Day 12: Long Day

Today started as the sun came up and we tried to get going a bit early to beat some of the heat.  It didn't quite work out that way because my butt was dragging from the start.

I had a bit of a rough night's sleep as I discovered that my thermarest has picked up a hole somewhere and is completely flat.  A night of sleeping on the gravel ground was not super restful.

We stopped at a grocery store on the way out of town to stock up for the next couple of days.  We also dug out our water bladders and filled those in addition to our water bottles.  The maps look like water would be hard to find and we had targeted camping in an area with no water available.  This turned out to be a very good decision.

The ride out of town was pleasant and slightly downhill so we covered the early miles easily.  We knew we had one large climb today late in the day so we were not pushing to hard in the morning.

Pretty much perfect

We had covered about 30 miles by late morning and decided to take an early lunch stop in the shade of the Post Office in the appropriately named Caliente, CA.

The only shade in town

By now the temperature had climbed to near 100 degrees and we were starting the large climb of the day.  We would have to go up a bit over 3500 ft in just under 7 miles.  That means steep and lots of switchbacks with very little shade. It also meant that I was going through much more water than I expected and I was very glad to be carrying the extra reserves on today's ride.

By the end of this climb I could tell that I was not recovering completely overnight and was falling a bit further behind each day.  The evidence had been piling up: poor sleep, head cold, saddle sores, and some minor muscle strain.  The time had come to plan a day off.

Sarah and I discussed it and decided that if we were going to have a down day, it would be best to do it in a town with some access to services and water.

The scenery continues to impress

If we pressed on just a bit further than our intended camping spot we could get to Lake Isabella, a small town but one with everything we would need.

This would mean another four and a half miles and 2500 ft of climbing in two chunks with some downhill in between.

This kind of yard art takes long term vision

After the first of the remaining climbs we decided to take a break for a while to recover from the heat and have some cold drinks at a trading post.  On the door I saw the first Sierrra Cascades ride sticker I have seen this trip.  We must be in the right place.  Inside I found an interesting paper from the local historical society with an entertaining history of the area.  Mostly settled as a gold mining town in the mid 1800's, it is now a shadow of its former self populated mostly with free range ranches.  We saw lots of free roaming cattle the ought this stretch.

A welcome break from the heat

On the right track

On the last climb of the day Sarah was solidly ahead of me grinding away as usual.  This is not really an issue for me as we are not racing each other.  However, it still smarted a bit when a fellow descending the hill in his pickup felt the need to slow down and stop next to me to mention that she was way ahead and kicking my ass.  Thanks friendly guy, I was vaguely aware of the fact.

The final downhill into town was very fast and welcome.  We located the grocery store and a location to access wifi (no phone service here for me).  I found a spot to stay for tonight and probably tomorrow night and we headed over to take showers and relax a bit.

After my shower I did some sink laundry to wash my riding clothes.  The quantity of dust and road grime left behind made it clear that it was a bit overdue.