Monday morning we woke up at 6 and started getting ready for a long day of riding. We parked in front of Vince's house. He stopped over and talked to us as he was going out to work. He gave us lots of good advice about the trails and also let us fill the RV water tank from his garden spigot.. Thanks Vince!
I rode over to the start of the American river bike trail which would take me to Folsom. I met several bikers that pointed me in the right direction as there were many spurs that could have taken me in the wrong direction. A big thanks to Tom for taking the time to get me through Folsom on some beautiful trails. Tom rides a BMC and last year put over 6000 miles on his bike commuting back & forth to work!I met Deb & Kayla in placerville & had some lunch. We decided that I would try to make it over Carson's pass and meet in Woodfords. I packed a headlight, attached a blinky taillight to the rear of the bike, loaded my aerobag with gu & bars and set off for the climb. I left placerville at 2 pm. If all went well we would meet around 9 pm. Deb & Kayla would not be on the same road since the route I was taking had several grades too steep for the RV. I made pretty good time on the first section of the ride. Thanks to Ellen, owner of "the pizza factory", for the ice, water, & tasty chocolate chip cookie! I texted Deb & Kayla when I was 15 miles from cooks station. This was a steep part of the climb. It took me 1 hour 45 minutes. The services were closed at cooks station but there was a kind couple nearby that let me fill my water bottles. My phone battery was almost dead. It didn't much matter since there was no coverage! I pressed on to Hamms station. This too was closed and there was no place else to get water for the rest of the climb. I started doing the math and realized that it was going to take between 2-3 hours to get to the top and then another 45 mins to get to woodfords. My supplies were low and I had no way to contact Deb. I made it up the steepest part of the climb to silver lake but was concerned about the rest of the night. As dusk was falling a large RV was passing me. I made the internationally recognized motion for " do you have a cell phone that works?". This is done by making the Hawaiian hang-loose symbol, rotating it approximately 83 degrees and holding it to your ear. The driver pulled over and told me that his cell phone wasn't working either. He asked if I wanted a ride. I gladly accepted and we loaded my bike into his palace on wheels. I sat on his comfy leather sofa and relaxed! We found my miserable, tiny, butler-less RV parked in front of the general store in woodfords (pop. 150). I thanked the mystery monster RV driver for his help and announced, "honey, I'm home" as I saw Deb. She was relieved to see me. It was getting cold and was already very dark. We spent the night in Woodfords. Tomorrow I am going to ride back to Silver Lake and turn around & head back to woodfords.
I rode over to the start of the American river bike trail which would take me to Folsom. I met several bikers that pointed me in the right direction as there were many spurs that could have taken me in the wrong direction. A big thanks to Tom for taking the time to get me through Folsom on some beautiful trails. Tom rides a BMC and last year put over 6000 miles on his bike commuting back & forth to work!I met Deb & Kayla in placerville & had some lunch. We decided that I would try to make it over Carson's pass and meet in Woodfords. I packed a headlight, attached a blinky taillight to the rear of the bike, loaded my aerobag with gu & bars and set off for the climb. I left placerville at 2 pm. If all went well we would meet around 9 pm. Deb & Kayla would not be on the same road since the route I was taking had several grades too steep for the RV. I made pretty good time on the first section of the ride. Thanks to Ellen, owner of "the pizza factory", for the ice, water, & tasty chocolate chip cookie! I texted Deb & Kayla when I was 15 miles from cooks station. This was a steep part of the climb. It took me 1 hour 45 minutes. The services were closed at cooks station but there was a kind couple nearby that let me fill my water bottles. My phone battery was almost dead. It didn't much matter since there was no coverage! I pressed on to Hamms station. This too was closed and there was no place else to get water for the rest of the climb. I started doing the math and realized that it was going to take between 2-3 hours to get to the top and then another 45 mins to get to woodfords. My supplies were low and I had no way to contact Deb. I made it up the steepest part of the climb to silver lake but was concerned about the rest of the night. As dusk was falling a large RV was passing me. I made the internationally recognized motion for " do you have a cell phone that works?". This is done by making the Hawaiian hang-loose symbol, rotating it approximately 83 degrees and holding it to your ear. The driver pulled over and told me that his cell phone wasn't working either. He asked if I wanted a ride. I gladly accepted and we loaded my bike into his palace on wheels. I sat on his comfy leather sofa and relaxed! We found my miserable, tiny, butler-less RV parked in front of the general store in woodfords (pop. 150). I thanked the mystery monster RV driver for his help and announced, "honey, I'm home" as I saw Deb. She was relieved to see me. It was getting cold and was already very dark. We spent the night in Woodfords. Tomorrow I am going to ride back to Silver Lake and turn around & head back to woodfords.
No comments:
Post a Comment