Day 63, October 3rd 2007 (13 miles East of Furnace Creek,CA to Las Vegas,NV)

Today was easily the longest and most demanding day of the trip so far. I awoke from the sun pouring in through my tent and knew that it was time to ride. I didn't want to spend very much of my morning waiting for the heat to kick in and I knew that if I started riding at sun up, it was going to be a ride to get to Las Vegas by sundown. So it was 5:30 in the morning and it was amazing to see everything now in the light. I didn't realize what I was passing by last night because I could only see the shadows of the mountains. Now I was slowly creeping my way up and out of the park. I only went another 1,000 feet uphill in the morning before I exited the park and I could tell that if I hadn't have made the climb last night that I would have been sucked in by the heat in the morning. I had beat the heat! For now anyway. I was out of the park in only a few miles and then it was an open desert. The sun was out starting to heat up around 10. It didn't take me long to ride in to Nevada and when I did, I saw a casino. I was in the middle of nowhere and there wasn't even a town that was supposed to be there when I looked at the map. I guess, where there is a border there is a casino. I didn't expect to have a stop at this point in the morning, but it was a nice place to fill up my water bottles. I had a few more miles to go for the day so I didn't stay long. I made it about 20 more miles down the road and it was almost noon. I felt like my rear tire was a little low so I pulled over and sure enough it was. I had run over a couple of staples in the road and my tire had been punctured twice. It was not the best place to change a tube, but what is. It was over 95 degrees and there wasn't shade for miles. It was too hot, but it was taken care of in about 30 minutes. I was back on the bike and it felt good to have some wind movement. It was mostly a flat ride, but every now and again there were some gradual climbs. It was incredible how I was only 70 miles into the ride at around 2 and still managed to keep going. Riding in the heat of the desert from 12 to 4 is not the best time to be riding. It was so hot that it made each 40 miles that I had to go between towns seem so much further. I had enough water and food to make each on of the pushes to each town, but it wasn't easily. Mentally to keep going when all you can see is desert was probably the hardest task that was put in front of me. I had been through Death Valley and I had seen the worst, but this seemed just as bad. My elevation was between 2,500 feet to 3,500 feet at all times and it seemed fairly rolling at times. I realized early on that Las Vegas was going to be a little longer than the 130 miles that I had projected, but once I arrived I had a friend to stay with. i had contacted him before and was ready to be able to see him. His name is Seth and I met him at the job that I had worked at over the past year. He had just moved out to Las Vegas to live with a friend of his only a couple of months earlier. So to have been able to stay with him along my trip was nice to have along the way. His roommate, James, had lived in Vegas for about a year and was going to be around if Seth was at work. As I neared Las Vegas, it was slowly getting darker outside. It became so much easier to ride after 4 pm in the desert that I was able to push into Vegas and make it to the outskirts of the city by 7. It was great to be able to see so much light off in the distance. I rode in to the "city that never sleeps," and it was fairly obvious why. I was making my way in towards the Las Vegas Strip, because my friend didn't live much further away. As I approached his house I could see everything. The lights, the sounds from the street, and thousands of people walking in every which direction. It was a crazy sight to see after I had been riding in the desert for so long. From the cold of Yosemite, to the heat of Death Valley, and now in the city of Las Vegas. Everything just didn't seem right. How could all of this be possible. I didn't want to give it to much thought at the time because I was so exhausted from riding. I followed the directions that I had been laid out. I tried to find one turn to get me to the house, but I must have missed it somewhere. So I called Seth and James picked up the phone. Seth was using Jame's phone for a little while in Vegas and so it didn't surprise me that Jame's answered. What happened next though was very surprising. Seth had apparently left town to go back to Nebraska and so here I was. James had never met me before, but he didn't seem to mind. He knew that I was going to be coming into town so as soon as he heard how lost I was, he gave me directions to meet him somewhere that I did know where to go. It wasn't far from where I was at, but it was funny to see Jame's reaction when he first met me. He thought that I was travelling around the country on my motorcycle and so when he jokingly asked me if I was Kyle when I first pulled up, he was very surprised to hear me say yes. It was a classic moment and it was nice to have some humour after such a long afternoon. It was about 10 pm at this point and I had started the morning at about 5:30 am. I had been on the seat of my bike for so long that it was an incredible feeling to get off. We went down to Jame's place from where we were at and it was very nice. There was Seth's bed that I was able to sleep in and James had told me that he would give me a tour of the city. I was ready to rest for a couple of days after being driven so hard for the past few days. I sunk into the mattress and was asleep before I even closed my eyes.
Daily mileage: 148.1 miles
Average speed: 11.7 mph
Total mileage: 3,875.6 miles

Day 62, October 2nd 2007 (Lone Pine,CA to 13 miles East of Furnace Creek,CA)

Waking up in a bathroom that was warm was a lot better than having to deal with the monsoon that I had experienced earlier in the night. Having had two 4 and half hour sleeping intervals I was able to wake up around 7:30. I had a lot of sleep, but not exactly the best. Just as I was packed up and walking out of the bathroom someone else was walking in. It was the maintenance guy in the area and I could tell that I caught him by surprise when I walked out of the bathroom with my bike and all of my gear on it. I was glad that he didn't say anything, but it was still awkward confronting someone in the area after I had just finished sleeping in their bathroom. I was now on my way to Death Valley! Who would have thought that such a great morning could turn into the hottest day of my trip. This was apparently the prime time to go to Death Valley. The temperatures are more tolerable at this time of the year compared to in July. I was told about a race through Death Valley that was 120 some odd miles held in July. It was a run and it was around 130 degrees at that time of the year. So apparently this was a lot easier of a temperature to deal with. It was 100 degrees by the mid-afternoon and I was hardly able to make it through. I was thinking about starting the day near Death Valley and then trying to make it to Las Vegas by the following morning. I was stunned to hear of "two little American boys" who had pulled a trip as well through a night ride. They had also rode through Nevada and since they had been in Nevada during such hot temperatures, they decided to ride through the night. I found out about them in Denver,CO when I met a a guy who had met them not far from where I was. At first I thought these guys were crazy, but the more I dealt with the heat in the afternoons and especially the heat I was going to deal with in Death Valley, I started to understand why they did what they did. About 240 miles is what I projected to shoot for the day and time would only tell. Starting the ride for the day at around 3,500 feet I rode through much more of an apparent desert territory until I reached about 4,600 feet. Then I started my decline through the first city of the day. It was about 45 miles before I reached the first city of the day and before I could restock my water supply. Each stop through this day was much more vital than any other stop so far throughout the trip. I had reached this city after dropping from 4,600 feet down to 1,500 feet. The temperature change at this point was drastic. It was a nice 75 degrees before I went to the city and now at the city it had gone to around 85 to 90 degrees. I thought that it would be okay and all I had to do at this point was continue to go downhill to the Death Valley. Unfortunately that wasn't the way it was at all. I was riding through this part of the ride and although I was in the Death Valley Park, this was only one valley before Death Valley. It plateaued at about 1,500 feet and then rose up to a climb up to 4,600 feet. It wasn't exactly what I wanted to see at this point because it was scorching hot and the climb was very steep. It was only 6 miles to the top of the mountain and with a difference in elevation of 3,000 feet I think that you can understand what I mean. It was one of the hardest climbs through my trip and easily the longest 6 miles. I had just filled up my water bottles and by the time I reached the top of the mountain, 6 miles, they were gone. I had to stop at about every half mile up the climb just because I would start to get light headed. I knew that heat exhaustion couldn't have been that far away. Each time I started to ride on the bike and make another push forward it almost seemed to difficult. It was really way to hot outside to try and pull myself up this mountain. The one problem I had once I made it to the top wasn't that I made it, because that was only the first battle. Now I was 13 miles outside of the next town, and I was all out of water. I had depleted every ounce of the 100 ounces of water that I carry with me, and this was trouble, being where I was. It started downhill to where I was going and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The descent at this point carried me 13 miles all the way to the next town which was at sea level. I didn't have to pedal the entire way down and felt like I had just floated into where the water stock hold was. It was much hotter at this point. I was much closer to Death Valley and it was about 4 in the afternoon at this point. Even after my last near death experience going up the mountain, I was still thinking that I might try and pace myself to Las Vegas from here. I filled up all of my water bottles at the small town of some 20 people. The water was served at about 80 degrees and they didn't offer any ice. It took only about 30 minutes before the water turned from the 80 degrees it was at to about 90 to 100 degrees. The temperature outside at this point was 100 degrees and didn't feel good at all when staying stationary. The only way that it was tolerable is if I was moving forward to receive some small wind for a breeze. The only problem with moving forward was that I had to consume some of the hot water that I had stocked up on. For 30 miles these were the conditions that I was able to put up with. I saw a lot of amazing things pass before my eyes now that I was down in Death Valley, excluding my life. There were some very cool sand dunes far off in the distance and the mountains with there amazing contours were unexplainable. It was definitely worth risking my life to experience Death Valley and I only wish that I could help explain more of what was all around me. There was nothing living that I could see around me and it gave the entire ride much more of a feel to it. I passed the lowest point on the California state highway system, -242 feet, but after the day that I had endured I wasn't sure if I could handle staying in Death Valley another day to go on a 100 mile loop to the Bad Waters and the lowest point in the western hemisphere, -282 feet. It was getting dark outside and I figured that it would cool down a little. I was surprised to see that I had survived the 30 mile trip from one town to the other and had drank all 5 of the hot water bottles in my supplies. The town I pulled into, had a thermostat hanging outside. Although it was dark at this point and the sun was down, it still registered at 92 degrees. I was thankful to hear that they had plenty of ice cold water and it was a great boost of confidence to keep me on the road. I ate a small spaghetti dinner while I was at the town and stocked up on a couple of gatorades to take with me on my travels. I was ready for my first night ride and although I felt exhausted I was interested to see what would happen. I'm going to say right now that I am glad I went for this climb out of Death Valley at the time I was doing it. It was definitely a much more gradual climb to get out of Death Valley and now that it had cooled down a little, I didn't feel like I was going to fall over and die from the heat. It was an incredible feeling being the only one on the road and looking up to see a sky full of stars. Everything was so open where I was at and all around me I could see an outline of mountains and then stars overhead. A picture could not capture the beauty from the moment, and so I was taking it all in as best as possible. I wasn't moving fast considering the length of day I had gone through already and also being as how I was climbing up a mountain. So given the circumstances, it was easy to take everything in. Each forward move seemed to be getting harder and harder and it didn't take me long to realize that today was not a good day to try and push for Vegas. I had gone about 13 miles East of Furnace Creek, the last town, over a time period of about 2 hours. I had also taken myself from -242 feet to a little over 2,000 feet. I had covered the large portion of the climb out of the valley and had made it much more possible to escape the remaining miles out of the valley. When I noticed a point to pull over, some random place on the side of the road, I did and I set up camp for the night. I was out in the middle of a desert and for the past two hours I had seen about 5 cars. Nothing and no one were coming through here and it made me feel fairly safe with where I was. My idea of going all the way through the night had been put to rest for the night and it would have to be some crazy idea that I might have to pull off at another point.

Daily mileage: 118.2 miles
Average speed: 12.0 mph
Total mileage: 3,727.5 miles

Day 61, October 1st 2007 (Mammoth Lakes,CA to Lone Pine,CA)

I was told by the family that I had stayed with that today would be down hill the entire way. I had been told this by many people in the past but they had always been wrong. There always seemed to be a couple of big climbs that people never seemed to notice. I had to trust the family that I was staying with though because not only had they been so good to me, but they were also cyclists in the area. I have never been happier to see how the day turned out and how nice it was to be able to make a 100 mile journey seem like a breeze. I started my journey downhill out of Mammoth Lakes. It was incredible to hear that around noon, there was going to be snow in the area. I could see as I left that I was heading away from the clouds and I was happy to be headed towards blue skies. Looking back at Mammoth Lakes, after being a good 15 miles away and 1,500 less feet, I could see an incredible difference in terrain. From the nice mountains that could be skied on, I was heading through the desert. Closer and closer I came to Death Valley. The first big town that I was going to run into out of Death Valley was in Bishop and so as soon as I went the 50 miles to Bishop, I took a break. I hadn't had to deal with any tough terrain so far and as I was told it had been, downhill. It was such an easy ride up to this point and had finished into Bishop from going on a couple thousand foot drop to where I was. I had been given some great supplies from the family that I had left in Mammoth Lakes and was happy to be able to use them. From some great food for the road to powdered electrolyte supplements to use as gatorade for the trip. Joe's family was in the chocolate business and so I had a couple of Blommer chocolate bars that I was able to take with me and they were incredible. I had been given one at their house and was happy to have a couple with me for the journey. Soon after leaving Bishop, another rider came up behind me. He was on a journey towards Independence it was nice to be able to chat with him for a good 20 miles before he pulled ahead of me at his pace. He told me that the wind yesterday would have probably stopped me in Bishop for the day. With winds that were at around 30 mph straight from the south to the north I couldn't have agreed with him more. I was even happier at this point that I had stayed where I was in Mammoth. What a great timing and day that had been set out for me on this trip. It just didn't seem possible how all of the pieces were falling into place. I was making great time for the day and was impressed that things were truly all downhill. This had to be the easiest day that I had ridden because absolutely nothing was stopping me. The wind was a little at my back, but mostly a cross wind and it didn't seem to slow me down too much. I continued riding for the day and made it to my destination, Lone Pine, in what seemed like only a few hours. It was about 5:30 when I was where I wanted to be and I was now on the hunt for the campground. I saw the sign for the campground, but just beyond it I saw a sports complex. Full of baseball fields, soccer fields, and plenty of space for a small tent to be for the evening. The grass looked too green to put a tent down and so I tried to put the tent down on some nearby sand from the fields. The stakes for the tent wouldn't drive into the ground and so I had to be careful at where to place my tent on the grass. Obviously, the grass was so green in the area because of the sprinklers that had been set up. I looked around in the day light to try and find the best place where I could put my tent without having to deal with much showers from the sprinklers. I picked the one spot that I thought was perfect and after watching the sun go down behind the mountains, I called it a night. I woke up in the middle of the night at midnight exactly. I could hear the sprinklers going off through the night, but now it was showering my tent. I thought I was going to be okay because it was only a mist over my tent, then things went crazy. Another sprinkler was directed at me like a power hose at a car wash and practically knocked my tent over. I was wet at this point because of the power of the sprinkler on my tent and couldn't handle it much longer. I jumped out of my tent and looked around. There were five sprinklers all around me and I had to make a run for it. I took the stakes out of the ground and picked up my tent and started to run out of the way of the showers. I was soaked from head to toe and although I was only at around 3,500 feet at this point, it was still cold. With the wind and a temperature in the fifties, it didn't help to be soaked and running around. From carrying my tent I escaped to the outfield and managed to get away, but not without first breaking one of the poles on my tent. It was right at the center from where I was carrying it and it was such a dumb way to have an accident like that occur. The tent still stood up without a problem, but I didn't want to have to deal with it for too long. It was something that I was going to have to replace down the road, but for now I needed to try and sleep. I laid in the tent for a good 30 minutes cold and wet before I realized this wasn't going to work. I worked up the courage to get out of my tent and went to a bathroom that I had seen in the area. I brought everything with me and started to hang up all of my wet clothes to dry while wearing the few remaining clothes that were still dry from the monsoon. It was a lot warmer in the bathroom and since I had everything hanging up, I knew I had nothing to sleep in outside. My sleeping bag and tent were among some of the things that I had hanging around in the bathroom to dry. There was a small bench that couldn't have been longer than 5 feet and I used it to lay down on for another great night sleeping in a bathroom.

Daily mileage: 101.3 miles
Average speed: 16.5 mph
Total mileage: 3,609.3 miles

Day 60, September 30th 2007 (Mammoth Lakes,CA to Mammoth Lakes,CA)

What a beautiful city. I love being in a beautiful city, but when a family is able to show you around a beautiful city while you are their guest. It makes everything overwhelming with the sites that you are able to run into. After sleeping like a baby, we were able to go on an incredible hike in the afternoon. Breakfast was steaming hot and made the entire trip here worth it itself. Then we drove up to a little over 9,000 feet and started our hike. We were already a little over 8,000 feet, given the elevation of Mammoth Lakes, and so the drive didn't take very long. It was a shorter hike that we were going on for the afternoon, but the hike still managed to take us over 10,000 feet. It was the Crystal Lake trail and it was amazing. Being a guest I couldn't have been shown a better area. It was unbelievable and I had to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. I was over 10,000 feet and was staring around at mountains and directly below me were about 5 lakes. The lakes were crystal clear at this elevation and seemed to be cleanest coldest water you could jump into. It was one of those views that a picture can be taken, but there is so much else around that can't all be taken in from just a photo. Being there, I tried to keep as much of this installed in my brain as possible because this was comparable to everything I had seen in Yosemite. Only this time I was off of my bike and didn't have to pay an entrance fee to get into this place. It was an out of this world experience and the fact that I had decided to stay another day in the area was proved to be a good one with this right in front of me. We went back down the mountain and drove back to the house, where we proceeded to have some great deli sandwiches. I was so happy that I had been able to get a hold of this family, because if I hadn't I wouldn't have been able to meet them or have been able to see some spectacular views of the area. The mountains here, like I said, were indescribable. The rest of the afternoon I spent inside around a fire place and was just happy that I wasn't outside. It seemed incredibly windy outside and it was a good day to rest my legs. I felt exhausted and this was a good day to take off from the road. As the day went on I was able to see some of Tristan's incredible drawings. He was only 12 years old, but had a great imagination and could draw better than anyone I knew. He had been drawing for quite a few years and had definitely come a long ways it seemed. I was also able to select some incredibly great music from the family and was able to throw it onto my I-pod. I hadn't realized it, but the songs had been on repeat for over 30 times at this point and it was nice to get some new tunes. I was really looking forward to being on the road and having something else to listen to, but not as much as I was looking forward to the dinner that was about to be bestowed in front of me. Ann had made an incredible dip with chips that she said was a clam dip. From being able to taste that and every meal that I had already had in this house, I knew I had bumped into a couple of very good cooks. So along with being incredibly amazing people, they still managed to have a few tricks up their sleeve. It was great to be able to see every one's style of cooking along the road and I was taking in as much as I could. I don't know if I had mentioned it before, but I love to cook. Seeing all of these new styles and new recipes along my trip was easily the best education that I could receive on cooking at this point. It was another thing that I had fallen in love with on the trip and was taking in however and whenever possible. The other couple that I had tried calling last night to stay with, Mike and Marco, had just arrived in town from a wedding they were at just the night before. They were going to come over for dinner as well for the night and it was going to be great to sit down with a couple of other adventurers in the area. When they showed up we were able to have some great conversation and then continue it over the incredible pasta that was done. The smell that was from the pasta was new and unfamiliar to me, but was very good in that manner. Pasta was always great to have the night before a big ride, and I couldn't thank them enough for having thought of me in that perspective. It was the best pasta I had ever had on the road. No, in my life. I have had a lot of great pastas, but this was it. Life was great. The other couple in Mammoth Lakes, Mike and Margo, had been to Ann and Joe's place before for dinner and they already knew that they were great cooks. Mike and Marco had lived incredible lives up to this point and seemed fascinated just as Ann and Joe were about my trip. It was the millionth time that I had been told that this was the best time in my life to take this trip, but each time I heard it it was a good boost of confidence to let me know that I had made the right decision. I know that it was a good idea to take the trip just from all of the great people that I have ran into, but to hear it from someone else is what makes me want to stay on the road and not come back. Why not? Well besides running out of money, why not? Mike and Margo were two incredible people that I was glad to be able to talk with while in town. Mike was a Civil Engineer, but spent a lot of time rebuilding houses and then selling them a couple of years down the road. He definitely had the right idea of how to live a good life and his wife shared the same great ingenuity as well. She had started and was running her own business and it was obvious that with both of their mental drives, they were perfect for each other. They had made it into town a little earlier in the afternoon and had done the same hike as we had done in the afternoon. It seemed apparent to me that if you wanted to live in this area of the country it wasn't for the shopping malls. Because they were not around. It was because you loved the outdoors and this was where you were able to live and enjoy the outdoors. I was able to learn even more about the families while we were together and one story I have to share with you. This wasn't about either one of the families, but one of their friends named Charlie. He had gone on a backpacking trip not far from here over a week ago. He had left on his trip on a Tuesday and was supposed to be back on a Saturday. I had been told that when he left on trips like this he usually didn't carry much extra for supplies and so when snow came that weekend and he was out and about in the mountains it was an extra day that they expected for him to return. He had planned on being picked up at a particular point on Saturday so with the weather over the weekend no one was really surprised that he didn't show up. But, coming back the next day and not seeing him raised a few eyebrows. I had met Siobhan in Santa Cruz on the Monday in the week before and they had sent a search and rescue team out for him. There wasn't a trace of him outside and people were starting to wonder what had happened. I left Siobhan's and was anticipating to hear what had happened by the time I showed up in Mammoth Lakes. The rest of Charlie's story could only be described as, Darwin was chasing him. Survival of the fittest was the only way he could survive. From Monday when he had been lost until Wednesday, he waited. The search and rescue team had given up, but he had a few friends that didn't give up on him. Joe had gone with one person to hike the route that Charlie had gone on, and leaving Tuesday was just beat to the chase. Another friend of Charlies had decided to take his plane out to view the area and see if he could have any luck, and he did. Charlie was on the side of a steep mountain. He had fallen on Monday and had broken his wrist so he was unable to go up or down. The rest of his story may sound fictional, but this is why it is said that Darwin is after him. Before falling down the side of the mountain to the little crevice he was in, he had eaten all of his supplies except for a few pancakes. He managed to accidentally kick his food over the side of the mountain, but not before he had managed to set his tent on fire. He was about 12,000 feet up with limited supplies and said that on Tuesday when he stayed awake all night, he thought it was his last night. Being found on Wednesday he had overcome a battle for his life. I figure with his story, I really don't have much stopping me from finishing my journey because he had experienced just about everything and had managed to live. Now I had been given an extraordinary day and was able to cap it off with the best pasta I have ever had. This is why things can really get overwhelming at some points. It just never seemed possible that life could be this great when I first took off that fateful day from Iowa. After two large helpings of pasta, it was followed with ice cream. I don't know if I have ever eaten so much, but the food was too good to stop. I loved being able to hear more of both of the families and was truly in great company. I didn't want to leave because things were so great, but the trip must go on and so it did. I went to sleep on a mattress for the last time following the meal and figured that my next bed would probably be in Las Vegas.

Daily mileage: 0.0 miles
Total mileage: 3,508.0 miles

Day 59, September 29th 2007 (Crane Flat (Yosemite National Park),CA to Mammoth Lakes,CA)

It was a little chilly last night but I made it through okay. With socks as gloves and a shirt wrapped over my head I was able to wrap my sleeping bag over me and stay relatively warm. It must have dropped down to 20 degrees or so and with the wind blowing through the area it didn't help with the temperature at all. I was ready to ride around 5:30 but with it being so cold at the elevation I was at, I had to wait until 7:30 before it was tolerable. I started my ride for the first hour with a t-shirt still over my ears and socks on my hands to use for gloves. The largest pass of the day that I could see on my map was 9,945 feet. Seeing as how I was a little over 6,000 feet I knew that I was going to have quite a climb ahead for the day. The ride started with a fairly gradual climb and it didn't seem like it was too bad. Soon after, the climb dipped down about 500 feet and then things started to get interesting. It seemed that I was on the top of the mountains and I was continually rolling down hills and then back up. It was called Tioga Pass and it was about 47 miles to get through before I exited the park. It was full of sights that were unbelievable. From being on top of these mountains and being able to overlook everything. From glacier rocks to lakes in the middle of mountains at 9,000 feet, it made for an eventful day. After yesterdays climb up some 3,000-4,000 feet to end the day, I was glad I was able to get a good night of sleep. I definitely had to burn up some energy for the day ahead. I was relying on a few peanut butter sandwiches and an unlimited supply of Clif bars to get me over the pass and to the next stop, 57 miles away. I had my 5 water bottles filled up full and I was ready to venture forward. I didn't make it 20 miles into the ride before I had to take my first break and it was truly exhausting to have made it as far as I did. I couldn't believe the incredible views, but to see them required a couple hours of good pedalling. There were a lot of pull offs along the Tiago Pass to get to some signature spot. Trails to hike on, incredible views with some information, and even just turn-offs so that other cars passing by didn't have to wait on the slow person ahead. It wasn't very busy on the pass and I think that it was not only because it wasn't in season for viewing the area, but also because it had just snowed the previous week. It was a fairly narrow road so it seemed nice not to see so many rental RVs passing by and risking my life. Eventually I made it through the pass and was standing at the highest point of my trip. Just a hair beneath 10,000 feet and it felt great. Actually my legs were on fire from making it the distance that I had over the past couple of days, but being where I was felt great. I started to fly down the mountain and it didn't take me very long to realize that if I had come up the pass on the east side it would have been much more excruciating. In only a couple of minutes I had dropped from about 10,000 feet to 8,000 feet and I was going at about 40 mph. The road didn't wind around very much so I was able to just let go of the brakes and let myself fly straight down. The only problem that I had to deal with going down the mountain was the fact that it was now about 4 pm and it was starting to cool down outside. My hands felt numb after flying down at the speed that I had and there was nothing that could be done about it. I continued to ride on and although my legs felt tired, it seemed like it could only be down hill to where I was going. I was trying to make it another 40 miles for the day and with the sun going down at 7, I had to start riding a little harder. My food supply had gone extinct through the pass and so as soon as I saw a grocery store another 20 miles down, I pulled over for peanut butter and bread. I had been told by Siobhan, who I met in Santa Cruz, that she knew a couple of different families in Mammoth Lakes. I had wanted to contact them earlier, but there was no connection in the mountains, go figure. So while I was 25 miles outside of Mammoth Lakes I got a connection and tried to get a hold of Ann and Joe. Then I tried the other family's phone number that I had been given, Marco and Mike. I couldn't get a hold of either one of them and I was starting to look at plan B. Get close to Mammoth Lakes and then put up tent just outside of the town at around 8,000 feet. I didn't like the idea of it and it sounded fairly cold considering that last night I was at about 6,500 feet and I had trouble staying warm. I left the town and started to pray. For the next hour I was riding and just praying that I could get one of them to pick up. I made it to another town about 15 miles out of Mammoth Lakes and figured that this was my last shot. It was about 6 at this point and with the sun going down I didn't have too much else to look forward to ahead of me. I called both families and I think I made it to the last ring when I called Ann and Joe and was amazed to a hear a voice on the other side. I explained my situation to Ann over the phone and all that I could hear on the other side of the phone was excitement and it made the situation I was in feel great. It was amazing to hear later on that not only was this her last ring, but she hardly ever even used her cell phone. The fact that it was on and charged was only something that she had done a little earlier in the day. By random chance she had charged her phone and made it possible for me to get a hold of her, the power of prayer it seemed. I would probably make it to Mammoth Lakes by dark and then have a nice warm house to sleep in, I could only thank God at this point. I had been answered at the last moment and was now on my way. I crossed one last pass before going into Mammoth Lakes and just as the name of it was Dead Man's Pass, it was. If I didn't contact either of the families then this 700 feet last climb could have been the end of me. I made it to Mammoth Lakes and was able to meet Ann, Joe, and their 12 year old son Tristan. They had steaks and chicken with a wonderful salad all ready for dinner and I was put back in awe. They had the shower all ready for me to go in and it was great to have entered another truly hospitable home. Over dinner I was able to hear about both Ann and Joe's incredible adventures through life. Joe had been along the coast by bicycle and had also done some riding through France. Ann was also a cyclist and enjoyed mountain biking. She had currently gone on a backpacking trip just a couple of weeks earlier and was in the mood for adventure. Ann had two other kids, on being 28 and one being 23. Both of her kids seemed to have caught the adventure bug as well and it was nice to be able to enjoy the evening over some incredible steaks. Everything was perfect, but managed to get even better. I had showed up on a Saturday night so the family didn't have to work the following day. They wanted me to stay another day in Mammoth Lakes because apparently there was a lot of cool things to see in the area. I loved the invitation and took it, knowing full well that I was going to need a rest after the previous few days. It was an incredibly overwhelming feeling being able to sleep on a mattress and not having to worry about freezing for the night. I slept very well for the first time all week it seemed.

Daily mileage: 86.8 miles
Average Speed: 10.9 mph
Total mileage: 3,508.0 miles

Day 58, September 28th 2007 (Meriposa,CA to Crane Flat (Yosemite National Park),CA)

Sleeping last night didn't go as well as I had planned. I wasn't woken up by an officer or any official person that wanted to kick me out of the park. I also wasn't woken up by any sprinkler systems from the park. I was woken up by something though and it was around 2 in the morning. I had been sleeping since around 7:30 pm, a little after the sun had gone down. I was in the peak of my rest, about 6 or so hours in, when something came running down the little hill in the woods directly beside where my tent was set up. It scared me half to death and I sprang wide awake right away. I could hear this animal sniffing outside of my tent and I wanted to do anything possible to get this thing away. All of my knowledge that I had received had told me to make noise to make the animals go away. So here I was in a park at 2 in the morning clapping my hands as loud as I could. I was scared, had no idea what was out there, and this was all I knew that I could do. After clapping and almost hurting my hands from clapping so hard for a good minute I didn't hear anything anymore. I heard something a little ways further down the hill that made me think that this animal had gone running away scared, but I was wide awake now. I couldn't get back to sleep until about 3:30 am because any noise that I heard I thought could have been this animal coming back for me. I think that most of the animals that came running around during the time I was awake were probably little creatures, but it didn't stop me from clapping for a little while to send them running in the opposite direction. I went back to sleep and woke up again at about 5:30 am because I thought I heard this same big animal from before coming back up the hill. I clapped sporadically and couldn't sleep again until I was out of my tent and packing up around 7 am. It was quite the night and had left me with only a little sleep that wasn't even very good sleep in itself. I was alive and ready to see Yosemite. I had packed and eaten some granola for breakfast to get myself on the road at 8. I was so happy to be alive and to be able to see the park that I had waited so long to see. I had been told so many great things about Yosemite along my travels that it was an incredible feeling to be only within 40 miles of its' majestic beauty. First I continued a climb for the day and was at a summit of about 3,000 feet before I started to descend. It was perfect weather again for the morning and I was feeling more and more blessed for being up and riding today. Making it through last night really was a great feeling and nothing could go wrong at this point. I made it to the forest just outside of Yosemite and it was incredible in itself. I was riding through a valley that ran directly along side of a stream and the mountains were great. Most of my ride through this forest was fairly flat and it was great to be able to enjoy the views without having to exert all of my energy. It didn't last very long though. I had made it to Yosemite National Park and directly behind the entrance sign was my first climb. It took me around a windy road and was on an incline the entire way. I climbed what must have been a good 1,000 feet before I actually made it to where the entrance with the park rangers were. There was a fee of 10 dollars to get into the park if you were on a bicycle and although I didn't feel great about paying the 10 dollars, it had to be done to pursue forward. It was 20 dollars if you were in a car so I guess I was happy to see that it was a little cheaper for me going through the way that I was. The camping was unfortunately full in Yosemite Village which meant that I was going to have to go closer to the Tioga Pass. It didn't bother me at first that I had to camp closer to Tioga Pass because this was the road that I was going to take out of Yosemite the following morning. I figured that I could make it up to the camping spot, which was only 12 miles up a mountain, and then after my luggage was off I could stroll down to Yosemite Village to see what it had to offer. I would have gone to the village first and then gone to the campground, but I wanted to make sure that I made it to the campground before it filled up. Well, after a good hour and only having made it up the mountain half way, I decided that I wasn't going to be going back down to the village. The climb that I was pushing for ward on was up and up, but didn't have a single descent in the road. There were a lot of cool stops going up that had spectacular views of the area. I figured since I was not going far today and was incredibly exhausted from this hill that it would be okay to pull off on every scenic stop up the mountain. There were probably 10 stops going up and after 2 and a half hours I made it up the short 12 mile climb to the top. I had gone up to 6,300 feet and the closer I came to the top the harder the climb was. It was not only windy going up, but the air was so thin at the elevation that it was harder and harder to push forward. I was at the top and at the entrance of the campground at 2:30 and was crossing my fingers that they still had a couple of spots open. It was a Friday so I wasn't looking forward to paying the weekend rate to stay in the campground, but I was in the park it I needed to do whatever to have a place for the night. When I showed up at the entrance there were two younger guys that looked about my age and they both looked shocked to see that I had made it there. They asked where I was riding from and when I told them that I had started in Iowa they both couldn't believe me. They said that I deserved a free campground and I didn't want to disagree with them. They told me where would be a good place to camp and then told me to enjoy my stay. It was nice to be able to receive some help along the way when it was possible and this made the trip up the mountain seem more worth the climb. I set up camp in the incredible campground and was able to enjoy the area for a couple of hours before it started to get to cold for me. I was at 6,300 feet and it was starting to get fairly windy and that made it even colder. My sleeping bag was good for temperatures of 40 degrees and warmer and I hadn't seen a problem yet, but I knew that this was going to be a challenge. I was curled up in my sleeping bag with three pairs of socks on my feet one on my hands to use as gloves and one of my shirts over my head to use as a hat over my head. I stayed fairly warm and woke up around 7 pm to make myself a peanut butter sandwich for dinner. Peanut butter and bread seemed like the perfect combo for what I needed and although it was starting to be my most common meal it still tasted good. I was only out of my tent to eat for a good 10 minutes before it was too cold again and I was back in my tent for the night.
Daily mileage: 47.7 miles
Average Speed: 9.6 mph
Total mileage: 3,421.2 miles

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