Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Lee Vining to Yosemite

Stressful does not even begin to describe today's ride. The first 12 miles were the most rewarding and were spent conquering something known as Tioga Pass. We climbed 3200 ft in 12 miles at an average 8% grade. I made several stops along the way but made it up pretty quickly all things considered. As soon as we passed the ranger station at the top we had first lunch and a 3 hr dance party/celebration.

The day was 75 miles so we still had a lot to go. The roads were narrow and windy and though Emily, Bri and I were often going or exceeding the speed limit cars did not seem to pay attention to that and passed us carelessly around blind curves and with opposing traffic. We had several harrowing experiences and spent the rest of our miles on edge, never knowing which cars would wait for us to find a pull-off and which would be too impatient. People seemed to be rushing to see nature when nature was all around. I saw some really angry looking kids, upset their parents has dragged them there for the weekend. But, crowded roads and bad drivers aside, Yosemite was gorgeous and such an amazing opportunity to be able to bike through.

Second lunch was sad as we ran out of bread and instead had lettuce turkey wraps. A lo-carb option for those of us watching our weight. Haha.

We stopped at a gas station and for a break from the stress of the roads. I had an amazing ice cream sandwich called an it's-it. Mint flavor...pro. We were joined by many other B&B'ers there and witnessed a woman making a mixed drink in the trunk of her car while her husband drank some beer and pumped gas. They then tried to drive off but didn't remember to close the side door of their car. We spoke with a park ranger and alerted him of the situation, but this put us even more on edge for our last 15 miles as they were not the only ones we saw drinking there.

We finally made it to the school in which we were staying. Dinner crew made a late evening but delicious dinner and we all took a freezing cold hose shower. I was in bed shortly after 9 to prepare for our day off which would include lots of hiking. But more on that later.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Bishop to Lee Vining

Today was the day before the fabled Tioga Pass. I rode with Holly, Nate, Kristina, Marcus and Arden. We split around mile 11 when half of us stopped for an impromptu dance party just before a 10 mile climb. The hill was so large it had a sign advising cars to turn off their AC to avoid overheating. We took a nice long break at the summit and regrouped.

We had not been told that the day would be full of climbing and so we were not predicting to climb to well over 8000 ft. We had a nice decent into town, but unfortunately I had a slow leak in my back tire so my speed did not exceed 46.

We stopped at a Mobile gas station with a famous deli inside where we all had a much needed sandwich. It was delicious.

We got to participate in a fashion show to raise money for the city's outdoor education program. We wore some pretty crazy stuff and had a good time Bike and Build style. Some pretty nutty pictures got posted on FB and I got to work on my model walk. Good times.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Lone Pine to Bishop

Rolled 6 deep today with Arden, Kristin, Susan, Steph and Emily. We kept good conversation and good pace with much needed stop in Independence on the way to lunch. Today was straight out of Oregon trail. Had an awesome snack at the gas station while Susan fixed a flat and made it to lunch, which was entirely unsatisfying food wise, but did include an hour plus long dance party.

We had a nice t-dubs (a favorable wind...whose full name shall not be mentioned so as not to jinx it) and were cruising at around 26 mph for a solid bit. We had seen a billboard for Subway and had our stomachs prepared for a real lunch of foot long proportions. When we got into town we learned it was another 2 miles down the road...nbd except it means it's also 2 miles back. Susan and I, as well as our stomachs were pretty committed so we forged on while the others opted for something closer.

Some B&B chili for dinner rounded out the evening before some AH presentations and town hall. Today was Jay's birthday and in honor of the small roses he gives out to help us all remember to stop and smell the roses each member of our team was given a rose to then give Jay at some point today. Given Jay and I are forever going in search of wifi together I thought it only fitting to post a picture of me with the rose to FB.

I also visited an awesome antique store called Cobwebs and made a few super cool vintage postcard purchases and also got a pretty cool present for someone back home. Though rearranging my bin to fit it in was a serious endeavor.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Ridgecrest to Lone Pine

I am sore. So so so so sore. I guess I should have anticipated this since I don't swing sledgehammers all that often...and when I do it's not for 8 hrs at a time...but I wasn't expecting it to be this bad.

I rode with Justine, Steph, Ben and Jay, and we started the morning off right with a coffee stop at McD's. Then we set off on our ride. Besides Ben getting a flat and then later needing to take the Captain's wheel we had a very uneventful morning. The conversation was good and flowing and we stopped once more before lunch to get ice. There was a moderate amount of climbing but nothing big enough for me to use bad words. We made a few more stops but managed to make it to the host before 2. Tonight we're "camping" at an RV park, so we have showers, wifi and a pool. Dinner an breakfast are both provided so essentially the only reason we're calling it camping is because we'll be using tents.

We only have 7 ride days left this summer, it hasn't hit me yet how quickly this is all ending and I don't want it to either.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Yermo to Ridgecrest & an un-build day

Today's ride was our last day in a stretch of 6. We knew it was going to be about 90 miles, but we didn't know that meant 97 miles which with 2 small detours quickly turned into over 100. I was apprehensive and my legs were angry from the start. I rode with Marcus and Tova. Around mile 21 we saw a road closed sign. We learned it was because a flood had wiped the bridge out. However, the only other entrance point to the toad we needed prohibited bicycles. So what did we do? We walked down to the river bed and then through it across the broken bridge. No big deal.

Luckily there was well placed civilization today so we were able to take breaks at gas stations in the shade and fill our packs with ice which was an awesome treat.

We knew as we got closer to the host there would be a big downhill followed by a big uphill. Well, no truer words have ever been spoken. I got up to almost 45 mph on the downhill and then struggled my way up 4ish miles of uphill. Once we crested the top we had awesome tail wind and the last miles were a breeze. The last 5 were especially awesome. I didn't pedal at all and cruised in the 30's the whole time. Definitely a much easier 100 miles than I expected when I saw the cue sheet in the am and heard we were fording a river before 830 am. But seriously, I felt like I was on Oregon Trail Bike&Build style.

After getting to the host and getting showered a group of us headed to Subway because we were too hungry to wait til dinner. It was delicious and really hit the spot. A dash of civilization was definitely something I needed.

Today we worked on the same house here as SUS '11. They had saved the rest of the demolition work a whole year so we could get a chance to do some demo, since they saw how much last years group enjoyed it. As did we. Sledgehammers and jackhammers helped us get the job done with a little bit of brute force as well. No pictures, because I left almost all of my stuff at the host by accident. A brief dip in the local pool followed the "build". We were all covered in concrete dust. But it was a blast. Who knew un-building could be so fun?!

Baker to Yermo

The ride was only around 60 miles but it started with breakfast and a mental breakdown. After only getting about 5 hrs of sleep the fact that I woke up with my sleeping bag so caddywhompus that the foot portion had my head in it and my feet were cold because they were at the head of my sleeping bag seemed like a condition I was unable to handle without shedding tears. So I had a good cry and headed out to attempt to face the day.

Around mile 11 David, Arden, and I stopped at a gas station. I bought a blue gatorade (referred to on our trip simply as blue) and a bag of beef jerky and unbeknownst to me it was exactly what I needed. Instant morale boost.

We made it to lunch and from there continued on the last 25 miles. We rode all but a few miles on the highway, which is legal in CA if it is the only road between two towns. We passed lots of cars ad they waited in line for an agricultural inspection which was a pretty cool feeling. The last few miles after we were forced by signage to exit the highway were on a poorly paved road as we headed to our host which was the bunkhouse of a ghost town.

We each had a bed and I took the opportunity to nard (nap hard) before dinner at the restaurant in the ghost town. Afterwards, Janet, our contact at the host took us to her house where many of us swam in the lake, some showered, and many played with the unexpected surprise...PUPPIES!!! There were 6 4 week old poodle puppies. They were absolutely precious and after a log few days of riding were exactly what we all needed.

Pahrump, NV and baking in Death Valley to Baker, CA

The ride today was arguably one of the hardest things I've done in my life. The ride was 84 miles long, but, we decided as a team to cross the CA state line together. So our photo shoot slowed us down immensely. Arden,David, Kristin and I made it to mile 35 before the van so we stopped in the only shade we could find to wait for lunch. Soon more riders had shown up but there was still no sign of Timmy or Ms. Susie. There was no cell phone service either. We finally, after more riders came and we had waited for more than an hour hailed down a passing car and found out that Ms. Susie, our trailer, had a flat and was as a result currently out of commission. We knew we were wasting precious cool morning hours, so, we assessed our water situation, filled up water bottles with green tea given to us from a passing car, and headed on towards Baker. About 5 miles after leaving "lunch" we started tying to hail down passing cars to replenish our water before we got into a desperate situation. We hailed down an RV and got a gallon of water and carried on. Around mile 50 Timmy and Ben came over the crest of the hill (just like out of a movie) with water, ice and supplies for PB sandwiches. We sat and soaked up all the shade we could. We carried on and soon we began to very seriously feel the effects of the 118 degree day. There was no shade and as a result nowhere good to stop for a break. Kristin said it best when she said she felt like an ant in a hair dryer.

With some serious headwinds coming at us we were only averaging around 8 mph. We were quickly running out of water. We flagged down a truck with NM plates who was very generous and was able to give us enough water to completely fill our camelbaks. We took frequent breaks to snack and assess our water situation. During one break we hailed down a pickup with 2 guys who handed us the vitamin water and dasani that they were in the process of drinking, but they were cold and we didn't care. During that same break a nice French family stopped for us as well and even had ice to spare.

At this point we were within 11 miles of town. We made a goal to make it 5 more miles before out next break. We were close, however, rounding a bend a minivan passed us and pulled over to the shoulder. Out hopped a woman who offered us cold soft drinks. I have honestly never stopped and hopped off my bike so quickly. She offered to let us sit in the van and cool off and we immediately accepted. Once inside we learned their names were Randy and Shelly and they had been traveling and seen our bikers in our group. They immediately stopped to offer what beverages they had. When they learned what had happened to the trailer they began driving up and down the road to find other B&B'ers to offer them cold beverages and a chance to cool off. Shelly even had windex to clean our sunglasses with, and offered us gum and chapstick. We tried to convey what a blessing and how grateful we were for this couple who had just spent their afternoon searching us out to provide such an oasis. But I don't think any amount of words can express that. Honestly, to everyone that helped us words cannot come close and typing this is bringing me close to tears. Thank you.

We made it into Baker at 530 and soaked up all the air conditioning we could. Dinner was not provided so we were cooking, however, the trailer and dinner ingredients were an unknown number of hours away so we went to DM. We had some Arby's followed by some tacos, followed another 4 hrs later with some pasta and veggies.

Other riders trickled in and everyone looked rough. Because the closest towns with water were 56 miles apart the van was having to double back to fill up. Many riders ran out of water, but many were not as proactive about flagging down cars.

One rider was in a particularly rough state. After doing what we could we determined her pulse was too high to be safe and called EMS. They came in site and assessed the situation. Later she had an IV, but never had to go to the hospital.

We really lucked out, and very much survived by the generosity of others. The 4 of us stayed upbeat and positive and I would not have made it without that. We joked about it being like the amazing race...but seriously.