Shaping Up and Shipping Out

April 27 - 30,
After talking with the ranger at the campground, we found out that it was 100 miles to the next closest campground. The map showed one mountain pass and fairly hilly terrain, so we were prepared to hitchhike for a few miles at some point (not a habit we want to get into though). Fortunately, we had a strong tailwind and the pass that was on the map was nonexistent so we made the first 30 miles in a little over an hour. After that we just had 69 miles to go and that sounded a lot more reasonable. We had a tailwind for a few more miles, but when we took our next turn it turned into a crosswind and that slowed us down a bit. The road we were riding on had some beautiful scenery and we rode by sand dunes, cliffs, and canyons. At one point when we descended into a canyon there was a pretty steep hill and our odometer read 51mph -- our fasted speed yet! Thankfully the climb out of the canyon was a little more gradual. By the end of the day our pace had slowed down a bit and there was still one last hill into the campground, we weren't sure if we were going to make it up by pedalling but out of nowhere came 3 dogs barking and biting at our heels -- that was just the motivation we needed to speed up the hill and into camp.



The next morning we did some bike maintenance and that led to a slightly later start. We talked to the ranger and found out that the next major town was 90 miles away and that the first 25 miles of our ride would be a gradual but steady incline gaining 2,000 ft. We had our work cut out for us . There were some smaller towns listed on the map so we were hopeful that we could find somewhere to stay that was closer than 90 miles. We made it up the hill and had our usual lunch of peanut butter and banana sandwiches. The map we had didn't show terrain, so we had no idea what lay ahead of us for the next 65 miles. It turned out to be fairly hilly but there were also a lot of tall pine trees along the road which was a welcomed change of scenery -- it had been a long time since we had seen a forest. We kept on trekking along for another 45 miles until the next small town hoping to stay there for the night. Unfortunately the town had a gas station and a small grocery store but no campgrounds or motels. After talking to some of the locals we found out that the closest place to stay was a town called Window Rock, another 20 miles down the road. After going 170 miles in 2 days we did not feel like going any further, but we bought an energy drink and made the last 20 miles in an hour. We treated ourselves to a hotel (and a much needed shower) before collapsing into bed.

The next morning we planned out our route to Albuquerque and it was 130 miles of busy frontage roads. That sort of biking is pretty stressful and more mentally tiring than physically tiring because the roads are not bike-friendly so we have to be very aware of the traffic around us while making sure that we are finding all our turns. Instead, we decided to bike Gallup which is just west of Albuquerque and buy a greyhound ticket into the city to pick up the rental car. The ride to Gallup was a short 25 miles and we crossed into New Mexico but we were fighting traffic and wind the whole time and when we got to our campsite we were really glad we opted for the bus.

After setting up camp, we took the bike apart (so that it will fit in the car) and we realised that we are not ready to be finished biking and we are really glad the trip is not over yet. The past 2 days were our highest milage yet (and we're not even sore) so we can safely say that we are in good biking shape. We are excited that we still have another 1,000 miles ahead of us from Michigan to Massachusetts.

Ahead of us today we have a 20 hour drive and car rented for 24 hours -- it's going to be a whirl wind tour through Colorado and the Rockies and then up to Iowa. It would be neat to say that we rode up the Rockies with our bike, but this early in the year we don't want to get caught in bad weather up there. Maybe someday we'll come back and bike it (without 60 lbs of gear). We have found that we have a much greater appreciation for vehicles now -- what would take us a little more than 2 weeks on a bike will take 20 hours in a car. What amazing inventions! We are really looking forward to some R & R with family for a few days and hoping to get rid of our ridiculous farmers tans and sock tans.

Raining, Biking, and Hitchhiking

April 26,

We packed up the tent this morning and were on the road by 7:30. We were well rested and well fed and the sun was shining. We were hoping that the forecasted thunderstorms and wind wouldn't come to fruition -- but they did.
Despite a strong headwind, we proceeded with high spirits and strong legs. Then we turned around the bend. The wind hit us like a wall. We struggled against it, uphill for another hour until we felt the first drops of rain. We pulled to the side put on our rain gear, looked at each other and stuck out our thumbs to hitch. There wasn't much traffic on the road but the third truck that passed us (about 5 minutes later) stopped and offered us a ride about 15 miles to their ranch. The people in the truck were a wonderful older Navajo couple with their grandson. We tossed the bike in the back and rode off. We started talking and they offered to take us an extra 35 miles to the next road junction and we happily accepted. Along the way they told us stories about growing up in Navajo Nation and pointed out all the interesting cliff formations. Some notable ones were a big glass bottle, the profile of a big man laying on a mountain, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln with a big nose. It was really great and we were extremely thankful to get out of the headwinds and rain (which had started to steadily fall). When they dropped us off there was a break in the clouds and the wind was at our backs!



We peddled along the last 25 mile stretch toward our campground at Navajo National Monument. There were some more showers as we went along, but nothing strong enough to dampen our spirits. As we climbed toward the campground, the showers turned into a downpour and at every curve in the road we longingly looked for the visitor's center. Soaked to the bone from the cold 35 degree rain and winds, we arrived and warmed ourselves under the hand dryers in the bathroom. By the time we had explored the exhibits in the visitor's center, the rain had let up and the sun was peaking through. We set up our tent, ate an early feast and napped until the sun shining on the tent beckoned us to go and explore a bit.







We went for a short hike, saw some Anastazi ruins (from afar) and headed back for a nice hot cup of tea before bed.



It was really wonderful that we were able to hitch a ride for part of the way because it would have been a cold, wet and windy 90 mile ride. For the next couple days we will continue riding through Navajo Nation which means that we are only allowed to camp in the few campgrounds scattered about the region so will need to do some longer (but forecasted sunny) days.

Looking at a map of the country we are starting to realise how big it is. Realistically, we can't make it all the way across in the time we have left. What we are planning to do is rent a car in Albuquerque, drive to Iowa to visit family... and then we will take it from there.

"No Act of Kindness, No Matter how Small, is Ever Wasted" - Aesop

April 23 - 25,

For our last night in Zion we had a visitor from Denmark who was hitch hiking across the country, he was looking for a place to set up his tent so we returned the favour that we received on our first night in the park. We had a pasta dinner and and a cup of authentic Navajo green tea and then headed off to bed.

The next morning we woke up bright and early at 5:30 and packed up camp so that we could climb out of the park in the cool of the morning. The climb out went really well -- we powered up all the switchbacks and even got a little break at the top. We had to wait about 45 minutes at the top because there is a tunnel that bicycles aren't allowed through, so the park ranger stationed at the tunnel stopped a pickup truck and asked if we could put the bike in his truck and ride through with him. When we got to the other side we hopped out and continued on our way to a town called Kanab. When we got into town we found a grocery store and picked up lunch and found some wifi to post our blog and look at some maps. We took longer then we planned and when we headed out again it was pushing 8:00pm. We biked about 15 miles out of town to BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land and pitched our tent a little ways down a dirt road.

We woke up this morning and got another early start. It was a relatively easy 60 mile day with no huge passes. We are thankful to be done with Nevada and the endless basins and mountain range passes -- but it was a great way to get into biking shape! We crossed the Glen Canyon dam and made it to Page, Arizona near Lake Powell by 12:30 (when we crossed the border into Arizona we gained an hour because they are not on daylight savings time so we felt like we made amazing time). :)




The dam was HUGE! The first picture is the view of the dam from one side of the bridge and the second is the water level downstream of the dam.






As usual, we found a grocery store and bought some fresh bagels and hummus for lunch. After eating we found a little cafe and had lots and lots of coffee (because we hadn't had any that day and there were free refills) and used their wifi to look at some maps for places to camp. Once we were well caffeinated we went back to the grocery store to pick up a bottle of wine and as we were getting back on our bike to head to the campground we were approached by a man who was curious about our trip. As it turns out, he is part of an organisation called warmshowers.org and he was hosting another touring biker and he invited us over to his house to let us pitch our tent in his backyard. We were served a delicious dinner, took a warm shower, and were able to do laundry. What a wonderful surprise! We are discovering a really neat subculture of cyclists who are very kind, open, and generous people.

Tomorrow they are calling for thunderstorms in this area with a headwind, so we are mentally preparing ourself for a challenging day -- we'll let you know how it goes. :)

And I Think to Myself, What a Wonderful World

April 20-23,
We departed our slightly seedy motel in Milford, Utah without much motivation to bike after the long ride the previous day. But we departed nonetheless and were treated to a wonderful shorter ride. There was only one climb between us and Cedar City but it was by no means an easy climb. The grade was gradual but the climb just went on and on and on. But we made it to the top and had a long descent into the outskirts of Cedar City.

We wandered around the outskirts of town looking for a cheap campground but in the end opted to stay in town at a cheap motel (once again) because we wanted to ask questions about the best bike routes for the upcoming days (and the shops were already closed). We spend the rest of the evening walking around Cedar City, admiring the beautiful surrounding cliffs and eating pizza and lots of ice cream and sampling some Utah beer. It was a very pleasurable day.

The next day we awoke and sought out some directions for the best way to get to Zion National Park. We waited for a bike shop to open and were advised that the fastest (and only direct route) would be to follow frontage roads along the interstate and then to hop on the interstate itself for 15 miles. So off we rode, slightly downhill with the wind at our back. We picked up some shoes for Chantale and then continued riding down toward Zion. The time came for us to hop on the freeway and it was exhilarating. Fortunately the Road was mostly downhill and the Saturday traffic wasn't too heavy. The shoulder on the road was wide so it wasn't that dangerous and all the cars zooming along by us created some nice drafts that pushed us along.

We got off the highway and immediately the heat of our desert surroundings hit us like a wall. We hadn't had any oppressively hot days so far. We rode along a little bit longer until the intersection of the road that would take us all the way to Zion. We stopped for a big lunch and filled ourselves up on some peanut butter, granola bar and banana sandwiches, washed down with a small tub of frozen yogurt. We should have looked at a topographic map before our lunch stop because immediately as we resumed our biking we hit a climb accompanied with heat and no breeze to speak of. We felt our full stomachs with every petal but pressed on toward our destination. With only 3 miles to go, we were completely drained. We stopped in a small town and looked for some water at the church and post office, but to no avail. Determined to find some refreshment, we rounded the corner and stumbled upon a beautiful grassy, shaded oasis with some wonderful water fountains. We recharged for a little while and then biked the rest of the way past the town of Springdale and into Zion. This week is "National Parks Week" which means that there is free admission to all the national parks throughout the country. This came as a pleasant surprise because it would have cost us 26 dollars to enter (interestingly, more than the cost of a vehicle).



There are two campgrounds at the southern entrance of the park but both of them were completely booked for that Saturday night because of Earth Day and Parks Week. We were considering turning back around and heading back to BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land to camp off road somewhere but Chantale mustered up the courage to ask some people if we could set up the tent in the corner of their site. They kindly obliged so we set up the tent and explored the town a bit to pick up some food. We ate beside a bubbling brook, admired the outskirts of the beautiful canyon and planned our next few days.



We decided to stay in the park 3 nights so that we would have plenty of time to explore. The next morning we got our own site, set up the tent, and then moved our tent from out under the tree because of a crazy caterpillar infestation. The whole lower park of the canyon is completely overrun by forest tent caterpillars. Apparently it happens every year but practically every surface beneath a cottonwood tree is covered with these caterpillars. In some spots it is impossible to walk without crunching a few of them with every step. I'm not one to enjoy killing bugs for no reason, but after a short while you start to not care anymore.



After we set up camp we headed out on the park shuttle into the canyon. We randomly chose a hike called Observation Point that took us winding through a beautiful side canyon, up the canyon walls and all the way to the rim. We were treated with some spectacular views at the top. We headed back down into the canyon, soaked in some more sun and headed back into town for some more food. It is such a luxury being situated in one place with food readily available so that we can go out and shop for whatever type of food we are craving. We opted for some pasta with sauce, avocados, and cookies with milk for dessert. We walked around a bit more, went to a ranger program on birds in the park and then retired for the night.



Our plan for today was to wake up really early at 4 am, eat some quick breakfast and then head off on a ride to the trailhead for Angel's Landing (the most popular hike in the park) where we would hike up and arrive in time for a sunrise in the middle of the canyon. We managed the first two tasks, waking up early and eating breakfast but then we decided to head back to sleep for a couple hours. Instead, we caught the first shuttle at 7 am and then hiked to the top, still able to admire the first rays of sun on the canyon walls. It was a gorgeous, short hike with some really narrow paths with cliffs on either side that drop off a couple thousand feet--absolutely stunning but not good for those wary of heights. Surprisingly, despite our later start, we were the first ones at the top and enjoyed a few minutes of amazing solitude admiring the canyon as it filled with light and colors. We headed back down just as the crowds of people starting coming up -- perfect timing!



It has been another beautiful day, we ate a second breakfast when we got back to camp, picked up a little more food in town and biked back into the canyon by the main lodge, where we are currently hanging around outside on the lawn. Tomorrow we pack up camp and exit out the east side of the park toward Lake Powell and the Arizona border. It should be a tough day but hopefully we will be well rested and ready to go!

Great Times in the Great Basin

April 18 - 19,

After leaving the KOA in Ely we had a great ride ahead of us to a town called Baker, next to Great Basin National Park. The weather and wind cooperated with us and we made the 65 miles and 2 passes in great time. On the way there we rode with our two friends and a had beer with them in the only place in town that was opened. The campsites for Great Basin National Park were another 6 miles and 2,000 ft up the mountain so we said goodbye and started the trek up.



On the way up we some some interesting artwork along the sides and some really neat houses. About 2 miles from the campsite we met a lady named Lori who was walking the other way to her house. She was also a cyclist so we got to talking and the subject of Chantale's shoes came up (remember the ones she threw on the shoe tree). We had meant to pick some new ones up along the way, but all the towns weren't large enough to have a shoe store. When Lori found this out, she took the shoes right off her feet and offered them to Chantale. Not many people I this world would give a random stranger the shoes they are wearing, we are meeting so many kind and generous people along the way.

Our campsite had a wonderful grassy patch for our tent, and stream running through with water that we could filter for drinking. We slept in, took our time eating breakfast, explored our surroundings a bit, and then headed down to the visitors center for a tour of Lehman's cave (one the natural wonders that Great Basin is famous for). The caves were really neat -- at one point we were 192 feet underground. The pictures don't do it justice of what it was really like down there. After the tour, we walked back to our campsite and took a nap and basked in the sun. After dinner we had a small fire and then headed off to bed.





The next we woke up bright and early and got to start our day with the 6 mile and 2,000 foot descent. It was a great way to start the day. We got into town in no time flat and had breakfast at a little place in town. We hit the road at 10:00 and had a really long, but satisfying day. We finally crossed over into Utah.



Below: our bike halfway between Nevada and Utah


We rode 90 miles to milford and beat our record for the most miles per day. We rolled into town just as the sun was setting and found the cheapest motel. We had a late, but filling dinner, and then settled into a deep sleep.



Above: one of the roads that go on forever...I think we came from the lowest part of the saddle of the range in the background.


Today we have 50 miles to Cedar City -- it is the largest town that we will have seen in weeks. It might be kind of refreshing to see a stoplight.

Until next time,
Chantale & Josh

End Of The Road (almost)

April 16,

As planned, we had a wonderful campfire last night with the two other cyclists we met (Kevin and Josh). Having a campfire is a great excuse for staying up a little later than we normally would. Usually when the sun goes down we don't really have anything else to do so we just go to bed.


It was really nice to hang out and talk for a while. The two other guys are about our ages and have been living in San Francisco and Sacramento. They both have been biking a lot more than we have been, one of them has worked as a bike delivery guy in San Francisco so biking actually is his job. It sounds like we will be crossing paths with them in the weeks ahead because they are taking a similar route through Utah.
We left the campsite by 8:30 on a very beautiful sunny and cold morning. The first little bit of the day was a descent, then a flat straight stretch and then a quite hefty climb.


We felt great all the way to Ely, 40 miles, and made it there before we thought we would, at 11:30. We walked around for a while and went on a wild goose chase to find a buffet. Unfortunately the restaurant in town that usually has a buffet is closed on Wednesdays. We kept walking, getting hungrier and hungrier and then went on a little shopping spree at a grocery store instead, having our own little buffet on a little hill on the side of the parking lot.


After all the food and a lot of sun, we didn't have much motivation to bike much farther so we just went a couple miles along the road to a campground. Chantale showed her charm to the manager and got us a discount. Our original plan was to go a little closer to Great Basin National Park so don't have as long of a day ahead of us but it's no big deal. We showed the bike a little love and cleaned it up really well so it will hopefully be rolling really smoothly.


We are going to take at least one rest day at Great Basin to rest our butts (and legs) so we won't be posting for a while due to the lack of wifi.

Location:Ely

What Goes Up Must Come Down (or "how the west was fun pt. 2")

April 15,

Knowing that today would be a shorter day, we took our sweet time hanging out in our nice, warm motel room relaxing and enjoying Internet, warm water and shelter. Our intent was to hold off departure until it warmed up outside but as soon as we stepped out the door, it started snowing a bit. We warmed ourselves up by starting the day with a long climb out of Eureka.
We made it to the top and coasted for 6 miles downhill into some more incredibly straight roads where you are never really sure if you are getting anywhere or if you are going uphill or downhill...actually, it's pretty easy to tell when we're going uphill.
There were two more climbs along the way to our current campground. We made it up the second one smoothly but couldn't quite endure the third and tallest climb (so we walked it to the very top).


we go through a jar of peanut butter every two days, and it keeps us going!
(as advertised)

At the top, we met two other cyclists who are headed on the same route as us. They had been snowed in at Eureka for the past three nights. By the sounds of it, we got in and out just in the knick of time!
We headed the rest of the way down to the campground which is on BLM land (Bureau of Land Management). They own most of the land in Nevada and it free to camp there. We didn't quite know what to expect from it but it turned out to be an amazing place.


Each site has its own wind break, shaded picnic table and fire pit. Also a surprise is that there is a really large reservoir here. It's quite refreshing to see a body of water after miles and miles of nothing but high desert and mountains.


Chantale scrounged up some firewood from the other campsites here so when the wind dies down we plan to have a nice campfire and then head off to bed.
The weather is finally clearing up so it looks like we should have a nice couple days ahead of us for the last parts of Nevada, to Ely an then Great Basin National Park.

Location:The Lonliest Road in America

Cold Springs to Hot Springs

April 12-15

After a wonderful breakfast of oatmeal with peanut butter and crushed up granola bars (our typical start to the day), we left the town of Cold Springs and headed toward Austin a little more than 60 miles away. The ride awaiting us held in store some of the largest climbs yet. The predicted weather was a few inches of snow in the higher elevations and maybe some more storms heading in overnight. Thankfully, we only saw a few showers throughout the day.

The terrain was quite flat for the majority of the miles with 4 passes and summits thrown into the mix. On the first pass we gained about 2000 feet over a few miles (a relatively gentle grade but still quite challenging for us). We powered to the top of that pass as well as the next one a few miles away.


By the end of the day, approaching Austin, we were really feeling our legs and despite our best efforts, we couldn't quite make it all the way into town so we walked the last little bit (oh well). To make ourselves feel better, we tell ourselves that if we didn't have lots of gear with us we would be able to make these climbs much more easily (and it's probably true). 50 to 70 extra pounds on a bike really makes a big difference. I can see why people have chase cars to carry all the gear. When we made it into Austin we talked a bit with a sheriff who said that he had been following our progress. He passed by us a few times on our ride in the past couple days and said he was really impressed until he spotted us near the top of Austin from afar. He peeked through his binoculars and was watching us right at the point where we dismounted the bike. It's kind of creepy to we watched from a distance but we didn't really mind.


We are starting to be recognised by some of the other locals here. We have seen the same UPS guy pass by 4 times and each time he passes he honks and waves.
In Austin we got some coffee and a soft serve cone and then inquired about the incoming weather. The sheriff advised us to stop for the night in town and wait for the weather to blow over because a pretty big storm was expected. It was snowing pretty hard but the sky seemed to be brightening so we decided to keep going over the next to passes in order to stay ahead of the storm and not get stalled out for a whole day.
The road out of Austin was steep and winding so we ended up walking a good part of the way up. We got to the top where there was a nice looking campground but wanted to head down to a lower elevation on the other side of these mountains.


We descended a long way down, climbed through one more pass and then descended the rest of the way toward our end destination of spencer hot springs. We had heard about this spot from various people along the way and really wanted to check it out. The hot springs were 5 miles out of the way down an unmarked, bumpy dirt road but they were worth every peddle. We arrived with enough daylight to check out the area and set up the tent right as a little snow/hail squall arrived.


After we set up camp, we brought our food over to the tub, which the hot springs emptied into, and soaked our tired muscles in some wonderful 110 degree water. It was just what the doctor ordered.
After a long night's sleep we took another dip in the spring and ate breakfast.


The mountains, which we had just crossed through the previous night, looked like they got a lot of snow so we were quite happy with our decision to press onward.


We headed back out the dirt road toward highway 50 again with some strong winds in our face and foreboding weather all around us. Right as we got back onto the paved road, it started snowing quite hard and the wind picked up. We hunkered down and waited for the squall to pass. After a couple minutes we headed out with the wind at our back but unfortunately that didn't last for long. The wind shifted so that for most of the day we had a strong cross wind slowing us down to a crawl (but a crosswind is still much better than a headwind :)
Storm after storm blew by throughout the day and we crossed the incredibly straight stretches of highway toward Eureka. It was an exhausting day (both mentally because of the 20 mile stretches of highway without even the slightest kink and physically because of the wind). We were incredibly happy and tired when we got toward Eureka.


We arrived in town originally intending to camp but the weather was not looking promising and there were no campsites very close by so we decided to stay in an inexpensive motel with a store right across the street to fulfil all of our needs. Some heavy snow arrived right as we checked in but thankfully not much of it stuck to the road.


We had a wonderful dinner of stuffing, bread dipped in pasta sauce and mac and cheese with tuna with a cold beer on the side and then we were ready to sleep!

Today looks light the storms have passed and sunny skies with warmer temperatures are in the forecast. We plan to have a shorter day today (about 40 miles) to go halfway between Eureka and Ely, the last main town on the highway 50 stretch. The ride through Nevada has certainly been a memorable experience but we will be welcoming some change of scenery and a change in the highway number with our entrance into Utah. But before that happens, we still have some tough days ahead of us with some high mountain passes awaiting us.

We're not sure when we will get wifi next but hopefully it won't be as long as this past stretch.

Until next time,
-Josh and Chantale

The Answer is Blowing In the Wind (but it's Blowing the Wrong Way)

April 11-12

Today was a challenging but rewarding day in the end. We left the hotel in Fallen at 9:30, heading east on route 50, unfortunately the wind was travelling against us. We were stuck at a steady 8-10mph clip on a straight flat road, without the wind we would probably be doing 20mph. But despite the strong headwind, we plugged along from Fallon to Cold Springs (a little more than 60 miles).

We are definitely in the middle of nowhere right now. During our travels today we passed by pretty much nothing but mountains, sage brush, dried lakes and military test ranges.






The whole day there were military fighter planes and bombers zooming around and when we stopped for lunch, we saw them performing bombing practice in the surrounding desert. We also found the fabled shoe tree along the way to which we donated a pair of our shoes to lighten the load (don't worry, we still have our biking shoes).





The hospitality in Cold Springs was wonderful! It is on the map because it is the only piece of civilisation between Fallon and Austin. It has a few mobile homes, bathrooms, and a diner/bar. It is probably the smallest town on the map, but we are sure glad it exists -- we got a warm meal at the diner and a patch of grass to set up our tent.

This is what the "town" looked like


By the end of the day today we were definitely ready to be done. Even though we didn't do too many miles, it was still a long day in the saddle. A wise man man once told us that it's not the fitness of the biker's legs that indicates how far you can travel in a day, the mileage is more dependent on the shape of the biker's [butt]. We can certainly agree with that.

How the West was Fun

Today we departed Carson City into the desert and interestingly enough we encountered our first bit of rain. It wasn't a downpour, but enough to make us pull out some of our rain gear. We made the 67 miles by 2:00, it was quite flat but quite windy. We had the wind pushing us along for the first half and we were fighting a cross wind for the second half. In Fallon we found a cheap hotel and walked around town and relaxed for the rest of the night. The funny story for the day happened while we were in the checkout making small talk with the lady and the subject of the tandem bike came up and she exclaimed "I remember you...I pass you guys on the way here!" I guess there aren't too many people riding around town on a bicycle built for two. :)



The day ahead of us looks partly cloudy with south west winds and 100 miles to the next town, probably will be a two day ride.

We Have Brains in our Heads, We Have Feet in our Shoes, and it's a Ride Over the Mountains that we Choose

When we left the campground in West Sacramento it was a beautiful Easter Sunday morning. We found a Starbucks and used their wifi to write down our directions for the day. It looked as if the American River Bike Trail would take us most of the way to Placerville at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It turns out that it is difficult to follow a winding river on a poorly marked trail. After having to stop a few times to check the GPS on our phone we found the road and took a busier but more direct route. Thankfully the traffic was really low because of the holiday.

When we got to Folsom we were having some issues with our low gears skipping, and we need those gears to get up the hills so we stopped at a campground to do some light maintenance -- we pumped up our tires and oiled our chain, along with fixing the gears. The next morning we took off early with the hopes of making it to Placerville in good time to meet Josh's uncle and grandpa who graciously came over the Sierra Nevada Mountains with a truck to drive us and the bike past Lake Tahoe to Carson City.





Calm down, calm down. Before you cast any stones and we loose any readers because we cheated a little bit, let us defend ourselves :) The pass through the Sierra Nevada Mountains are over 7000 feet and this early in the season we did not want to be stuck in a snow storm, it would have taken at least 2 days for us to climb up and over. We don't regret our choice considering there is supposed to be some nasty weather on the mountain in these next few days and my legs were getting sore just looking at the climbs we would have had to bike (and walk) up. There are plenty of other
hills between here and the east coast so we don't feel like we are missing out too much.

The ride over the mountains was gorgeous...there was a gravel truck that tipped over on the road so we even had extra time to wait and enjoy the scenery. :)

The time here in Carson City has flown by! We had a great time visiting family and enjoying some wonderful west coast hospitality.

We also ran all over town looking for tires and tubes that are more puncture resistant than our current tires. We settled on thicker tires and tubes filled with "slime", which is a gel that will self seal any punctures. Hopefully we won't get any more flats.

Tomorrow we head out onto route 50, also known as "the loneliest road in America". We will update again when we have a chance.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Ain't No Valley Low Enough, Ain't No Tire Flat Enough to Keep Us from Sacramento

So far we have lost 6 pounds...of gear. :) Yesterday we sent back in the mail our cookset, kindle, flip flops, and a sleeping pad (we still have our jet boil to warm up our food). We got a much later start heading out of Napa yesterday then we hoped,about 10:30 after some route planning and a stop at the post office. The most direct route out of Napa took us overtop a very steep hill. We biked as far as we could and then proceeded to push the bike the rest of the way to the top. The way down the other side was much easier, we were happy to have disc brakes on the bike. It was a beautiful descent with spectacular views of the valley below.




Once we got into the valley it was wonderfully flat and we were ripping along towards Davis until we got another flat tire.






This time went a lot faster than the last time. We continued the rest of the way past Davis and made it to our campground in West Sacramento as the sun was setting. It was a good but long 70 mile day (because of the late start), but it was the first day so far that went according to plan.

It's now 8:00am and we are off on a 60mile ride to Placerville. Now that it is flat we should make good time along lots of bike trails. It looks like beautiful weather today, hopefully our muscles are rested and ready.