This morning we left with clean laundry and freshly showered. Very fancy start this morning. We hung around a bit longer this morning and had our latest start of the trip so far 8:30.
We ride past Mono Lake on our way out of the valley. It is an ancient lake with no outlet. As a result it is very alkaline and has lots of great color variation in the water.
We have passed through lots of ranch country on this trip and seen lots of free roaming cows. There are frequently cattle guards across the roads in these areas. Basically metal bars over a shallow ditch. Not much fun on a bike but also not much fun if you are a cow, they won't walk across them. This keeps them contained. Well apparently not all cows are very smart because there is another technique to contain them as well...paint lines on the road that look like a cattle guard. We have seen this quite a few times but it still makes me smile.
Are you smarter than a cow?
It may not only be cows that have room for improvement.
My bike needs some "maitenance" too
The ride out of Mono Basin took us up to Conway summit. A long but otherwise not too awful climb...except for the bugs.
I was swarmed by gnats and mosquitos all the way up to Conway Summit. Thick enough that I was continually coughing out partially swallowed gnats and my legs look like a shooting gallery of mosquito bites.
The hills are getting lower
After a nice diwnhill, we found Travertine Hot Springs. Unfortunately it was uphill up a mile and a half dirt road. It was interesting but a little anti-climactic after the effort to get loaded touring bikes up there.
Looks promising
The first pool I tried was way too hot. I then found another and had a nice soak to soothe my legs. After soaking for a while they started to loosen up and feel pretty good. They would stiffen a bit again later in the day but it was great to have them feeling better for a while.
Hot water therapy for sore legs
We rode into the town of Bridgeport just up the road from the hot springs and found Randy at the market in town. He passed on the hot spring when he found the dirt road (he is wise).
Just visiting
After a bit of grocery shopping for dinner, we all grabbed lunch on the lawn at the courthouse.
Riding out if town together treated me to Randy's typical punishing pace and Sarah keeping right up with him working out her frustrations on the road. That left me bringing up the rear for the climb to the last summit of the day. I have found that I do pretty well on most parts of the ride but my heart rate no longer goes very high so I find that I can't spin up the hills with the others. I typically have to grind out a higher gear (if my legs are up for it) or just sit back and make my way slowly up the hill. It helps me work on my patience (and I make up for it on the downhills).
Still lower
From there it was a nice 12 mile downhill cruise to our campground. There was a strong headwind on the early downhill which meant lots of hard pedaling and wind noise. Eventually the road turned and the headwind became enough of a tailwind to completely silence all the wind noise and for a few great moments I enjoyed a nearly silent high speed cruise down the road. A high point of the day.
The campground is having a water system issue so there is no drinking water. Fortunately I was carrying a little extra (still leftover from yesterday) but it is short rations for tonight.
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