Wheelsucker Blog - Week Eight

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Sunday 6th July

Las Vegas, Nevada. Left South Lake Tahoe at 7am. Drove over 450 miles through the most fantastic mountainous desert you could imagine and arrived in Las Vegas about 2.30pm. Then Paul and Stef took me out gambling on the 'Strip'. Then I got pestered by two ladies!

Saturday 5th July

South Lake Tahoe, California. 47 miles. Average speed 9.8mph. Left Sutter Creek at 6.30am in cycle top and shorts. Short climb out of town and into a small town called Jacksonville. Then the climbing started, long and steepish climbs, and gradually warming up. Saw sign that said 81F and the climbing kept going on and on. Reached a viewing point at 7,000ft and I was absolutely exhausted. The temperature must have been nearly 100F and I had just done 47 miles of climbing. I asked a young couple if they could help me. Their names were Jared and Amanda, and they couldn't have been more helpful. They had their dog 'Emerson' with them as well, but still managed to get me and my bike into their car. They took me all the way to my hotel, they were fantastic. If it wasn't for their help I could of done myself serious harm, I was totally exhausted after all that climbing and the extreme heat. But the highlight of the day was seeing Paul and Stef again. To see my family again after 55 days on the road was very emotional for me. They are taking me to Las Vegas tomorrow so I can sit back and relax. Picture shows Jared and Amanda where they saved me!

Friday 4th July

INDEPENDENCE DAY. Sutter Creek, California. 90 miles. Average speed 11.7mph. Left Turlock at 6am. Cycling top and shorts, felt warm even at that time in the morning. Found way onto right road after asking workmen putting out flags for the celebrations. Made good time to Valley Springs for late breakfast. Then got really hot (100F) and lots of climbing. Really nice little town (see picture), the sort of small town that I imagined all small towns would be like in USA. Normal cycling today. No stress with the roads and getting my head back in order!

Thursday 3rd July

Turlock, California. Left Watsonville at 6am. Thermal top and shorts. Traffic was really busy at that time of morning. Concentrating on keeping into the kerb as far as possible, missed my left turn onto Highway 152. Realised my mistake after about a mile so wasn't a disaster. After about 7 miles started climbing first big climb of the day (see picture) but was covered in mist which got worse nearer the top. Nice fast descent down into Gilroy and a quick McD's. Then the hassle started again when they sign posted Hw152 up onto a Freeway (which wasn't marked on the map as a Freeway?). After asking clueless people and the village idiot eventually found my way back onto Hw152. It was then hassle free thank goodness. It is really stressing me out all this 'not allowed to ride on this road' business, and the police seem to be watching me all the time which is really freaking me out. Because of this and fact that they could change the status of the roads around Carson City, Paul and Stef are coming to meet me at South Lake Tahoe and take me down to Las Vegas, and then down to Laughlin to have my cassette, chain, bottom bracket and tyres replaced.

Wednesday 2nd July

Watsonville, California. Left Mill Valley at 7.30am. Thermal top and shorts which I kept on most of the day. Took cycle route to bridge, then really steep climb to bridge 28x30. Bridge covered in mist and traffic noise was horrendous. Difficult finding my way out from bridge and picking up the right roads. Really hilly and only averaged 10mph for the first 30 miles. The hills along the coastline got bigger and longer, and it was still quite chilly with the mist off the sea. Lunch at Half Moon Bay. After that the climbs got smaller so I could ride a lot quicker. Then the nightmare began. Highway 1, which I had been using turned into a Freeway around Santa Cruz, so I had to try and follow a cycle route which was very difficult. After asking everybody I could find eventually arrived in Watsonville after 11 hours of hard riding.

Tuesday 1st July

Mill Valley, California. 100 miles. Average speed 11.9mph. Left Santa Rosa 6am. Long sleeved top and shorts. Although I bought a map, getting out of town on the correct road was a nightmare. 22 miles later I reached Highway 1, only to take a wrong turn and ended up in Petaluma. Back again to Highway 1, this was fast becoming a bad day. Need to concentrate more! Stopped for lunch at Stinson Beach and then the climbing really started. Had to use my lowest gear for the time 28x30, it was like climbing mini mountains one after the other. Reached Mill Valley and then everything opened up and I could see the start of the bay. Kept riding about 3 miles (on a special cycle route) until I could see the bridge and got someone to take a photo. This same person told me there was no accommodation between there and the bridge, so back to Sausalito I go looking for a motel. Met a cyclist called Todd who took me back to Mill Valley and Holiday Inn Express, thank you. This turned out to be a hard days riding, but seeing the bridge in the distance made it all worthwhile.

Monday 30th June 2014

Santa Rosa, California. 81 miles. Average speed 14.3mph. Left Willits at 7.30am, just cycling jersey and shorts. Big climb out of Willits then easier roads. Made good time to Cloverdale where I had McD's and the temperature was 100F. Just as I entered Santa Rosa got stopped by police, apparently I had been riding on the Freeway! He wasn't very helpful, and when I asked him how I was to continue he said 'get a bus'. This wound me up so I told him I would like to be there when he visited England and then I could be really helpful. He couldn't even direct me to my motel! I am staying at Motel 6 and the young lady on reception was really kind and helpful, and this made feel much better. Paul and Stef phoned me and this calmed me down. They also booked two hotels for me on the 4th and 5th July, because it's a national holiday weekend. Picture shows the road I shouldn't been riding on.