Day 57, September 27th 2007 (Los Banos,CA to Meriposa,CA)

I couldn't believe how fortunate I had been last night to receive this free hotel room. To not have to pay a penny and to be able to wake up in a warm bed while it was 60 degrees outside. I took another shower in the morning before I started my ride because I wasn't sure how long it would be before I would be able to receive another. I was on the road around 9 and was going to try and make it to Yosemite National Park. It was about 120 miles away and would be a great climb to finish the day. I didn't make it very far before I started to realize that this couldn't have been any flatter. I had seen a little of this as I came into town the night before, but it was unbelievable how long it had lasted. I was about 20 miles into the ride and was able to take country back roads for most of the way. I was seeing cornfields, cattle, and all sorts of farmers at work. The sweet smell that cattle produced along with the scenery really made the beginning of the ride feel like I was right back at home. I wasn't sure where all of the mountains had gone, but I wasn't worried either. As long as I continued to head east and eventually made it to Yosemite then I must have been going in the right direction. The back roads were easy to direct myself on with all of the maps I had been given in Santa Cruz and it really was nice to be able to avoid all of the traffic. I was able to go many miles and only see a handful of cars. It wasn't until a little over 50 miles into the day that I had to start on a busy road and get off of the back roads. I was back with the flowing traffic and the end of the flat roads were coming near. I gradually started on an incline until I was surrounded by mountains and the only way that I was going to get to where I needed to be was by following the road up. I was on a fairly steep climb and when I reached what I thought was the top and started to go down, I was headed right back up again. This is what continued for almost the next 30 miles and it was fairly exhausting. I was thinking that I could have enjoyed a nice flat ride all the way up until 30 miles before Yosemite National Park, but the mountains came early on and it was quite a ride. It was about 5 when I reached the last town with a campground before Yosemite National Park. I was still a good 35 miles from the park and with the climbs that I had endured and the climbs that would continue to be ahead I decided to give up for the day. I pulled into a little Italian joint and was able to be served by a great waitress. She was very kind to me and made sure I had a pitcher full of ice water and that my food came out very quick. I think she could tell that I was hungry and so when I received my pasta the plate was filled with piping hot spaghetti. It tasted better than most of my peanut butter sandwiches that I had been eating for the day and I was happy that they offered a huge plate of food for a reasonable price. I was even given directions to the campground and figured i wouldn't have a problem finding it. Although when I left, I turned in the wrong direction to start out and instead of heading back the same direction that I h ad come, I went in the direction that I was headed. Apparently I had passed the campground as I had came to town so I was supposed to back track. Well after going only a mile and realizing what I had done, I noticed a sign for a park on my left. Although there were signs at the park that specifically said no overnight camping, it was free and looked fairly nice. I set everything up at the edge of the park to be as inconspicuous as possible and enjoyed the area that I had been placed in for the evening. I had an incredible view of the Sierra Mountains from where i was at and thought that this would be a great place to set up camp for the night. My legs were pretty beat after the last climb I had done to get myself up to around 2,000 feet and I was ready for a nice 40 miler into Yosemite for tomorrow. I figured that I could take my time to Yosemite, if I left early enough, and then be able to look around the area for most of the afternoon. Going to bed was easy and I was out in no time with a head full of ideas about what to expect from the park that had been talked up so much during my trip.
Daily mileage: 76.4 miles
Average speed: 12.3 mph
Total mileage: 3,373.5 miles