bear Lake, CA.  Good place to take a rest day.  Laundromat work was done yesterday as was browsing around the downtown tourist area.  (It does not seem to matter what town I am in, all of these tourist shopping areas seem to be the same ... t-shirts, ice cream parlors, nicknack/junk stores, over-priced restaurants, pseudo art galleries, and of course the local wood craftsman that can make you your own personal name plaque to hang out by your mail box.).

Today I plan to keep my feet up and do some reading, later (when it warms up a bit), do some bike maintenance, and generally take it easy.

The past six days of riding have not been easy ... over 12,000 feet of elevation gain.  And the down hills have not been all that enjoyable or carefree (certainly not car-free).  The ride up from Banning was a bit similar to riding up Mt. Lemmon ...  'cepting this ride was pedaling a 90# bike as opposed to a 20# bike.  Beautiful country, nice temperatures for climbing.  I topped out at Onyx Pass (adjacent picture) ... approximately 5500 feet of climbing since leaving the valley floor.  Downhill into Big Bear Lake from Onyx Pass was nice, but there was a strong headwind, so it was not up to the level of joyful.

Camped at Barton Flats USFS Campground Thursday evening.  The campsite hosts were a couple who winter in East Mesa, and had grown up in the Phoenix area, so we talked of things Arizona.  The wife was commenting that she found the number of cyclist riding up the mountain to be a problem, especially when they rode two abreast (there are no stop signs, so that usual anti-biker criticism was not offered).  I suggested that there is a very easy solution to the problem, and that if they were to ban all motorized vehicles, then the conflict would disappear.  The word "gullible" came to mind when I noted her reaction.

Yes, the ride has been difficult, but as in the past, I find great joy in the experience.   Seeing new places (I now have great respect for the mountains on both sides of I-10 as one drives into the L.A. area), and chatting with new faces.  So tomorrow I head north, soon to drop back down into desert country (ahhhh, warmth), then head up to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe.  From best I can tell all of the passes are open.  Looking forward to the adventure that awaits.

But for today ... ahhhh.

Physically Beat (May 8, 2014)

I am feelin' it ... "it" being the feeling of having taken a serious ass whoopin'.

Four days into the ride and I am taking a little time today to try and recover.  Total elevation gain yesterday and this morning was just under 5000' ... 5000' at 4 mph.  First thing this morning I was faced by a 1000' climb, but I persisted knowing that once I reached the summit I would be able to enjoy a 22 mile, 5000' downhill glide ... thought it was going to be pure joy.

What I actually "enjoyed" was a windy (as in curves), windy (as in gusting head and side winds) and rough road surface downhill.  22 miles of riding the brakes.  22 miles of exhausting and morally depressing downhill.

I reached Banning around noon ... thought about trying to rest-up at one of the campgrounds in this area and promptly opted for a cheap motel.  The wind is still cold and gusting.  Funny how, when in Tucson, I rue the heat ... how I wish I were ruing the heat.  Guess I am not a real touring cyclist since I am doing all of this moaning and groaning.

Tomorrow I will head up toward Big Bear Lake ... 6400' of climbing.  Think  I will make this climb a two-day effort.

Ouch.

Hinterlands (May 7, 2014)

Who knew  ... this route is not that far away from L.A. or San Diego ... rural does not even begin to describe the "otherwordly-ness" of the burgs through which I have been riding.  Three days into this ride ... three days of being out-of-touch with what we of the "big city" world refers to as news.  Camping, which brings me little joy, isolates one from the usual day-to-day.  Inclines, which tends to numb the soul, seems to be ever present.

By way of explanation, this current ride will take me from the San Diego area up through the Sierra and the Cascade mountain ranges to northwest Washington State ... approximately two months.  If all goes well, I plan on ending the ride in Portland, OR ... Portland holds an amazing blues festival 4th of July weekend.

Tonight I am in a mountain-top community by the name of Idyllwild ... as I topped out the final climb of the day, I entered the clouds.  Wet and cold ... motel time to say the list (speaking of the least, wifi signal is very much "the least").

Tomorrow I will be crossing I-10 at Banning ... hopefully the wifi signals will be strong enough to include a picture or two.  I am wishing I were in Tucson.