September 2 + 3 - Day 64 + Day 65
California!
As hard as it is to believe, we are done with the state of Nevada and every other state on the trip. We have entered our 10th and final state on this trip, California! It was pretty subtle with the sign being the smallest state marker sign we have seen on the trip but it was a pretty monumental feeling to be this close to the end.
From the moment we entered into Nevada till the end, all of our conceptions of the state were pretty much shattered. It is a very beautiful state and has so many unique aspects to it. We both thought of the state as one giant desert with Las Vegas thrown in there but it is filled with hundreds of mountain ranges, wildlife, very hospitable people, lakes, salt flats, and just being a very unique place. Every state really has had its own personality and features and Nevada was no different. Though one departing gift from Nevada was not so nice, a broken spoke only a few miles from the border. We have really been lucky with the bikes and had not had a broken spoke since Kansas up until this point.
We biked our way up part of the mountain we were going to be climbing the following morning to cut down on some of the long day that was to follow. We camped in the Sierras that night and were both really blown away by how pretty the Sierras were and how different it was than most of the camping we had done to this point.
For our FINAL big climb of the trip we had to make it up and over the Sierra Mountains. After a few hours of climbing, we reached Carson Pass which meant that the rest of the day was going to be all downhill. One aspect of the ride we really didn’t expect was the traffic, since it was Labor Day. It was unbelievable the amount of cars and trucks pulling their giant trailers passed us on the road. It was a constant stream of cars from the time we started climbing until we got off of 88, about 45 miles later. Not only that but the shoulder was not too big which was pretty frustrating being smothered by some nice diesel fumes and tight quarters. Carson Pass was at 8574 ft and our home for the night Placerville is at around 2000 ft, which means we had over 6500 ft of downhill ahead of us. Over a mile down! Unfortunately it was not straight downhill and had a lot of little climbs thrown in there, especially when we got closer to Placerville. There were a couple of climbs of over 500 ft which was also coupled with the hotter weather as we came down closer to sea level. Along the descent we came across a fellow named Roy who was biking from BC to Key West. It was a good/strange feeling to know from experience the long and challenging road he was really just beginning and about to face. Overall it was a very long day but the LAST long day of the trip. Even though it was one of the longer more challenging days of the trip, it was one of the most exceptional days of riding. We went up and through the Sierras and then a good portion of the descent was on a very deserted windy road through a forest of small Redwoods and towering trees on each side of us.
Only 2 days left to San Francisco!
-Brent
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