Day 35

First, I would like to apologize to all my followers for taking this long to get to the final two days of my journey. The final day (Day 36) and my afterthoughts will be posted over the course of this next week.

As you might have suspected, the excitement of the final two days and all the things to follow had me quite distracted and unfortunately my blog fell by the wayside. There were other reasons more psychological in nature that also kept me from finishing my story which I will discuss later. Now back to the story...

Since you may have forgotten where I am in my story due to the fact that the last post I made was well over six months ago, here is a quick recap: Yesterday was my journey over the final summit in the Sierras. It was a terribly cold journey as I made my way down the mountains stopping for the night in Pollock Pines. 

I woke up in the morning rested, warm and overwhelmed with excitement to be so close to home. It was finally hitting me that this journey was coming to an end. It was a very weird feeling. On one hand, I was excited to be so close to accomplishing what I had set out to do. On the other, I was soon going to have to get back to the real world and a whole new set of challenges. Not to mention all the other things going through my head. Fears of something going wrong in the final days that might keep me from finishing. Fears that my motivation might give out and I might have somebody pick me up now that I was within a reasonable driving range. I had also grown very fond of all the attention, emotional support, and the feelings of accomplishment. How would I handle it when all of that was gone? Needless to say, I had a lot to think about on that day's ride.

When I left my room to head to the free continental breakfast, I was astonished to find a nearly three inch layer of snow on the ground. To think that I was and would continue to bike through weather like this had me questioning my sanity. Regardless, I fueled up and set out. First thing was first, I stopped at a gas station to try to find some better gloves for the cold weather. Sure enough I found a pair that ended up working great.

After hopping back on the highway, I hadn't made it far into that day's journey at all when I came across a sign saying that bicycles were not allowed on that particular highway. Which I found infuriating at the time but hilarious in hindsight. There were no such signs when there was no shoulder, falling rocks, and blind turns but now that there was a huge shoulder, no blind turns, and no threat of falling rocks whatsoever, I was not allowed to cycle. However, the detour it forced me into taking was quite a beautiful one.

Tonight I would be stopping in Sacramento because I had a pair of friends that I would be staying with that night, Karlin and Megan. As I was making my final approach into Sacramento I now realized pretty quickly that I was back in California. Drivers here do not have much or any respect for cyclists. From the Midwest to here, I saw a steady decline in people's tolerance for cyclists. Out in the Midwest, most people would follow behind me if they could not safely pass with a great deal of distance between them and me. As I moved more and more west, people started passing closer and closer and at higher rates of speed. Now that I was back in California, I hardly felt safe on the road at all. I just got the feeling that people no longer viewed me as a living, breathing human being that could die if they accidentally hit me. Now I was just something in the way that might make their commute home a whole 10 seconds longer if they chose to pass me safely. Needless to say, I hope that anyone reading this will take the time to pass a cyclist safely next time they come across one on the road.

As I neared my friends' home, I realized that I should grab something from the store to thank them for graciously offering their place to stay. I texted them to see what I could bring. In the end I was looking quite classy with an 18 pack of Bud Light strapped to the back of my bike. Haha!

It had been so long since I had seen Karlin and Megan but the way they welcomed me was like it had been just yesterday. They were so awesome, as were their five amazing dogs or "the stampede" which they were dubbed at some point in the night. It was also so amazing to finally see some familiar faces. We shared some great conversation and they even treated me to dinner. Karlin and Megan, if you're reading this, thank you so much for everything that night, it meant so much to me!

That day I had told my dad that I was going to be heading out the next morning (my final morning) by 8am. Having so much fun with my friends though, I soon lost track of time. Next thing I know, there's no way I was going to be taking off by 8am... but who cares. It was my last couple days on my journey so I was going to take my time to enjoy them.

Next post to come... THE FINAL DAY!!!

Day 34

On Day 34 I was headed over the next summit to Pollock Pines. I took my time in the morning because I wanted to make sure that I passed the summit during midday so it wouldn't be too cold. On my way out of town I had to stop to fuel up at Heidi's, one of my favorite breakfast places in Tahoe. As I proceeded to demolish two regular size breakfasts, the lady waiting on me expressed her astonishment. As usual, that lead to a long talk about the journey I was on and my reasons for doing so. Jane couldn't believe it and wanted to know every detail. She was one of the most fascinated with my story of all the people that I had talked to along the way. In fact, she pledged to make a donation to St. Jude that month! And to top it all off, she even came out of the restaurant to see me off when I left.

And I was off to tackle another mountain pass! Now, there really weren't many ways to get through the Sierras from Tahoe so I ended up sticking with Highway 50 even though I knew it wasn't the safest. For those of you who do not know this route, there are numerous stretches of road with no shoulder to speak of, blind turns, and falling rocks from the cliffs above. Needless to say, I put in a few prayers before setting out.

It was another somewhat easy climb with some beautiful views. When I reached the pass I was ecstatic. Not only had I finished my final major climb but the temperature wasn't going to get any worse... Well, the temperature didn't get any worse but after I reached the pass, I was no longer going 6-8 miles per hour while putting forth a great deal of effort. No, I was traveling at about 30mph and putting forth little effort at all. It was what I imagine being in a blast chiller would be like. Just over halfway down, I forced myself to stop at a hotel where they had a fireplace in the lobby in order to thaw out. To give you an idea of how cold I had gotten, I was there for over a half hour and I was still shivering when I left.

As I made my way to Pollock Pines I knew I was going to be cutting it close with the weather. Sure enough, when I was about 3 or 4 miles out it started to sprinkle. Fortunately, it remained a light drizzle until I rolled into town. I was about a mile away from the hotel when I realized how hungry I was. I also realized that once I got to the hotel I was not going to want to venture back out for food so I stopped to eat. By the time I got out of the restaurant, the weather had turned into a full fledged downpour. Therefore, I had to ride a mile in thirty degree temperatures while I got soaked by rain that was just shy of being turned to snow. By the time I got to the hotel I was drenched and could barely fill out the paperwork for my stay because I was shaking so uncontrollably. I am very glad that I am mostly out of the mountains. When I got to my room, I immediately turned on the heater and spent nearly an hour with my best friend of that night... the hair dryer. Haha

Looking forward to warmer temperatures tomorrow!

Day 33

On Day 33 I woke up plenty early in the Walmart parking lot even though I didn't arrive there until about 4am. It's pretty hard to continue to sleep when the sun is blaring in your face. Even though I didn't plan on getting an early start it was good for me to wake up a little early because I had a few things to take care of before setting out. First of all, I needed to find a local bike shop to buy some extra brake pads because I wasn't sure if the downhill portions of the Sierras were going to eat up my brakes or not. Also, I needed to allow time for me to reassemble my bike since it was in pieces in the trunk of the rental car.

I'm so glad that I opted to find brake pads because I was on the fence as to which route to take to get to South Lake Tahoe. Fortunately, the people working at the shop told me that the alternate route to Highway 50 may not be the best because there were points that the shoulder disappeared and at the time there was some construction going on which didn't make it any safer. Therefore, I opted to follow Highway 50 to get to Tahoe.

I also asked them about good diners in the area but there was nothing convenient. However, I remember seeing an In-n-Out in the same shopping complex and it was late enough in the day that it would be open. It was the first In-n-Out Burger that I had seen on the trip so eating there that morning was a must.

Once I was fueled up and everything was taken care of I was on my way. I was very excited for this next stretch since it was my first challenge of getting through a mountain range and it was likely to be a very beautiful ride. Don't get me wrong it was a pretty tough climb, especially with the altitude, but I had built it up so big in my mind that when I reached the pass I couldn't believe I had already made it. Let me tell you, the next 5 miles were incredible! I was flying! It was the longest downhill glide that I had come across yet and it made every bit of the climb worth it. Not to mention the fact that when I got toward the bottom I was greeted with some amazing views of Lake Tahoe.

It was a pretty weird experience staying in Lake Tahoe that night because it was the first familiar place that I had stayed in since the start of this trip. I knew which hotels were the cheap ones, I already knew where the good food was, and I knew my way around. It got me very excited because it kept reminding me of how close I was to home. I tried my luck on a slot machine and won enough to pay for my room for the night, dinner, and had just over ten bucks left over. What did I do with the extra money? I definitely bought a chocolate milk and went to the arcade! I just had an urge to get in touch with the child inside me. Haha.

I had a great time in Tahoe but I was definitely looking forward to the concluding days of my journey.

Delicate Arch and Trail

Utah

Mesa Verde National Park

Picture 1 is of some of the ladders you have to climb during the tour.

The Drive

On day 32 I woke up and got going to get to the car rental place in time to pick up the car I will be in for the next two days.

I rented a full size sedan so hopefully my bike could fit in the trunk. Fortunately it did but it was definitely a tight fit even with the wheels and handlebars taken off.

And I was off! It took a little time getting used to driving a car. I kept feeling like I was going over the speed limit but usually I was under it. Haha one of the best things about being in a car was finally being able to listen to music and they even gave me satellite radio for free. It was AWESOME!

My first stop was Seven Falls. It was an amazing place to see. Unfortunately though a lot of it was shut down because of slippery steps. Also, it was kind of touristy for me. They decorated a lot of it for the holidays but all I saw were ugly decorations blocking gorgeous rock formations. If I'm going to check out nature's beauty I want it to be just that.

Next, I was off the Colorado's Garden of the Gods. It was quite a place to visit. If my bike wasn't all broken down, I would have loved to have ridden around it. Next, I had a bunch of miles to put behind me. I was headed to Cortez, Colorado to stop for the night. I drove well into the night and ended up pulling into a Walmart to crash. For as much as I was paying to rent that car it was definitely going to double as my motel room for the two nights I had it.

The next morning (day 33), I was off to check out Mesa Verde National Park. If anybody is ever near this park I would HIGHLY recommend it. There are some amazing views and the ruins are incredible. It was one of the best things I have come across in this entire journey and one of the major reasons I'm not feeling any ounce of regret for taking a car part of the way because I would have never gotten to experience it if I hadn't. Also, because of the geological makeup of the area, there's no telling how long some of the ruins will be around.

Next, I was on my way to Carson City, NV. Although I did have a little extra time so I decided I would try to stop near Moab, Utah to check out the Delicate Arch.

On my way I saw a large rock formation that looked like it had an opening you could drive through so I wanted to go check it out. When I approached the turnout for it I wasn't sure if I should have been going in there because it was a small opening in a fence that had a gate that almost looked like someone had busted down. But I saw somebody else that had just gone in so I decided to go for it. The road leading to it was a dirt road that definitely wasn't meant for a sedan. At one point I wasn't sure if it would make it. However there was no way of turning around and doing it in reverse seemed impossible so I trekked on. Fortunately I made it but unfortunately the "tunnel" I thought I saw only went about five feet in. It was still pretty cool to see up close though.

When I got into Moab, I stopped by their information center to find out exactly how to get to the Delicate Arch. If I was going to get any sleep that night I was going to have to make this next stop fairly short. When I inquired about the arch I also asked how long it would take to get there. The lady at the center told me it was about an hour drive into the park and an hour and a half hike to the arch. That seemed a bit extreme so I wasn't sure I was going to go. However, I decided to get a second opinion so when I got to the park I asked the lady at the gate. She told me it was only a half hour drive and an hour walk. I decided to go for it!

The drive was very scenic and had a lot of things to stop and check out but I had to make it to the Delicate Arch. The drive was the expected half hour. When I got to the hiking part I was off! Not only did I need to make good time to get some sleep that night but there were also some storm clouds rolling in that looked menacing. I'm proud to say it only took me a half hour to reach the top.

One thing people always seem to do is tell you about the destination and neglect to give any details of the journey. When I was reading about the Delicate Arch, I got nothing but details about how magnificent the arch was. What came to my pleasant surprise was that the trail leading to it was incredible in and of itself. In the end it was totally worth the time to stop and another place I would highly recommend, Arches National Park.

About two minutes after I got in my car it started raining and I was immediately thankful for how fast I was able to complete the trail. On my way out of the park I got an opportunity to pay it forward. A middle-aged couple was stuck walking on the side of the road in the rain so I offered them a ride. They were very grateful and even joked that I may have saved their marriage (the husband had wanted to take the long way around).

Next, it was full speed ahead to Carson City. Along the way I got caught in a pretty hairy snow storm but was able to drop in elevation before it got too bad. At one point I stopped to take a quick cat nap in the middle of nowhere. When I woke up I realized how far I was from any lights and how clear the sky was so I got out to check out the stars. I could pretty much see every last one of them!

Finally, I made it to Carson City and once again slept in a Walmart parking lot. Tomorrow I'm tackling those Sierras!