Author: micheleacrossamerica

MAA – Day 4 – The Loneliest Road

It sure is the loneliest road in America! There ain’t nothin’ out there! There was a stretch through the day where I didn’t see any cars or other humans for 61 minutes. And yes I was tracking that. How else does one keep their mind occupied?

I started out the day from Fallon. After navigating through the back streets for about a half hour, I met up with Route 50. Once I turned onto 50, the next prompt said “In 100 miles, turn right. So I turned it off. I think I could find my way. 🙂

The rest of the day was just pure nothing! A lot of long slow relentless climbs, though! 97 miles with 3970 feet of elevation gain. I did get a nice max speed of 36.7 mph coming down from the last pass. The whole reason you climb!

Speaking of descents, this is what it looked like coming down from Spooner Pass yesterday (view from the Sag).

Lessons learned today…

Don’t ride over cattle grates! (Luckily I didn’t)IMG_4354

The rumble strips are nasty!IMG_4364

And here are the other pics from today. Don’t get too excited

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Song of the day…

Ride on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAA – Day 3 – God’s Country

I always thought that I was riding through God’s country around the Napa Valley. Then on day 3 of this journey, I got to ride around Lake Tahoe and up and over the Sierra’s. God’s country for sure! Oh that’s right, it’s all His. Well day 3 was remarkable for breath taking beauty and magical descents! And then we hit the Carson Plains…

Day 3 Stats:

72.6 mi.,  2717 ft. elevation, 7075 ft. max elevation, 12.7 mph avg., 36.9 mph max speed

Pics of the day:

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You’ll have to wait for more…internet connection isn’t great here.

Ride on!

MAA – Day 2 – Wow! That’s a Big Mountain!

You may have noticed (if you’re following my tracker) that the route changed. When Mr. Sag called the ranger station near Kirkwood, he learned that route 88 was open, but none of the side roads into campgrounds are. So, no place to stay. Executive decision was made to go up route 50.

Now, I’ve been to Lake Tahoe many times, just not in the last 10 years. I seem to have forgotten what the road was like. It’s different when you’re in a car anyway. You don’t notice all of the subtle ascents. On a bike you sure do! I climbed slow and steady ALL day starting at Cameron Park.

The first 30 miles were tough. I was on back roads and bike paths for most of the morning. (You can’t ride a bike on route 50 until after Pollock Pines. At one point, after being put on a lovely gravel road with steep climbs by my navigator, I apparently crossed over onto private property. The owner came out of his house to let me know I couldn’t be there and would need to go back the way I came. I apologized and after I told him I was riding cross country and was unfamiliar with the area, he wished me luck and let me pass on through! Phew! Somewhere around Placerville, I found Big Foot too! 😉

Once on 50, it turned into a great day. It’s a sweet ride (down) from Pollock Pines to Kyburz. Then the real climbing began! And it just wouldn’t stop! I finally reached Echo Summit and then it was a beautiful descent down to the campground. All in all, a very satisfying day!

Pics of the day…

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Ride on!

MAA – Day 1 – Let’s Hear it for the Sag

Think Let’s Hear it for the Boy and you won’t be able to get the song out of your head either! Day 1 turned out to be a great day to ride and a great day to learn! Cool, but not cold in the morning, turning to perfect temperature and mile breeze (not windy) in the afternoon. We headed up through Sacramento towards the Sierra foothills.

Before I left, I kept having the feeling of forgetting stuff. This would be the last day to pack things from home that I needed. Extra lights, charging cords, etc. Turns out, the first duty of The Sag (the girl) was to remind me that I hadn’t eaten breakfast! Good thing. With 100 miles staring me in the face, that would not have been good. I’m learning.

With everything packed and breakfast eaten, I pushed out. I made pretty good time all day except for the few navigational glitches again! It seems that when surface streets and bike paths run parallel, I’m not really sure which to be on (until I get the “off course” alert. I’m learning.

Day 1 had a familiarity to it. I had ridden the route a few times before up till Dixon (50 miles). The last half of the day was all new. My favorite ride so far was the American River Parkway bike path from Old Sac to Fulsom. I even met a few new friends on the path.

This is Al. We had a great chat at one of the rest stops. He was well aware of the bike path and rides it routinely to stay in shape now that he’s retired. Love it!DSC01063

This was my other new friend. I don’t just have random squirrel thoughts, they actually exist! (Scoobert’s jealous, though).DSC01073

Then I headed into the foothills. So much fun to climb for the last two hours of a century plus! I nearly bonked. I stopped at a CVS to get some much needed water and sugar boost only to realize that at my last stop to pull some snacks out of my pack, I had left it open! Somewhere along the way, my pouch with cash, credit card and id, fell out!! No replenishing now. When I met up with the hero Sag, they broke camp, and we drove back along my route to see if we could spot it (I knew a 10 mile area where it would have happened). No joy. As we gave up and headed back to camp to cancel card, etc., I checked my email. A kind soul, a fellow cyclist had found it! Charlton went to my blog – I keep business cards with that info in the pouch as well – in case new friends are interested. He connected with me through the blog and let me know he had found it. We texted back and forth and learned he was only about 10-miles away – so we retrieved it last night. My first Good Human story!IMG_4194

I’m learning! God is good! Your prayers are working!

Day 2 – hear I come! Ride on!

And We’re Off!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”      – Mark Twain

I didn’t want to wake up twenty years from now and say “I should have done that ride across America. So with that, we’re off!

Time to leave the comforts and conveniences of the Napa Valley behind.

Cyclists Prayer

Let’s do this!

The Prologue

We are readers in my family. My daughter (the girl) is the voracious one. She reads one to two books daily and can smell a book store from miles away! Books/stories usually have a prologue. It is an opening of a story that establishes the setting and gives background details. It can also be an introductory act or event like in the Tour de France. So…fittingly, today was my prologue.

The big adventure began today. Baker Beach in San Francisco to Napa. 72.8 miles in the bag! Only 3500 more to go. Plymouth, here we come. Look out America!

The plan was changed too, of course. Most cycling mapping aps navigate from San Fran to Napa via Vallejo. To get to Vallejo, you have to take a ferry across the bay. I decided that I just couldn’t take the ferry. I had to ride! Therefore, new route.IMG_4072

Most of the route was new to me as you’ll see from the quick little backtracks at times but it was really nice when I hit Sonoma and the roads were the ones I ride all the time. I usually try to stay away from Sonoma, though, because the roads feel like you are riding the Paris-Roubaix.

The ride:

I even got a welcome home from Aaron Comfort Dog and Team Aaron!

Song of the day:

I grew up, musically speaking, in the 70’s and 80’s. My favorite band was Journey. I knew they were from San Francisco, but I didn’t know anything about that city by the bay. When I first got to California (1990), I even met Neal Schon (lead guitar)! He was just hanging out at the Sweetwater Saloon in Mill Valley. Some friends and I had gone there to listen to some local band. He chatted with us for over an hour. Cool guy!

So when I was dropped off at Baker Beach to begin the ride across America, Journey songs started going through my head. Journey. How appropriate!

Ride on!

Lessons Learned While Training

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Training has been good not only for improving fitness. It has also taught me many things in preparation for my long adventure.

In no particular order…

  • Shift to a lower gear BEFORE stopping – especially on an incline (makes starting up again, much easier).
  • Turn lights on before heading out.
  • Turn lights off once you are home for the day.
  • Check your tire psi before every ride.
  • Fill your water bottles – and remember to take them with you.
  • Keep Spare cash/ATM card in your bag.
  • I don’t like being cold!
  • Layers are good things!
  • My face dries out much quicker/easier at age 54 than it did at age 25. Sunscreen and moisturizers are good things.
  • Heat, hills, and headwind are still a B–ch! (Did I say I don’t like being cold? Really?)
  • I can change a flat tire.
  • Riding 100 miles isn’t so hard.
  • Ride your own ride! Always!
  • Spinning at a high cadence is a good thing (helps for climbing, moving against the wind, and endurance).
  • Sometimes the mapping aps get it wrong!
  • Photos do not fully capture what you experience out there.
  • Chamois is a good thing.
  • If you want to use technology, charge your batteries!
  • Brifters – who knew? Didn’t have those when I rode in the ’80’s.
  • Use the built in snot rag part of the gloves, not the scratchy mesh! (Unless of course, you have an itch.)
  • Close your mouth if you don’t want to eat bugs.
  • If I never swallow another bug, it will be too soon!
  • Tailwinds are good only if you are NOT returning home on the same route.
  • Headwinds are good ONLY if you are returning home on the same route.
  • Wear sunscreen even if it’s overcast.
  • Cars do not see you – you must keep aware of them.
  • Self discipline – get out there and ride – even when it’s cold, even when it’s raining, even when it’s hot, even when it’s windy, but only if it’s fun.
  • I can still do this!

God is good! Ride on!

The Route

DSC00435To plan or not to plan. That is the question. My husband is a planner. I am not. If you ask me what route I am taking across the country, I point to the east and say “that way.” Mr. Sag, however, has us well planned out and I am thankful for his efforts. I hope I make it to his waypoints! The plan as it stands, is on Memorial Day, 5/29/17, I will do a “prologue ride” from Baker Beach in San Francisco to our home in Napa. I have to start at the coast, after all! We pick up the rental RV (aka. sag wagon) on the 30th, and then I will head east bright and early on Wednesday morning, 5/31/17.

The PrologueUntitled

The route across AmericaThe Route

Eight days till prologue! Tick Tock!

Ride on!

 

 

 

 

What’s With the Jerseys and T’s?

Most of the jerseys and t-shirts I wear are for a reason. There’s either a story behind them, or they just say something to capture the mood. Some are for safety. Some are just comfortable. And some are just fun. Here are a few you’ll probably catch me wearing across America. Continue reading “What’s With the Jerseys and T’s?”