3000 Feet and climbing

Days 1 and 2 (Davis, CA and Shingle Springs, CA

So days one and two have been tough slogs through heat and some elevation, but I would say have been a success so far. Day one started with a meetup at the house around 8AM where a few wonderful souls showed up to send me off and ride with me for a while as I began the journey across country. Rebecca, Ian, and Stefanie came along until El Cerrito del Norte BART while Joel made it with me all the way to Winters, CA. By the way, so I totally forgot that what weather in the central valley is like. When I say that, I really mean that I forgot temperatures above 100 degrees even existed in Northern California. So as my blog post stated yesterday, it was nearly 102 or something in Winters, which made the last 10 miles to Davis rather hellacious. However, upon arriving in Davis, I was informed that my host (through couchsurfing) would be enjoying the spectacle of beer kickball and I was asked if I would like to join. So when I rolled up at 7:30pm in my bike spandex, I joined, but I didn't necessarily look like I fit the part.


But my hosts (andrew and julia) were awesome and could not be more hospitable. They lived in an apartment in Davis and took me out for the best burger in town and a drink. I hope that they'll have a chance to visit San Francisco again so I can return the favor.

Day 2:
Did I mention it was hot? This time, I didn't have the benefit of starting in the cool fogs of San Francisco, but instead started with the sweltering heat of the Sacaramento marshland. However, it wasn't so bad at 8:30AM, and I made it to visit Arnie at the Capitol Bldg by noon. (sorry, I'll rotate this eventually).. but the ride from Sacramento to Folsom via the American River Parkway was beautifl and carefree without traffic.

So if you were following me via SPOT, you might be able to tell I took a few wrong turns here or there, but largely the navigation went well. I made it into Folsom around 1ish and took a quick ride through Historic Folsom (which was devoid of people or any activity)... but was very charming and pretty to look at. I GPSed the nearest grocery store to have my afternoon graze for which I enjoyed for at least an hour.

After lunch, came the afternoon slide... meaning, my energy levels slowly slide into the basement with the sweltering heat and the climbs into the lower Sierras. Even though where I'm at now is roughly at 1400', it felt so much worse than that number leads on.

Luckily, my host tonight is Tom and he was generous enough to give me a lift from the main road to his really nice place in Shingle Springs. Tom has done quite a bit of traveling in the past few months so we were swapping stories about that and spending time with his two dogs Elvis and Turbo. He also made a pretty stellar dinner which hit the spot after today's long ride.


Here's Tom and Turbo (Elvis was being scolded for getting burrs in his fur)

Well here' to day one and two. Days 3-5 will be rough, lots of climbing, not alot of civilization, and tired legs. I'll be sure to post via my phone and again when I hit Carson City, NV.

Paul

If you are following my spot tracker please disregard the help message! Just a Test. Just fine in shingle springs,CA

Folsom , CA Like Folsom prison? 102 degrees But sunny!

Winters, CA. 102 Degrees, Something is not right here

Day one, lunch, fairfiEld, ca, Its hot

supa on a bike. finally.

So enough talk already... time to start riding. I leave tomorrow morning around 7:30AM and am hoping for a few people to join as well! I'm not really that nervous... I'm just wondering where I am going to stay in Davis tomorrow. There is a campground in Winters near the river about 15 miles from Davis, but that sure makes for a long day 2. Maybe I should just do the campground. It looks great from pictures.

So based on some present stats:
My current weight 158, we'll see how that changes 5 weeks from now... Also, I determined my baggage to round out to be around 50 pounds (not including the trailer. As far as I know, that's pretty good. In the last day or so, I made the decision to bring along my camp stove, so that added a slight bit, but not much. I'll be averaging around 40-50 miles on high elevation days and 80-90 on the flats. It looks like the ride will be the coldest somewhere in CO, (Gunnison, CO, yesterday's low was in the 40s... yikes).

Here are some photos documenting my setup: This first photo on left shows pretty much all of the stuff that I'm bringing.

Here's a list of some of my gear (I'm missing a few things here and there)

And finally there, a nice clean looking setup. This baby will be piling down those Colorado mountain grades like it was nothing.




So until I post again, I hope this message finds you all well and thanks for your messages, supporting words, contributions to the ride! I'll check in when I can and be sure to check on me to make sure I'm actually making some progress: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=00tqrjYQYFhYCWe0hZubTHJe9fdl0T5CQ

To read while I'm gone...

So... in my absence, I'm sure that you all will be longing for my masters of literary work and grammatical perfection, so I thought I'd at least list a few awesome websites which I always find interesting (as a city planner, and a cyclist) Feel free to enjoy and pass along!

Planetizen - planners go here, early and often.

Streetsblog - articles related to everything on a street (e.g. people, cyclists, built environment, etc...)

Infrastructurist - physical stuff and pretty pictures live here

Crazyguyonabike - you think I'm crazy? check out the bike touring stories here.