Headwind, Highways and Heat

Sunday start was a little later than I usually would be riding but the drive down took a little longer than expected (mostly because I wanted to start south of Ashland in CA).  The first 10 or so miles were good, got used to the bike and the weight.  As I started into the Shasta valley area I felt the wind of change, and not in a good way. The wind was heading out of the south and coming hard, which made for a long afternoon and evening.  At about 7:30 I started to loo, for camping options which were not very present in a valley.  After about 8 miles I came to an old burned out house that had been cleared and had good tree cover so I pitched camp behind some trees and ate some dehydrated refried beans for dinner. 

Monday I got up at 05:45 and packed and was on the road by 07:00 (fast for me getting out of camp).

  Rode into Mt. Shasta city and got coffee and warmed up. At the shop I met a cyclist who warned me about hwy 89, the road I would be on for the next 5 days, and advised about getting off the road frequently because the shoulder is such crap.  He was right,  over the next 5 days I had to pull off and wait more than I ever had in any touring I have done.  The white line was the shoulder then it was loose sand and gravel, a cyclists nightmare.  On the 89 I rode into more headwind, got some hills and a little bit of heat.  Ended my day in an RV park near hat creek.  It was a long day to make up for the short on the day before, 83 miles...

Finally getting this blog up and running, just in time for my new tour!

The plan for summer break (June 23 - July 15) is to ride the second half of the Sierra Cascades ACA route roughly south of Crater Lake NP to The USA/Mexico border.  Depending on where I end up starting it will work out to 1400 - 1500 miles.  My plan is to camp as much as possible and eat mostly food that I prepare (trying to save some money).  As many of you know for my previous trip The Trans-Am 2010 I am pretty good at the camping and cooking gig, this time I am trying some new menu items and preparation methods for some of the dinner time cooking.

The other difference is that I will have a ride companion meeting up with me about halfway through, to help ease the solidarity and solo boredom that happens on long tours with no one to talk to.  I have know Mary for several years, she is an avid runner, cyclist and overall life enthusiast.  She pack some serious energy but is down to earth and great to hang out with!  She is planning on meeting me somewhere in CA (TBD because it will depend on where I am), with her husband Tim (who is also an awesome guy and probably one of the most supportive partners that I have met...besides my girlfriend), and she will ride with me and Tim will shuttle us back up to San Francisco when we are done.  So that is the trip, I will attempt to update while on the road, but services and internet are going to be spotty at best.

Until I get another chance to update I'll leave you with a photo I took on my training ride 6/15/12

Vista House with my other new companion Donkey...