Peace- Out Cali

Ok so we made it out of California and we are now in the lovely state of Nevada, regrouping and getting ready for our trek across the desert. We felt we deserved a little break after passing over the Sierra Nevadas (over 8500ft in elevation)....woof. Sorry about the long delay from our last post, but it has been difficult to find time and the strength needed to type wonderful new updates on our trip. But now that we have time we will try to catch up on what we have been doing since Vacaville.

After leaving Vacaville, we headed out in the blistering heat and eventually made it to Davis. All of us were feeling very woozy from our riding, especially J who managed to fall asleep while at the wheel and take a little spill into a very soft fence (he didn't get very hurt Leslyn, don't worry he is managing just fine with one arm). After we arrived in Davis we tried finding a place to sleep and while searching we came across a Unitarian Universalist church so we decided to take a shot. Danny and J went into the church and walked in a meeting that was taking place and pitched our dilemma to them. Luckily, we met a very generous and welcoming fellow named Tom, who was a fellow cyclist and had always dreamed of riding across the country as well. He hooked us up with suspisciously green patch of grass towards the back of the church that we could use for camping. We were in heaven! until around 11pm, just as we were entering our first REM cycle, that we heard the sound...... Chhtchcth chtch chtch chtch and began getting showered on by an army of underground water sprinklers that had skillfully avoided our detection the entire night. We quickly moved our tents to a much less comfortable area, still however a little green... An hour later, those clever sprinklers out-flanked us again and we were again pummeled by an array of tiny water cannons. That is until I, Homer the Savior, as I now call myself, came up with a plan much like the Great McGyver. Using A single piece of bubble gum, 2 tent stakes, a rubber band, and a razor sharp intellect, I fixed the sprinklers so that they would point away from our tents and we were finally able to get back to sleep.

The next morning we rode through Davis, stopped at a post office to drop off some unneeded belongings (Kara had an entire make-up kit, 3 prom dresses, and 2 pairs of stiletto heels...we are not sure why, maybe she was thinking of staying in Nevada). On our days trip we rode most of the day on a bike path all along a river which made the days ride very enjoyable. The bike trail ended in Folsom, where we first stopped to take a dip in the freezing cold water, and then cooked some pasta in a baseball park in the middle of the town. We finished eating and headed towards a state park where we were incorrectly told that we could stay the night. After getting a very scary glare from a park ranger we left the park and continued riding and trying to find somewhere to sleep. We ended up going into a housing development and as were looking for somewhere to hide away J miraculously got a bloody nose. This was the best thing that could have happened to us because at that moment a man pulled into his driveway and came out to ask if we needed any help. Danny again worked his magic and conned our way into sleeping on Mark's front yard, the man that came out to ask if we were ok. Very green grass, and Mark turned the sprinklers off for us this time.

Saturday was a very long day of biking up and down mountains all day. After climbing one very large hill we were resting at a local store and a man pulled up in a car. He asked if we were riding across country and if we had a place to stay for the night. He then offered us a place behind his restaurant in Fairplay, just a few miles away, and we jumped on the offer of a free place. We got to his very nice establishment, and he walked us back to where we would be staying. While walking back to our "campground" he came to a stop on a slab of brick pavers, and turned and looked at us like this was the best place to camp ever. Little did he know we had just had 2 consecutive days of very green, lush, and soft grass fr camping on previously. But, despite the unforgiving brick pavers, the area turned out to be very nice and we were very thankful to have yet another free night.

The next two days were filled with all uphill riding as we started climbing the Sierra Nevadas. On the first day we climbed over a mile vertically peaking at over 8000ft in elevation. That night ended in Silver Lake, where we stayed in a camp ground and payed for our first night of lodging ($27...not too bad). The campground was nice, however, at that altitude it got very, very, very cold at night and sleeping was quite difficult that night. ps there was snow all around us, and all over the mountain peaks while we were riding this high. The next morning we had a rough start, but eventually got riding and made it the top of Carson's Pass (8500ft elevation) and then had an incredible ride down the other side of the Sierra Nevadas for the rest of the day. We ended in Carson City, Nevada (finishing our first Moutain and our first state) and decided to take the night and the next morning off staying in a motel for the night.

That is all for now,
Love Bikers