Today I am writing about the day from Topaz Lake, NV to Bridgeport, CA. It’s been awhile and to be honest I don’t remember a lot from that day but I’ll try my best.
We woke up a little later than normal because we wanted to go on a boat ride that the campers next door offered. They took us for a short ride around Topaz Lake (a beautiful lake) and it was nice.
Afterwards, Maile, Caralyn and I biked together. We ran into some derailuer problems early on with Maile’s bike. After Caralyn and Maile fixed the front derailuer (they are the bomb and I’m still pretty useless with regards to bike repairs) we stopped at a gas station to get water.
Maile noticed her tire was pinched in one area and was riding weird. We tried to fix it but her tires were too tight. We called the car back and switched tires with Evan. Then we finally got started biking.
We crossed the Nevada/California (again actually).
We also biked through some construction and reintroduced bike tag because the road was empty. Bad idea. Bill tried to block me in so Devin could tag me so I kept biking fast and then braking hard and then sprinting ahead to get around Bill. It worked, but it definitely tired me out. Caralyn ended up tagging me later anyway. After that we exited the construction area and bike tag was once again banned. So I’m still it. Again.
After the construction, we ran out of water so we called the car back to finish out the last 20 or so miles.
We reached our campsite at Bridgeport and after setting up tents and equipment, we headed back to town for WiFi and dinner. We updated the blog and I called my parents. I beat Bill in a game of chess but I think Evan’s advice to me helped a lot. We got burgers from a place called The Barn and it was a good burger but I think I liked the sweet potato fries more.
After dinner, we headed back to the campsite where I basically went right to bed because Devin and I decided to wake up early to bike into Yosemite. It was a typical kind of day really.
I do want to write about something else though and that’s everyone’s favorite downhills of the trip:
Into Yosemite Valley: Devin, Caralyn
This downhill was from Crane Flats Campground into Yosemite Valley. Some parts were steep, so you got up to a good speed and there were a few sharper turns which were nice. The best part though had to be the views. You came around one corner, and there was El Capitan and Half Dome in the distance. When you got to the valley, you bike through a lovely forest and the mountains are spectacular around you.
I also loved that downhill but there was one section with a long tunnel that I wasn’t a huge fan of. It would have been fine if there had been a car behind me, but there wasn’t, so the entire time I was terrified a car was going to enter the tunnel, not see me, and hit me. That luckily didn’t happen but it kinda put a damper on that hill. But Bill and Devin had two cars pass them in the tunnel so I think it could’ve been worse on my nerves.
Down from the Rockies (part 1): Maile, Evan
I actually didn’t do this downhill but driving down it was beautiful. Steep but with gentle turns and suddenly around one turn there was a huge snow capped mountain. It was a really beautiful downhill.
Tioga Pass: Erin, Bill, Edgardo
We biked up Tioga Pass to get into Yosemite National Park a few days ago. It was such a long and difficult uphill that many of us wondered what it would be like to bike down. So naturally, we all decided to bike down it. Over the course of two days we all biked down the pass and then got shuttled back up the hill (except for Devin but I’ll let that person tell that story for their blog).
I gave Bill and Erin a lift to the top of the pass close to sunset and when they got to the bottom, Bill insisted that I do the hill as well. By the time we got to the top of the pass again, it was definitely dusk. The first part of the hill was a little slow, so by the time I got to the actually really steep part, it was pretty dark. Like really dark. Like couldn’t see the turns that were coming up until I was IN the turns kind of dark. Bill drove behind me with the brights on so I tried to follow the yellow middle line as best I could, but I definitely couldn’t take the turns too fast. It was absolutely terrifying. I’m pretty sure I was shaking by the time I got to the bottom of the hill. So this one was a little too scary to be my favorite.
Down into Steamboat Springs, CO (Down from the Rockies part 2): Leah
So because of the logistics of this day, only Bill, Devin, and I were able to do it. It was just after we crawled up the last bit of the Rockies to make it to the Rabbit Pass Summit and the continental divide.
There was a small downhill and small uphill directly after the summit so as we were climbing that small hill, we began to see all these warning signs everywhere for a very steep hill. There were at least three signs to check brakes (very large signs complete with flashing lights and everything) and at least two signs mentioning a runaway truck ramp. Just before the downhill, there was one last warning describing a 7% grade downhill for seven miles.
We were pretty ecstatic.
Bill went ahead, then me, then Devin. Bill’s chain fell off a little ways in, so Devin and I passed him and continued on. What followed was an incredible downhill. It had to be the most direct downhill we had, with two maybe three gentle turns in there. One section was definitely at least three miles of a straight shot down. As we exited the mountains, a beautiful valley of farmland with a small lake came into view as the sun was sinking in the sky. It was stunning. The adrenaline of going roughly 45 mph probably skewed the view but it was exhilarating. The cars that passed me weren’t going to much faster, and seemed to barely creep ahead on some parts.
Pedaling didn’t really add much speed so I decided to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Devin pedaled down and so he passed me about halfway down the hill.
I guess I liked this downhill so much because it was so steep but it also didn’t have many turns and the turns it did have were not too sharp so I felt like I could manage them without pumping/grabbing my brakes. To be fair, most of the downhills mentioned here you can do (and many team members did do) without brakes, but I’m a little on the cautious side, and riding down a hill at 50 mph with nothing but a flimsy piece of foam and plastic to protect me is not something I take lightly. But this hill didn’t have sharp (or I guess even slightly sharp) turns, so I easily felt comfortable going down on my drop bars and not hitting the brakes.
Also a fun bit, my Strava glitched or something on this ride and it said my maximum speed going down this hill was 93 mph which I thought was pretty funny. Can’t really imagine how it would feel to go almost a 100 on a bike!
Honorable mentions:
Out of Shenandoah:
The ride out of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia had a sweet downhill out of the mountains. It was down a steep highway that twisted and turned through a forest. I think that was the first downhill that I didn’t slam on my brakes for.
Down into Lee Vining, CA:
Right before we climbed Tioga Pass to get into Yosemite we rode a downhill into the town of Lee Vining. This hill had maybe two switchbacks that overlooked a beautiful valley with a large lake. Devin and I rode down this hill early in the morning, so the sun had just risen and reflected off the water beautifully.
Down into Austin, NV:
Right at the start of our longest ride (121 miles), we had a huge climb to Austin summit and then a massive downhill through the town of Austin, NV and out of the mountains to the valley. This downhill had lots of switchbacks and was very steep. It had a beautiful view of Austin, the valley below, and the mountains beyond, and with the morning sun behind us, there wasn’t any glare. We raced through the town so fast. Caralyn even hit a bird on her way down and Evan said it was definitely dead. Other than the accidental birdslaughter, it was definitely a good downhill.
Downhill after Lost Claim Campground, CA:
I can’t remember exactly what town this hill was after but it was on the day we biked from Lost Claim Campground to Tracy. This hill had to be 2,500-3,000 ft and it involved a lot of switchbacks. After the fourth or fifth time I competed what looked like the same turn, I definitely had a sense of déjà vu.
It was fun, but it was also a pretty difficult hill and it required a lot of concentration and brakes. Devin tried to take the first turn without brakes and skidded out, fishtailed, and almost went into oncoming traffic. Not as fun as some others.
Gotta say though, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of racing down a hill on your bike going close to 50 mph. Boston is not very hilly so I think I’ll miss the big hills we’ve had on this trip.
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