Friday the 13th

And so far nothing bad has happened........

Another hot day forecast today so we got an earlier start.  Breakfast at 6 and on the road by 6:30.  I'm usually the last one away from the hotel.  What's the rush?  I'm on vacation.  And, yes, I keep reminding myself - I am paying good money to go up these hills in these weather conditions!  We headed out in a southeast direction, down the opposite side of Lake Isabella to where we came in yesterday.  A really beautiful start to the day!  Long sweeping turns and hills just as the sun was starting to shine on them.

We managed to get in 20 miles before the thermometer hit 20C.  Yay!  Once we turned onto SR 178 we passed through lots of agricultural and farm lands on a very flat route for about 10 to 15 miles.  I don't think I took any pictures to show this - but it is really evident where the streams pass.  Desert all around and then lush green trees for as far as the water table is able to sustain them.  Makes for a very pretty scene.  And then again, there is irrigation.......

After that came our climb du jour.  About 10 miles up to Walker Pass.  The grades weren't as bad as some of our previous long climbs but I took lots of breaks along the way because the legs were still a tad fatigued from yesterday and the temps had climbed into the low 30s.  I took a picture of the building below - kind of how I felt at that moment - seen better days and kind of leaning to one side.  Next is a picture of Gail, me & Linda at the top of Walker Pass.  Gail has been on both the ST and AC with me; Linda the ST.  The Pacific Crest Trail crosses the highway at Walker Pass, and sure enough a group of hikers appeared just as we were getting out our lunch boxes.  They had been on the trail for a month now.  They had all lost a ton of weight; the fellow in the middle reckoned he had lost 20 pounds so far.  I brought out all the food I had on my bike (save my sandwich) and offered it to them.  They're all so skinny!

The ride down the other side was exhilarating!  We went well over 10 miles without gaining a single foot of ascent.  I didn't keep track of the descent but it was thousands of feet.  A nice grade too; didn't  hardly have to touch the brakes.  Glorious!

 

We really are in barren desert now!  The highest temp I saw on the GPS today was 40C and we were in by 1 so it was still going up.  Special shoutout to all of our SAG drivers.  They look after each and every one of us - making sure we have water and food and give bike & rider a lift up the hills where necessary.  Everyone is still in great spirits and thoroughly enjoying each others' company.  Our needs are simple and we're grateful for the small things.  Today we're grateful for good AC!

Stats for the day:
99 km / 61 miles from Kernville CA to Ridgecrest CA
3833 feet up
4191 feet down
Weather:  Beautiful cloudless sky again.  Started at 12C and stayed under 20C for the first 20 miles.  Into the low 30s for our climb, high 30s during the descent and it hit 40C on the ride in to Ridgecrest.