Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Yosemite and beyond


Finally, some home-grown eggs! 
Today we are in Lake Tahoe getting our bikes checked.  The library is closed so we are in a coffee shop with wifi, using my tiny iPod touch to access the web. It's surprisingly easy!

Since we last updated, a lot has happened. We made it to Yosemite national Park, narrowly missed a visit with a dear friend of Daisy's, climbed two passes in one day, and showered twice! We didn't know it at the time, but at the coffee shak where we wrote last we were mere miles from the geographic center of the state of California. Wow!  Also in that little town we bought some delicious home grown eggs from the feed store.  I had been dreaming of eggs for a long time and we proceeded to make fried egg and cheese burritos for lunch next to a beautiful lake.

Snow!
That same day we saw the first non-sunny weather of the trip.  A lot of it, too!  We triumphantly rode into Yosemite Park only to find that a storm was rolling in, and strong.  To get into the park we had to climb over two big hills of 2,000' each.  We got rained and hailed on during the first climb, and during the second... The snow really set in.  We were going really really fast to stay warm in the face of all that white, but about half a mile from the summit the visibility was terrible and the snow was starting to accumulate.  In the face of these actually dangerous conditions we decided to hitch a ride.  Actually, two since we had so much gear we needed two cars.  Jason got a ride with some recent college graduates, and I got a ride with a great couple from Maine.  They were super nice, especially when I left my soggy gloves in their car and had to track them down in a massive campground!

Yosemite was, as expected, spectacular.  We spent a full day there, during which it proceeded to rain all day long.  We were warm and dry in the visitors center and shuttle bus, happy as little clams to be resting. We ate an entire large pizza for a late lunch, and were so full that we only had bananas and gummy bears for dinner. Hee hee.
Reflections along Tioga Pass

We climbed out of Yosemite valley over Tioga Pass - the highest pass of the trip at 9,945'. It was incredible! The ride to the top took all day, and was at times very cold, but the views were utterly spectacular.  There were high meadows, steep mountains, and plenty of snow on the ground.  We were suitably exhausted at the top.  Exhausted, but also in awe.  Yosemite is another place we'll have to come back to.

We made it!  Highest spot on the route!
Yesterday we rode over both Monitor and Luther Passes.  Monitor pass was remarkable because it was 3,000' up the same hillside.  We just crisscroased it, climbing, repeatedly.  But we made it!  In a little town on the other side we stopped to buy stamps and met a woman who had been postmaster for 25 years.  She knew everyone and everything in that town.  She shared with us a few stories before we eased back onto the road.  After Luther Pass, which was another 2,000' of steep climbing, we descended into Lake Tahoe.  This lake is huge!

We were exhausted last night, and were happy to get a hiker biker site in a state park.  Today we will enter Truckee, and complete the second of our five map sections.  We are really getting into a groove and the mileages are really started to pile up.  We might still make it all the way to Canada!  We only have a few more truly epic(7,000'+) passes left.  Also, we're getting much faster at climbing!   
A Panoramic shot of a lake near the top of Tioga Pass (Burr!!)

Friday, May 25, 2012

Slim's Koffee Shop!

Yes, that's right! Check the photo. Complete with two benches and a fire barrel. Ha! this morning we just climbed a steep (8-9%) 4 mi out of a river area into North Fork. This appears to be a cool little spot.(Note: no blueberry bagels this morning because they were eaten by a 'coon because they were left in a motorcycle sachel last night.) Later today we'll be in Yosemite Valley!

Since we're borrowing the barista's computer, I'll make this quick, and post a few photos. the redwoods were great. the park was high and the climbing tough. However, the 20 mile descent out of King's Canyon NP was perfect - no need for breaks or pedaling. We went out to dinner last night, for a change - a nice big plate of Mexican food. yum. OK, off soon!

[These photos might not have loaded right, so if not, we'll post again later...]
Us near the General Sherman tree

Sunset at Sunset campground
Cattle grates. Saw many!

Stealth campsite last night


This sweet morning spot: Slim's Koffee Shop!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

First national park today -- Sequoia

After more than a week, we are coming upon our first (of many) National Parks. It is Sequoia National Park, and we're planning (and hoping, ha) to camp inside it tonight. We are so excited to buy our 'annual pass' to the parks!

The past few days have seen many ups and downs... I mean that both figuratively and literally. Last Friday morning, we have a little bit of a 'strugglefest' day. These happen every once in awhile. I (Jason) woke up too early, and we ended up getting started on the wrong foot (pedal?). We were a bit bummed, too, because we realized that we wouldn't get to see any of the Tour of California bike race because our routes diverged. (That is, the Tour was taking a shorter route than we were between the towns!) In any case, by the evening we had things all worked out and were happily staying at a hotel/motel. ha! Our first/only one of the trip!

Saturday saw us cruise across the valley floor and out of the desert before it got too hot. We ascended into one of the most productive areas for wind energy - and saw hundreds of wind turbines! Wow! What a sight. We saw the last of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) for awhile, and chatted for a hiker for a few minutes. He had said he biked across the country east-west on both a northern and a southern route, and now he was doing the PCT. We joked that he should do the AT (Appilachian Trail) too, in order to box the country, and he mentioned that he already had! He seemed like one of the ones that was going to make it through the whole PCT. (We saw many that looked like they wouldn't.)

By the end of Saturday, we had made 82 miles - our longest day yet. We saw some really amazing scenery. (see photos). On Sunday we took a "rest day." It is nice to build in one about once a week to let the muscles recover a bit. Strangely, we decided to do 52 miles (many climbing) on this day, but we still had a relaxing afternoon and evening! We finished Section 5 of the route (we're doing it backwards: 5-4-3-2-1) and ended in a town called Lake Isabella. Although the name sounded promising, unfortunately for us the town itself was a dud. The best part was probably that we got to sleep in the tent with the rain fly off and look up at the stars. (The overnight low was just in the low 50s.)

Our first 'giant' redwood.
On Monday we climbed a massive mountain. (The climb was over 30 miles long.) The further up we went, the more (and bigger) trees we saw. We came across our first grove of large sequoia (redwood) trees. And wow, they are big! (If you have seen them, you might think that is an understatement.) The descent was a never-ending ~5%. It was amazing to watch the ecosystems change right before our eyes: large conifers, a small addition of deciduous, mixed, less conifers, and finally sparse shrubs and back into the hot low country. This morning we hit a low of ~500 ft -- which we haven't seen since we left San Diego! (I thought this was a route through the mountains, so I'm still surprised every time we drop low into the hot, desert-y valleys.)
Grassy desert and/or "cattle country."
Note: sometimes there are trees, too.

We have found the meaning of 'cattle country,' as one sign said it: "Watch out for cattle and enjoy the drive." We saw several large cows at the edge of the road (luckily not crossing) which we silently rode by. One pair of animals we startled, they stood up, huffed, and I was glad to be out of there quickly.

This morning (Tuesday) we hoofed it across some low-lying areas. I think Daisy got some extra bike-touring energy, or got in the groove, or something. (She was setting a fast pace!) We even did a little pacelining. It seems every other day (or so) we need to do some grocery shopping. (Part of this is because we don't want to carry extra weight, the other part is that we eat so much...) Today was no exception. After shopping we proceeded to sit at a table in the shade of a tree and eat lunch. Since we're on bikes, we are constantly looking for little places like this (picnic or other tables preferred!) to stop and eat.

Since we're travelling at a different speed than cars, we also see all sort of things along the road's edge: snakes attempting crossings (and smashed ones), tons of lizards and squirrels scurrying out of the way, and a variety of different shaped ant hills are just a few. Lovely details. ... Of course, we also see the bigger picture, too:





What it feels like to be a week and a half in


A typical breakfast cooking scene on a random porch.
We saw this phrase (a classic in the cycling world) chalked on the road this morning:

"It doesn't get easier... you just get faster."

Lance Armstrong said this in a famous cycling movie, and when I saw this on the road I couldn't keep myself from laughing.  It's so true - whether you're training for a bicycle race or taking a six week bicycle tour.  A week and a half in... we are getting faster.

Cold shirt for Jason!
After a week and a half we are used to the routines of the bicycles and the camps.  We are losing the calluses that we had on our fingers from playing banjo and guitar, and instead we have formed calluses on our palms from holding the handlebars.  We finally know where all our gear is in all nine of our bags! The tan lines have been cemented onto our backs, arms, and legs, and our appetites are positively enormous. 
If you click on this to make it big, you'll
see the ridiculous gasp on my face.

















 These pictures  show one of our coping mechanisms for the sometimes extreme (90 +) mid-day temperatures:  We get our shirts wet in whatever water is available.  Rivers full of cold meltwater are the best, even though they make us grimace momentarily from the cold.  Our days usually start around 6:00, and we're on the road around 7:30.  Lunch doesn't happen until between 12:00 and 2:00, and then it's a little rest before we ride again in the afternoon.  Depending on the altitude of course.  If we are higher, and it's cooler, we can continue to ride.  If it's hot...  well we usually end up reading for a bit.
 The scenery has been phenomenal - I am truly a girl of the mountains.  Specifically, the Western mountains.  I think back to all we've seen already and it's awe-inspiring.  We started out at the chaos of the US - Mexico border at Tijuana and rode through San Diego, the hot mountains and valleys of Southern California, the desert valleys and the high pines.  Finally we are reaching Central California, the home of giant trees, cool streams, gold trout.  We are past the metropolis (and rude drivers) of the Los Angeles area. 
We found German Shepherd Puppies!!
The going is good.  We are enjoying ourselves immensely, even we do sometimes have moments of struggle (we call the moments "struggle fests").  Usually when one of us is at the end of the rope the other will step in and make some decisions, take some of the weight, or just dump water over the other one's head.  It helps!

We don't know if we'll make it all the way to Canada in the time allowed, but we've come to terms with it.  If we make it to Oregon we'll be happy. The passes are huge now, and the climbing slows us down.  Every day is epic.  Now, we say things like "it's a little pass, only 3,000' of elevation gain".  Really, we do.

We'll keep updating and sharing, but don't be too sad if a month from now we aren't all the way to Canada.  We'll finish the route someday (after we move back to the West Coast...).  I'm still just dreaming, but I love these mountains!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

So many mountains, so much climbing

Onyx Summit - The highest either of us have ever climbed on tour.
Last time we posted, we were in Idyllwild, CA.  We thought that was a big day of climbing, and we topped out at 6,200'.  Two days ago we went over Onyx Summit... at a whopping 8,443'!  That was a big big day of climbing.  We went up nearly 7,500 vertical feet that day.  Today, we are going back up to 7,901', after having dipped down to 3,000' yesterday.  A few stories:

After our big climb we stopped at the summit to take some pictures.  Surprise!  The local cycling club was having their Tuesday night race to the top.  We got to watch the 'finish', aka arrive exhausted at the summit going a lot faster than we had been going.  A lot.  We bundled up for the descent in our jackets and warm gloves.  It's cold going downhill at 8,000', regardless of how bright the sun is shining.
On the climb up to Onyx Summit
That night we stayed in a great hostel in Big Bear Lake.  It was a really neat place - bunk beds for nearly 50 people, two kitchens, bathrooms, etc.  It was actually full because of the crush of PCT hikers right now, but they let us camp in the yard and use the facilities inside.  The bustle and chatter of the kitchens reminded us of the co-op in State College: lot's of friendly outdoors folks in their early twenties.  We were also very very lucky to meet a cycling fellow named Dave who was about to start leading the Adventure Cycling group on this route.  He has been leading tours for 17 years!  At the beginning of his 'career' leading tours, all the other riders were younger than him, but now they are mostly older.  He was 54 years old.  I (Daisy) got really excited - it means I can just keep on touring for the next 50 years! Yay!


A view of the Rim of the World Highway

We thought that we would have lots of descent coming out of Big Bear, after all it was located at nearly 7000.  We were kind of right.  There were some very very steep little hills awaiting us, as well as a few longer (2+ miles) gradual climbs.  The scenery, however, was stunning.  The mountains!  I love them.  As long as we are at high enough elevation I can just keep riding, happy as a clam because it's not deathly hot.  I love the pine forests.  We even have started to see some redwood trees.  More of those in the next week...

A mural on the side of Rim of the World Highway.
Click on the image for more detail
We went on this crazy road called The Rim of The World.  It was a depression era public works roads that just barely clung to the side of a mountain.  Somehow, for some crazy reason, some genius built a high school on top of it.  Seriously.  The traffic was pretty bad, but we made it safely. 

Last night we stayed at a big campground overlooking a resevoir.  The best part?  We got $5 hiker biker sites!  Regular campsites (which weren't as nice) were $45.  Thank goodness we didn't have to pay that.  The showers though...  were so high pressured it hurt to get wet.  We didn't use too much water.
Our lovely campsite last night
We have a little more climbing left to do today, but we are already at 6,000' so it's nice and cool (ha! it's actually 80).  Here's the most exciting news of all:  Tomorrow the Tour of California professional cycling race is going to pass us!  I am super super excited, as I've never seen a pro tour peloton in real life before.  We've been watching the bike race signs on the signs of the roads for two days, and we're going to see them tomorrow.  If you watch the tour or tour highlights from Friday's race you'll see a LOT of the roads we're on (and maybe you'll see us cheering too).  Here's a link for more info. 
Train tracks in the desert - as seen this morning

Monday, May 14, 2012

Once a gypsy, always a gypsy.

Way back in Pittsburgh, Jason was drying out our tent while I went food shopping.  A couple of young hippies walked by and asked him where he was heading.  As they left they told him "once a gypsy, always a gypsy".  It seemed to be a compliment.  Now that we're on bike tour, we really do seem to be gypsies.  We are on our third day of real riding, but it feels like we've been on the road for much longer.  It is HOT here in southern California.  Further, it's COLD at night.  The desert is like that I guess.
On our first day on the road it seemed to take forever to get out of San Diego.  We ate lunch at a golf course resort in the middle of the desert.  We thought we were going to get kicked out, but instead the employee just showed us to a bench near the snack bar.  After lunch we climbed and climbed and climbed...  in the heat of the day it was pretty rough.  Around 2:00 we couldn't take the heat anymore and just sat and read under a tree for two hours.  This came to be a habit!  I (Daisy) can't seem to handle much heat - I wilt when it hits 80. 
 

 We spent the first night in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.  They had Hiker/Biker sites for only $5 per person, and we were happy to get showers.  Although they cost 25 cents for 2.5 minutes...  we only needed a quarter each!  That night the stars were amazing, and it got super cold.  When we woke up there was ice on the inside of our rainfly.  We had slept at around 4000', and as I write this we are above 5000' again. 



View of Anza-Borrego State Park
  
Yesterday was another scorcher - I'm not sure how hot it was but that rest in the heat of the day was absolutely necessary.  We rolled through a little Western-looking town around lunchtime and met a fellow that was dressed as an old-time sheriff.  The little towns here are pretty great, and geared towards the PCT hikers.  It has been easy to find gear and refill water.  People have been very friendly.  It's funny, actually, sometimes people in cars stop and ask us directions just because we're on the side of the road.  We obviously are not from the area, so it's ridiculous.  We've gotten requests for a casino and a liquor store.  Ha!

Last nights campsite... 15 meters from the road (but well hidden!)

We are now in Idyllwild, a little mountiain tourist town of about 3000 folks.  We had a big lunch of hamburgers.  For a couple of mostly vegetarians, it was quite a feat.  When bike touring though, it's easy to dream of hamburgers and fish and chips.  I'm still dreaming of the fish and chips.  Maybe next week...

We are riding lots of windy mountain roads, climbing in and out of the mountains.  The pass today is at just over 6000', and we'll finish the day at around 2000'.  We started out at 3000'.  It seems that all we do is go slooowly uphill and then fly downhill.  Most of the time... it's uphill.  I won't lie - more than a few times I've wondered if we've bitten off more than we can chew.  That's just because I'm wilting in the heat though.  The higher up and the farther north we go, the easier it will get.  The scenery is beautiful, and I can't wait to hit the national parks in just a few more days.  Ok, at least five...  But whenever I see the PCT hikers I realize how good we've got it.  They are walking on blisters that formed on top of blisters.  Their clothes are crusted in salt, and they still keep moving.  So... I guess we can keep pedaling!

Daisy doing her lovely 'we're taking a break!' dance.

We've seen several protests to folks speeding past on motorcycles.  A different one just said "This is not a crotchrocket raceway", but this one wins the prize.

Friday, May 11, 2012

The trip really starts... we're in San Diego!

We made it to San Diego today!  The three-day cross-country trip was great, although we got pretty stinky being cooped up on the train for all that time...

The train left Pittsburgh at midnight, and we quickly settled in for the night.  Although I (Daisy) sleep fine, Jason just could not fit himself on the seat.  The three nights on the train turned out to be fine though - during the second night I actually just slept on the floor and left the whole double seat to Jason.  The train is surprisingly fun, we ate food from Trader Joes, played cribbage and Yahtzee (Jason got two yahtzees in one game!), and had a nice layover in Chicago. We randomly ran into an old friend of Jason's (Hey Steph and Jon!) on the street, and had lunch with two of his college friends from Delaware, Pam and Erik.
The people at the table before us left this cup, and I was pretty excited about it.
Miraculously, the train got in to Los Angeles an hour early this morning, and we ended up catching an earlier train to San Diego.  Once there, we put the bikes together, dried out our still wet tent, and started the adventure.
Getting bikes on and off trains is surprisingly easy.  Look!
Specifically, we got on the trolley to the border.  It was quite an adventure to get our fully loaded touring bikes up the three steep steps into a city metro car.  Actually, I got stuck about 2/3 of the way up and had to wait for Jason to haul the bike up for me.  The people in the car looked at us like we were crazy.... and they were probably right.  We managed to get the bikes safely off the trolley as well, but needed teamwork.  At this point, we were within sight of the border.  We rode a bike path along a peninsula (that used to be an island until the highway went in), and made it to a ferry just in the nick of time to get a ride back to downtown San Diego.
We really did start at the border!  This picture proves it.

We made our way to Jason's friends' house (Thanks Matt and Kira!), where we were greeted by two bouncing dogs.  After much needed showers, we were treated to dinner (Thanks Matt, Kira, Colin, Jaime!) and a hilarious stroll in San Diego Old Town.  Apparently there's some plaque somewhere that commemorates the first palm tree that was planted in California but now no longer exists.  Actually, there are three plaques, which we never found.  None of them are actually near a palm tree.We know they exist because of smart phones.

Tomorrow we are setting out for the mountains!  We have been warned of the heat, the steep roads, etc etc, but we are not worried... we are excited!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

We made it to Pittsburgh!

After two and a half days of riding, and more than a few funny stories, we've made it to Pittsburgh.  It's always interesting to ride into a city from the outskirts, watching it slowly change from suburbia to almost-forgotten to Dairy queens, food stores, strip malls, and finally to the actual city.  I think of that outer ring as 'anywhere America', since it seems to be the same just about anywhere. 

So back to the Journey...

We left on Sunday after the UU music Sunday.  That was really fun!  We soon realized that we had left Jason's sunglasses behind... oops!  He did buy some excellent clip-on glasses though.  Now it's like he has sunglasses on demand!

That first first night we met up with my stat friends in Prince Gallitzin State Park.  We went swimming, ate spicy rice, and made s'mores.  We even got some free camp wood.  Also, we were essentially the only campers there, so we didn't have to be quiet, which was nice.  Look at those friendly statistics faces!


Yesterday we rode some rail trails across the middle of the state, thinking that they would be a nice traffic-free alternative to the steep hills we had been seeing.  We even camped alongside one of them (which is technically not qallowed, but a huge storm rolled in).  This morning though... that 'flat rail trail' pulled a bait and swtich.  The old train went through a tunnel... but they had closed off the tunnel!  The only way around was OVER.  We essentailly had to portage the bicycles and gear in three trips over a steep staircase.  Grrr... That was the last of the rail trails for us.  We stuck to the roads from then on.  I reccommend rail trails for family weekend adventurers, not touring cyclists.  It's a great get-away, but a bit monotonous and slow. 

So today it rained rained, and now we are in Pittsburgh at the library.  They have very fancy screens, and Jason is kind enough to wait for me outside.  I best hurry up and relieve him of his bike-guarding duty!  We are very excited to meet up with a few friends here, shower and get supplies for the train ride.  Three days in the train, just watching the country roll by... after the steep hills of Pennsylvania our legs deserve a good rest too.  Thanks for reading!  We may get a chance to update in Chicago, otherwise it won't be until we reach California.  We're going west...!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Saturday, May 5, 2012

All Packed!

First we gathered everything that we needed....
Wow! That was fun, certainly -- Daisy has been making lists of things to take on this tour all semester long, and now we finally got to make our pile o' stuff and bag it into the panniers! I think we'll have everything we need. ;) haha. And a lot of extra food: dehydrated beans and delicious cans of smoked salmon for lunch, a couple of things we won't find easily on the road.  We're listening to Mark Erelli, who is a singer/songwriter I highly recommend.

It's late (midnight), and we're just finally ready for our big first day.  We've got coffee duty at the UU tomorrow at 9, and a few loose ends to tie up in the morning.  Getting out of town is always so difficult, but the departure is within sight now.  We present...  our packed bags!
I suspect it will take us days to figure out where everything is.

Friday, May 4, 2012

What it's like to be almost ready (For Daisy):

I can't focus on anything - except checking the passes that are still closed because of the snow.  I keep making lists, dreaming up maps of our panniers - where will we keep all of our gear?!  I know I'm supposed to be answering questions about my research, but different questions keep popping into my head:

Will we have enough water?  Enough shade?  Should I get some electrolyte powder?  Do I really know how to tie up a bear bag properly?

At this point, it doesn't really matter.  We'll figure it out as we go, and I am so excited to get on the road.  To give you a little idea of why I'm so excited, check out this link to a Google map.  It has just a few of the stellar locations we'll be riding through marked.  Do you see all those national and state parks and forests?  We're riding through the 'best of the west', and over some really huge passes!  Tioga Pass in Yosemite goes up to 9,945'.  Wow!

Meanwhile, things in State College are winding down.  All my final papers are submitted, the end of the semester meetings have taken place, and the undergrads are going crazy and moving out of the dorms.  We leave in just two days: on Sunday right after the service at the UU.  Then we are meeting up with a few of my (awesome) friends from statistics for a camp-out in Prince Gallitzin State Park on our way to Pittsburgh.

From Pittsburgh we'll catch a train to San Diego.  It leaves on Tuesday at 11:59 pm (ha!), and we'll arrive in Chicago in the morning.  Then we'll have a chance to wander the city and get books for the next leg to San Diego, which will take until Friday afternoon.  We hope to take the metro down to the Mexican border then ride back north to where Jason has friends where we'll be staying for a night before really setting out for the Southern Sierras.

The Co-op Kitchen - another reason to get out of town.
  The paint tubs are our grain storage, everything else is dirty dishes...