By: Kate Pearce
Today we climbed up in the Sierra Nevadas and also sailed down out of them. Our day included over 3000 ft of uphill and 9000 ft of downhill! It was a wild ride. We started the morning out in South Lake Tahoe after our luxurious vacation-ish rest day(s) there. My calves might have been a little sore from my hike the day before... Speaking of, if you’re ever at South Lake Tahoe I’d strongly recommend the hike to Granite Lake and then onward to South Maggie’s peak from the Bayview Trailhead in the Desolation Wilderness. Reaching the peak requires some off trail trekking once you reach the saddle, but helpful hiker cairns provide some hints. I can’t resist putting a picture of the summit, so here you go! Also, we went to some funny lengths for this one. We really wanted a picture of both of us, but no one else was at the summit. So, we did some ~engineering~ and propped up my phone with a rock and used a self timer. Here’s the result of our effort...
The joy of mountains in the morning (besides the view) is the cool air. This morning it was really chilly, though. When we set out at 6:30am, it was 46 degrees. Add in the wind chill of going 30 mph on a bicycle and you can understand why I couldn’t feel my feet. At least my quads were numb for biking’s sake! I rode with Annie in the morning. We zoomed out of Tahoe and then hit the first hill of the day- the climb to Echo Summit Lodge. This was by far the steepest, toughest climb we’d encountered yet. In fact, the hill was so steep that we couldn’t bike straight up it without our legs feeling like they were going to explode. So, Annie had a good suggestion, inspired by Mr. Alex Tran. Serpentine! We weaved our way up the paved road for 2 arduous miles until we reached the top, feeling victorious. The views out over Tahoe were stunning, and we were proud to have done the steep climb.
Also, at the top we saw signs for Echo Lake and felt inspired. Breaking from our planned route for a little 2 mile excursion, we made it to this mountain lake. It was worth the detour, although my picture wasn’t too good. Here it is anyway.
Only later did we realize that we had made a “mistake” with our Echo Summit climb. When we later asked Group 2 how the uphill portion was, their lack of agonized expressions tipped us off to something. We took a totally different route! While they had climbed up the moderately graded Route 50 with cars buzzing past, we had taken something that cars couldn’t go on. As I mentioned, it was steep. Climbing a little over 1500ft over the course of roughly 2 miles was an insane mistake. But hey, we did it!
After that, it was all downhill. Well, for 25 miles at least. We saw signs for elevation. 7000, 6000, 5000, 4000, 3000. We were dropping thousands of feet with little to no pedaling required. Zipping down at 40mph, all was great. Until my phone flew off my bike! I heard a crunching noise and already was freaking out. I threw my bike (gently) to the side of the road and hiked back up. Incredibly, my phone was situated face down in the sandy dirt beside the road. There were tiny rocks inside the case. And somehow neither the screen nor the phone itself were harmed at all! It was miraculous. This everlasting downhill on the backside of the mountains was incredible. Of course, though, it had to come to an end. As we got to lower elevation, rolling hills started to pop up again. Ahh, just like old times. After my adventure with Annie up the ridiculous hill, my legs weren’t loving the subsequent climbs. Oh well, we bike on. “Onward and upward” as I always say. After our first lunch, Annie and Delia swapped driving duty since Delia was eager to bike in the last few days of the trip. I totally get that. As the trip comes to a close, we are all definitely trying to focus on enjoying the remaining rides.
The remarkable thing is that the temperature had doubled. Now in the 90 degree range at low altitude with midday sun, it was hot. The numb toes and chilled cheeks were long gone. We hit some weird roads. There were a lot of potholes and bumps on one of them, so we tried to switch roads but bicycles were prohibited according to a big sign. Later on, we ran into a closed road and had to reroute. Also, a steep gravel trail had us spooked until we realized that it turned flat and paved about 100 feet down. As compared to the past many days of just cruising along Route 50, today was a reminder of the pros and cons of Google Maps bike directions. All in all, we finished the 90ish mile day with plenty of afternoon time to spare. Waiting for our Folsom, CA host to get back from work, we hung out at a local park. Delia climbed a tree. As she would.
Also, there was a BMX park. We decided to try it out. We have “adventure” road bikes after all! Delia, Annie, and I gave it a shot. Let’s just say I’ve never seen us ride so slowly. It was pretty funny, and I wish I’d gotten a video. We made weird frightened sounds as we slowly rolled over bumps and around curves. Let’s just say that all this road biking has not magically translated into off road terrain park skills. We have a mere two days left of biking, and then we’ll be in San Francisco. All summer, I’ve been trying to imagine what it will be like to reach the end. Will I feel tired? Victorious? Proud? Sad? Excited? My guess is all of the above. Spokes has been a wonderful whirlwind, full of rich experiences day after day. Maybe the last day won’t be all that special then. The crazy memories along the way will probably remain stronger in my mind after all of this. Regardless, we’re excited for what remains. Thanks to all of those who have been so dedicated in supporting us and reading our blogs! It means a lot to get to share our adventures with you. Kate