6.21.11 - Davis to Penn Valley - 75mi
We left the Wilke's rested and fully stocked with sandwiches, m&m's (which we fully knew wouldn't last through the heat but were too tasty to leave behind) and trail mix and headed north. With temps supposed to hit triple digits during the day, we were preparing ourselves for a tough day of riding and we were hoping to get to Grass Valley, about 85mi away. We would begin our ascent of the Sierra Nevadas today, which we were all excited about because it meant not only a reprieve from the blistering heat, but also a change of scenery to the snowcapped, pine covered mountains we love. The only catch was we were still basically at sea level and our hopefull destination for today was around 2500ft; tough climbing on the hottest day we'd seen.
Even with the high heat, we stayed relatively cool by keeping up our speed and letting the wind cool us down. We adopted drafting train to help keep us sheltered from the wind a bit and with all the bags loaded onto our bikes, it was the equivalent of drafting behind a semi. We each took a turn riding the lead for 2mi before rotating to the back of the line and by doing so were able to keep our average speed up quite high. Before I continue, I must say that with the Tour de France soon to start, we would have to decline any offer for work as a domestique this year as we feel that we need to concentrate on finishing this ride and getting back to the work of med school. Our deepest apologies to any riders who were hoping to secure our talents but we wish you the best of luck.
As we hit the foothills of the Sierras, our pace slowed and we were left to grind it out up the hills, under the baking sun, with narry the slightest breeze to cool us. We slogged for hours up the hills, climbing closer and closer to the sun and were struck with the cruel irony of knowing that today was the first day of summer and thus was the longest day of the year. With sweat dripping from our faces and jerseys soaked in sweat, we found a resturaunt at the top of one of our climbs and quickly retreated to the shade of the awening out front. Hoping to refill our dwindling water supplies, we reached for the door only to be greeted with the hours of operation indicating that today, tuesday, was the only day during the week the resturant was closed. Deflated, we resigned ourselves to sitting in the shade of the building, and waiting out the afternoon heat. We began again once the heat let up and quickly realized that the difference between 105 and 95 degrees is really negligible when the heat radiates off the asphalt under you and we made a joint decision to cut our day short and stop at Penn Valley where there was a gas station and a couple of resturants. Our only problem was that we now had no place to stay and looked for somewhere close to pitch our tent.
While we searched, James struck up a conversation with a local biker, Ramsay and his wife Mellony and before we knew it, they offered us a spot on their property to pitch our tents. They had a beautiful spread up in the hills and we spent the evening in conversation as Ramsay told us of his days as a sniper in the army and his time working as a mediator between the biker gangs of California back in the day - the Hell's Angels, the Mongols, etc. On the side now, Ramsay and his wife are part of the growing medicinal marijuana industry with a covered plot out back where they grew their crop. As Greg noted, this guy rivaled the Dos Equis Guy as the Most Interesting Man in the World. Between Ramsay's tales, Melony would impress upon us the benefits of medicinal marijuana and where she hoped it would go from here. We were utterly bushed after the day we had so we retreated to the comfort of our tents and under a dazzlingly clear night sky, we were out.
6.22.11 - Penn Valley to Cisco Grove Campground - 47mi
We left Ramsay and Melony early in the morning, hoping to knock out some miles before the heat set in and made it to Nevada City for supplies and a quick breakfast. We were now going to be hitting big, steep, long climbs and our goal was to sit out the heat of the afternoon again and right off the bat, heading out of Nevada City, we were in for a 5 mile, 1500ft climb. When we got to the top, we found ourselves in Tahoe National Forrest, surrounded by towering pines and that sweet mountain smell of pine cones, a little bit of dry dirt and a hint of brush. We all soaked up the scenery while we guzzled down water and after a quick rest, we set out again.
The tall pines cast equally tall shadows across the road and under their protection, we were able to cruise up and down the rolling roads through the forest. Around 2 in the afternoon, we made it to a scenic overlook that gave us a panoramic view of the snow capped Sierras and the valleys below so we stopped there for lunch and as the temperatures peaked, we each claimed a picnic bench in the shade and lay down for an afternoon kip. The afternoon shuteye was much needed but short lived for me as my bench was close to the parking area and the stream of vistors soon brought me back to the present. I struck up a conversation with a man and his wife on their way back home after a 10 day birdwatching tour and as the couple began to leave, the husband offered up two ice cold Negra Modelos that he insisted we take. Not wanting to offend, I accepted the beverages and took them back to the guys. We sat and enjoyed the beers as we stared out over the Sierras and enjoyed the moment.
Lunch, nap and beer finished, we continued our ride up and with the sun inching slowly towards the tops of the surrounding mountains, we reached the Cisco Grove Campground (after 4,500 feet of vertical climb for the day) where we were graciously given a camping spot and quickly settled in next to a quiet mountain stream and hit the sack.
6.23.11 - Cisco Grove Campground to Truckee - 25 miles
We woke up to the cool, fresh mountain air and the warm glow of the rising sun over the eastern moutain tops. Our day would be short today but short does not always equal easy. We still had to climb close to 2000ft to the top of Donner Pass and as we had already climbed to well over a mile high, our legs were beat and in the thinning air of the mountains our muscles would be desparate for every ounce of oxygen we could suck in. We achingly saddled up and silently begged our legs to start moving and stop hurting. They agreed to work, but steadfastly refused to stop aching. So we rode on. As we rode up the moutain roads, we followed the course of the snow-fed Yuba River, engorged and cascading down its course and as we looked around, we could see the last gasp of winter clinging on on some of the slopes and shaded areas.
Whether it was the distraction of the scenery or our growing fortitude, we soon ascended to the peak of Donner Pass where we could look down over the lower Donner Lake, sparkling blue, and in the distance, sitting at the foot of snowcapped peaks, the town of Truckee.
While we were stopped at the top of the pass, admiring the view and gathering photographic evidence of our accomplishments, we began talking to some women who had just biked the same route we had, up from Cisco Grove to the top of the pass (albeit in a much, much quicker time). They were surprised and interested to hear about our journey and as we described our current physical state, one of the women, Gale, mentioned that she owned a massage studio in Truckee, aptly named Truckee Massage, and one of the other women, Teresa offered to donate a leg massage to each of us. Needless to say, we were overcome by this offer and I dare say that I saw tears of joy welling up in James' eyes. We exchanged contact details and after a brief conversation and a quick hike to get better pictures of the stunning view, we headed down the twisting road as it plummeted toward the lake.
At the bottom, we stopped at the edge of the dazzling lake and simply enjoyed the view, which was too good for words.
Once in Truckee, we hit up Burger Me at the recommendation of Gale and enjoyed a juicy, delicious, protein delivering bison burger. We were due to stay at the home of Jim and Dotti White so we biked down to their house and when we found no one home, we began to explore their property. Their home sat just off the road, surrounded by pines and through the back ran a picturesque mountain stream. You couldn't dream of a more idyllic mountain home if you tried.
Feeling dirty, grimy and hot, we wandered down to the stream to wash off and cool down. We dipped our feet in and had to catch our breath as the ice cold mountain runoff took our breath away. We sucked it up though and hopped it, feeling the crisp, cutting water instantly refresh us. We sat in there a bit longer in a natural ice bath which worked wonders on our tired, aching legs. Not long after, Jim and Dotti showed up and we went inside their lovely home and began introducing ourselves. Jim and Dotti are lovely people and Jim's great sense of humor helped lighten our mood.
Coincidently, my girlfriend Hillary's mom, Deb, was in town and we arranged to meet up for dinner. Jim gave us a lift back into town, thus giving our legs a much needed respite from the pedals, and we headed over to Truckee Massage where Saskia and Nicole worked wonders on our legs. Their hands expertly worked over aching muscles and we were temporarily taken away from the heat, dirt, grime and sore muscles of our journey and allowed to relax and just float away as they worked. We left the studio amazingly refreshed and loose and met up with Deb and her friend Debbie, and wandered through the main strip of Truckee. Truckee is a town steeped in history with the well known Donner party making an unscheduled stop there as the early pioneers headed west and it's later importance as a railway stop and the town strives to keep itself grounded in a young, vibrant, unique community. We managed to hit it at the right time as Truckee Thursday was in full swing. Truckee Thursday happens every thursday in the summer and is part farmers market, part block party. The street is packed with locals and visitors, enjoying the long summer days and perusing the jewelry, clothes and produce for sale.
We found a local mexican resturant and Deb treated us to great dinner. We chatted as we ate and once dinner was over, we headed back out to the street to see more of Truckee Thursday. After walking around for a bit longer, enjoying the nightlife and the company, Deb and Debbie gave us a lift back to the White's house. We stayed up talking with Jim and Dotti as long as we could but the beds they offered us beckoned and we couldn't resist the pull of a soft bed and long nights sleep.
We left the Wilke's rested and fully stocked with sandwiches, m&m's (which we fully knew wouldn't last through the heat but were too tasty to leave behind) and trail mix and headed north. With temps supposed to hit triple digits during the day, we were preparing ourselves for a tough day of riding and we were hoping to get to Grass Valley, about 85mi away. We would begin our ascent of the Sierra Nevadas today, which we were all excited about because it meant not only a reprieve from the blistering heat, but also a change of scenery to the snowcapped, pine covered mountains we love. The only catch was we were still basically at sea level and our hopefull destination for today was around 2500ft; tough climbing on the hottest day we'd seen.
Even with the high heat, we stayed relatively cool by keeping up our speed and letting the wind cool us down. We adopted drafting train to help keep us sheltered from the wind a bit and with all the bags loaded onto our bikes, it was the equivalent of drafting behind a semi. We each took a turn riding the lead for 2mi before rotating to the back of the line and by doing so were able to keep our average speed up quite high. Before I continue, I must say that with the Tour de France soon to start, we would have to decline any offer for work as a domestique this year as we feel that we need to concentrate on finishing this ride and getting back to the work of med school. Our deepest apologies to any riders who were hoping to secure our talents but we wish you the best of luck.
As we hit the foothills of the Sierras, our pace slowed and we were left to grind it out up the hills, under the baking sun, with narry the slightest breeze to cool us. We slogged for hours up the hills, climbing closer and closer to the sun and were struck with the cruel irony of knowing that today was the first day of summer and thus was the longest day of the year. With sweat dripping from our faces and jerseys soaked in sweat, we found a resturaunt at the top of one of our climbs and quickly retreated to the shade of the awening out front. Hoping to refill our dwindling water supplies, we reached for the door only to be greeted with the hours of operation indicating that today, tuesday, was the only day during the week the resturant was closed. Deflated, we resigned ourselves to sitting in the shade of the building, and waiting out the afternoon heat. We began again once the heat let up and quickly realized that the difference between 105 and 95 degrees is really negligible when the heat radiates off the asphalt under you and we made a joint decision to cut our day short and stop at Penn Valley where there was a gas station and a couple of resturants. Our only problem was that we now had no place to stay and looked for somewhere close to pitch our tent.
While we searched, James struck up a conversation with a local biker, Ramsay and his wife Mellony and before we knew it, they offered us a spot on their property to pitch our tents. They had a beautiful spread up in the hills and we spent the evening in conversation as Ramsay told us of his days as a sniper in the army and his time working as a mediator between the biker gangs of California back in the day - the Hell's Angels, the Mongols, etc. On the side now, Ramsay and his wife are part of the growing medicinal marijuana industry with a covered plot out back where they grew their crop. As Greg noted, this guy rivaled the Dos Equis Guy as the Most Interesting Man in the World. Between Ramsay's tales, Melony would impress upon us the benefits of medicinal marijuana and where she hoped it would go from here. We were utterly bushed after the day we had so we retreated to the comfort of our tents and under a dazzlingly clear night sky, we were out.
6.22.11 - Penn Valley to Cisco Grove Campground - 47mi
We left Ramsay and Melony early in the morning, hoping to knock out some miles before the heat set in and made it to Nevada City for supplies and a quick breakfast. We were now going to be hitting big, steep, long climbs and our goal was to sit out the heat of the afternoon again and right off the bat, heading out of Nevada City, we were in for a 5 mile, 1500ft climb. When we got to the top, we found ourselves in Tahoe National Forrest, surrounded by towering pines and that sweet mountain smell of pine cones, a little bit of dry dirt and a hint of brush. We all soaked up the scenery while we guzzled down water and after a quick rest, we set out again.
The tall pines cast equally tall shadows across the road and under their protection, we were able to cruise up and down the rolling roads through the forest. Around 2 in the afternoon, we made it to a scenic overlook that gave us a panoramic view of the snow capped Sierras and the valleys below so we stopped there for lunch and as the temperatures peaked, we each claimed a picnic bench in the shade and lay down for an afternoon kip. The afternoon shuteye was much needed but short lived for me as my bench was close to the parking area and the stream of vistors soon brought me back to the present. I struck up a conversation with a man and his wife on their way back home after a 10 day birdwatching tour and as the couple began to leave, the husband offered up two ice cold Negra Modelos that he insisted we take. Not wanting to offend, I accepted the beverages and took them back to the guys. We sat and enjoyed the beers as we stared out over the Sierras and enjoyed the moment.
Lunch, nap and beer finished, we continued our ride up and with the sun inching slowly towards the tops of the surrounding mountains, we reached the Cisco Grove Campground (after 4,500 feet of vertical climb for the day) where we were graciously given a camping spot and quickly settled in next to a quiet mountain stream and hit the sack.
6.23.11 - Cisco Grove Campground to Truckee - 25 miles
We woke up to the cool, fresh mountain air and the warm glow of the rising sun over the eastern moutain tops. Our day would be short today but short does not always equal easy. We still had to climb close to 2000ft to the top of Donner Pass and as we had already climbed to well over a mile high, our legs were beat and in the thinning air of the mountains our muscles would be desparate for every ounce of oxygen we could suck in. We achingly saddled up and silently begged our legs to start moving and stop hurting. They agreed to work, but steadfastly refused to stop aching. So we rode on. As we rode up the moutain roads, we followed the course of the snow-fed Yuba River, engorged and cascading down its course and as we looked around, we could see the last gasp of winter clinging on on some of the slopes and shaded areas.
Whether it was the distraction of the scenery or our growing fortitude, we soon ascended to the peak of Donner Pass where we could look down over the lower Donner Lake, sparkling blue, and in the distance, sitting at the foot of snowcapped peaks, the town of Truckee.
While we were stopped at the top of the pass, admiring the view and gathering photographic evidence of our accomplishments, we began talking to some women who had just biked the same route we had, up from Cisco Grove to the top of the pass (albeit in a much, much quicker time). They were surprised and interested to hear about our journey and as we described our current physical state, one of the women, Gale, mentioned that she owned a massage studio in Truckee, aptly named Truckee Massage, and one of the other women, Teresa offered to donate a leg massage to each of us. Needless to say, we were overcome by this offer and I dare say that I saw tears of joy welling up in James' eyes. We exchanged contact details and after a brief conversation and a quick hike to get better pictures of the stunning view, we headed down the twisting road as it plummeted toward the lake.
At the bottom, we stopped at the edge of the dazzling lake and simply enjoyed the view, which was too good for words.
Once in Truckee, we hit up Burger Me at the recommendation of Gale and enjoyed a juicy, delicious, protein delivering bison burger. We were due to stay at the home of Jim and Dotti White so we biked down to their house and when we found no one home, we began to explore their property. Their home sat just off the road, surrounded by pines and through the back ran a picturesque mountain stream. You couldn't dream of a more idyllic mountain home if you tried.
Feeling dirty, grimy and hot, we wandered down to the stream to wash off and cool down. We dipped our feet in and had to catch our breath as the ice cold mountain runoff took our breath away. We sucked it up though and hopped it, feeling the crisp, cutting water instantly refresh us. We sat in there a bit longer in a natural ice bath which worked wonders on our tired, aching legs. Not long after, Jim and Dotti showed up and we went inside their lovely home and began introducing ourselves. Jim and Dotti are lovely people and Jim's great sense of humor helped lighten our mood.
Coincidently, my girlfriend Hillary's mom, Deb, was in town and we arranged to meet up for dinner. Jim gave us a lift back into town, thus giving our legs a much needed respite from the pedals, and we headed over to Truckee Massage where Saskia and Nicole worked wonders on our legs. Their hands expertly worked over aching muscles and we were temporarily taken away from the heat, dirt, grime and sore muscles of our journey and allowed to relax and just float away as they worked. We left the studio amazingly refreshed and loose and met up with Deb and her friend Debbie, and wandered through the main strip of Truckee. Truckee is a town steeped in history with the well known Donner party making an unscheduled stop there as the early pioneers headed west and it's later importance as a railway stop and the town strives to keep itself grounded in a young, vibrant, unique community. We managed to hit it at the right time as Truckee Thursday was in full swing. Truckee Thursday happens every thursday in the summer and is part farmers market, part block party. The street is packed with locals and visitors, enjoying the long summer days and perusing the jewelry, clothes and produce for sale.
We found a local mexican resturant and Deb treated us to great dinner. We chatted as we ate and once dinner was over, we headed back out to the street to see more of Truckee Thursday. After walking around for a bit longer, enjoying the nightlife and the company, Deb and Debbie gave us a lift back to the White's house. We stayed up talking with Jim and Dotti as long as we could but the beds they offered us beckoned and we couldn't resist the pull of a soft bed and long nights sleep.
6.24.11 - Today we rest, resupply, and prepare for the long trek across Rt 50 in Nevada. As we leave our first state behind tomorrow morning, California's parting shot will be the beautiful north shore of Lake Tahoe...
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