My bike trip Across America
I chose 90 pics out of the 3000+
Watch in HD on Youtube
I woke up late to the final day of this trip. Got on my bike and left. Didn't eat a thing. Didn't give a damn. Today, I could finally piece together 51 long days into one moment of joy.
After I went trough Sacramento, I came to a place called Davis. One of the colleges there, UC Davis had their own bike team and I was able to talk to a guy named Chris who told me a bit about the school. While biking through flats, I saw the team doing time trials and I became engrossed in the sort of race. Maybe I'll get a $5000 bike someday and go join a team.
Began the day by going to McDonalds. Yay... Instead of waking up and getting right onto my bike, I went to Lake Tahoe to take in the view. It's honestly one of the most gorgeous lakes I have passed this whole ride. The water is so pure that you can actually see the small fishes swimming on the bottom.
As soon as I left Middlegate, I accidentally ran over a crunchy dead rabbit. I felt terrible in the most terrible of ways. Then later, I ran over a backscratcher and some solidified horse dung. don't think my wheels were that clean after the day was over.Crossed two mountain passes today to get to the city of Fallon. Of course, the audio books helped make them easier, but they were still tiring on my legs. On the way down from a pass, I saw this cool giant sand dune pretty much the height of surrounding mountains.
First three miles were downhill, yet somehow, I was tired. There was a small 4 mile valley in between where I basically slowpoked my way over to the next mountain pass. Guess I didn't get enough sleep.
Left the campsite and the first thing I ran into was a delay. The state was extending the shoulder on some of their roads and I had to wait 15 minutes before crossing. Now 15 min might not seem like a lot, but when headwinds start kicking in at around noon, you really wish you could have biked an extra mile or two without winds.
After I passed the roadblock, I saw this pretty cool mini tornado. (no, I did not ride through it) Actually passed two of them on the way
After a break day, my knee felt a lot better. I used some Icy Hot patches which a cyclist recommended to me. It's a good thing they started feeling better too because I had four mountain passes to climb today, again with a headwind.
Music has gotten me through a lot of tough situations though; you should hear me when I'm rapping "Remember the Name" while riding through flats.
Got up at 6 to start biking today. I learned my lesson about wind. It always starts to get bad at around noon and then gets harder until 6:30 at night.
top, I seriously just wanted to collapse because both my knees started to feel like I was getting acupuncture but the Asian guys were sticking the needles in wrong spots. Or more like, the needles were like burning pencils jabbed into my joints. I hiked some ways to the top and biked some way but in the end, still made it.
I got to the bottom of a mountain. Although it was 5 miles long, I sped up that thing like a monster. The mountain range blocked out most of the leftover wind which gave me renewed enthusiasm to bike faster.
First 9 miles were all uphill. Figures, I did go downhill for quite a whiles yesterday. After I made it to the top, I sped along until I hit this town called Scipio. It was a small town with, (no not Mcodnalds) but Subway! I had a foot long chicken sandwich and that was about it.
and onto a highway 50. It really started to look like a stereotypical desert for a short whiles even with a couple sand dunes.
nowhere, you're either about to die because you're seeing a mirage or that tree is resilient as anything (like an idea). Even if there is one, it's either 400 feet away, where there is no way that it would provide any shade whatsoever or it's shorter than me.
Afterward, biked into a small headwind on relatively flatland for 20 miles before hitting another mountain range. (I forget what it was called, but it definitely started with a "w") This one was 7 miles long but unlike swells, it actually had green vegetation. The great thing about this mountain was that after I got to the top, it was all downhill to the next city. The first 7 miles followed a great downhill with 6% gradient and then mellowed out to a lesser sloped downhill. Still wonderful nevertheless.
Went To Arches National Park today. Extremely beautiful place except for the long hikes to see most of the "cool" arches. My knee was starting to hurt pretty badly so my dad and I decided to take the short walks to see the small arches. Maybe one day when I come back, I'll do the entire 5 mile roundtrip hike to see the most famous arch, delicate arch.
view was gorgeous, but as soon as the sun set, it dropped to the low 50's. I couldn't even stop biking even if I wanted to or needed a break because as soon as I did, I would get ridiculously cold. In the end, climbed 4 miles of steep grade before I called it a day.
I started out fast today after I got some Mcdonalds sausage and biscuits....again.
There, I met a couple cool college students who got off to get a breather. They were headed to Las Vegas. Wish I could have jumped on with them. They were really nice though, gave me water and some snacks.
he first 30 miles started out well. I made good time and my average was pretty good.
still back in Montrose taking care of some business. I gave him a call and asked him when he would get there and he told me it would be at least another hour. I wasn't just going to sit there and wait so I actually started waving at passing cars to ask them for water. I know, it sounds desperate, but you get hella thirsty in the desert. I flagged down a nice man who gave me 2 bottles of water.
tty much, my meals would consist of either Mcdonalds or gas station food.

Finally, got up to the summit of Monarch pass at around 5:00. Was surprised they had a store up there but I got some hot chili and then headed on my way down. I was going at like 25 mph downhill for about 7 miles - it was great.
and uphills.