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...