Here we see Denise Hill and Jim Muellner biking from Reno to Sacramento
where they were almost behind schedule for Denise to make it back to
her work on time but at only 40 miles from the state capitol, they are
well ahead of their Wednesday meeting with Mayor Heather Fargo:
location: Motel 6 hot tub, Yuba City, CA
wait, before you call me soft, read:
we got up today and rode off at around 8, and by 11 we'd reached CA
highway 49, the road we'd take up over the Sierra Nevada mountain
range. then we spent the next few hours climbing at around a 5% grade,
in 100+ degrees... the road entered Tahoe National Forest, and wound
around steep inclines covered in sugar pine trees. they drop cones that
can be up to 20" long, so you don't want to roll over them.
anyway, on the long way up we passed signs announcing the altitude:
5000, 6000, then finally the peak at Yuba Pass, 6701 feet. hurrah, at
long last we'd made it! then we began the coast down the other side,
hitting speeds around 30 with ease. I noticed that Jim has been less of
a speed demon on the downhills; he said his cautious approach to
gravity is due to his rolling incident back in Utah.
we stopped for a bite on the way, and kept riding... the traffic was
pretty kind, and I was hanging out on or near the
disappearing-reappearing shoulder. suddenly the voice of God boomed
from behind me, "GET OUTTA THE ROAD AND GET OVER TO THE RIGHT ON THE
SHOULDER." it was the highway patrol, out of nowhere, ordering me off
the road with their hood-mounted loudspeaker. I politely explained at
the top of my lungs that the shoulder didn't exist just then, and that
I was unquestionably on the rightmost part of the lane, and I thanked
The Voice for its advice.
after a while, though, that downhill coast leveled off and turned into
a climb just past a town called Downieville. we stopped there to sit in
the shade and consult the map. see, we'd taken a detour that added
quite a bit of distance on to the trip. and this would normally be OK,
but I really need to get back to work as soon as I can. dilemma. at the
rate we were traveling and the distance we had to go, even Lance
wouldn't be able to ride to Sac in the time I'd allotted for us.
no wait, Lance is steel, he could do anything.
so anyway, we kept going. I'd consumed upwards of 200 oz of water
already, but I was running out again as we pedalled along rt 49... Jim
was ahead of me, slowly getting further and further ahead...
the sun was heading towards the horizon, and this climb was taking
forever, and I was really beat. we'd gone 85 miles already. I scarfed a
few slices of bread and drained my water bottle, and wondered where we
were going to stop and camp. none of the forest's designated
campgrounds had water, and I was low on drinking water let alone
cooking water. I usually embrace these little adventures, but I was
damned tired, probably hypothermic and sunburnt.
I leaned my bike on a post to fish out my remaining water when the
whole back-heavy thing tipped, and landed on my rear derailleur. it was
bent beyond easy repair, so I loudly recited all the bad words I know
and started pu****ng her up the hill. I hoped Jim wasn't too far ahead.
he was. I walked for most of a mile before the *Trail Angels* arrived.
a white pick-up drove past, one of many many cars and trucks that had
gone by in the last 10 minutes, and it stopped and a woman yelled "you
want a ride?"
hell YES I did, so I eagerly accepted. we hauled my bike into the bed
and I climbed into the extended cab behind Craig and Peggy, My Saviors.
we rolled down the road, and sure enough I was very close to the top of
this climb. I kept my eyes peeled for Jim, but it wasn't for 5 or 6
more miles till we caught him. I was totally impressed with how far
ahead he'd gotten. he later said it was to satisfy my goal of doing a
century today, and when we caught him he was almost to 100.
Craig and Peggy offered to take us as far as they were going, so, with
the sun over the horizon and 96+ miles on Jim's computer, the choice
was made. we loaded Jim's trike into the bed and enjoyed a/c, cool
bottled water and pleasant conversation ALL the way to Marysville. look
that up on the map to see what gracious chauffeurs Peggy and Craig are.
talk about saving the day!
at this point, it looks like I'm going to be back on schedule after
all. Jim and I got a room at a Motel 6, and I found the hot tub and
swam in the pool, and drank - what else - Sierra Nevada.
it reminded me of the worst/best day ever on the way to Pittsburgh,
when Ora Sue and Jim and I spent all day freezing and wet and beat but
by day's end we were slumped over in a sauna. today was like the
opposite, except for the enormous gratitude and relief that a shower,
beer, and a bed brings.
c'mooooaaaann yellow jersey,
Denise
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**Getting Back Into the Ride is Challenging**
Hi All You Beautiful People: Thanks to a lot of input from Tim, Deux
Gros Nez owner and Randy Collins, College Cyclery owner, we opted for a
northern route over the lowest pass over the Sierra's. It also was a
quieter route and very beautiful.
Since we started only at 3PM and still had to do a little shopping we
got to Hallelujah Junction and I convinced Denise we should take
advantage of the truck stop to sleep at so we could have coffee and use
the bathroom in the morning. We picked a quiet little corner over
looking the area. There were cows grazing across the fence and we had a
beautiful view of the sun setting over the Sierra's a perfect way to
start the ride.
This morning we packed up and headed for the mountains. The hills
seemed steeper to me and the down hills shorter. Was I getting old? It
did take the better part of a couple days to get those muscles working
properly.
Denise is on a tight schedule so we, based on Tim's comments that he
had done this ride in one day, thought we could also. Well, the
northern route had added 50+ miles to our distance.
The ride over Yuma Pass for me was a real challenge. The sun was so
intense that I finally took out my trusty umbrella and thought it
looked a little funny, but hey it helped a lot. Soon I noticed the
motorcycle riders giving me a thumbs up and I felt better. It is
amazing what a person does just for appearances. Lesson learned.
Despite this, at one point when Denise was far ahead of me, I stopped,
spread out my canvas and took a little nap right along the road.
Refreshed I rode a few miles and found Denise had done the same while
waiting for me.
The top of the pass 6700 feet does not seem high but Halleujalh had to
have been at minus 3000 ft in my mind. The ride down was fast and long,
at least 20 miles of mostly down grades. At around 75 miles I started
looking for camp sites, but Denise realizing how close she was to 100
miles, a century, convinced me we should try. I had not done one
myself so it was not hard. I did not let myself visit with her so I
would not talk myself out of it.
We had stopped earlier and I had a big juicy burger and a strawberry
malt. Well that energy must have kicked in because before I knew it, I
was at 95 miles when then I heard a little toot behind me. There was
Peggy and Craig Carberry of Yuba City with Denise and her bike in tow.
It seemed her bike needed some work. They found her along the road
wondering how she was going to catch me. They graciously said they
would run us into Yuba City. There was no argument from us. Craig is a
Realtor and knew the area well.
So now we only have 40 miles to get to Sacramento, plenty of time for
Denise to get herself and bike back to Reno.
But, I have skipped some facts about the ride: Flowers were few and far
between. One yellow bunch was spectacular and yet I failed to take a
picture. Today was really pine cone day. There are numerous pine trees
as we entered the the more forested areas. Every ditch had its fair
share of pine cones. The most interesting were from the Sugar Pine that
grew form 10 to 20 inches in length and they smell like artichokes. The
most dangerous are the ones that are almost solid and weigh a lot. They
release their seeds only during forest fires, when they burst. As I was
laying down I kept thinking that one of them might fall and do me in.
Some were small, some others were also solid and longer, but there was
no way to identify which tree they came from. Where is that beautiful
docent when you need one. The mountain formations were very impressive,
but when you are going down at a fairly fast pace it was no time to let
yourself gaze too long.
That's all folks, Jim
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67 year old, trike riding Jim Muellner can be found at
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/JimMuellner
His email on the road is: jmuellner@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hill
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/bios/denise_hi
ll.php one of the stars of the DC to Pittsburgh relay leg
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/Pittsburgh
can be reached
at dc-pgh@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
you want to start from the beginning and/or follow Jim our other
NBG relay riders as they move forward in the National Mayors' Ride at
<http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/schedule.php>,
point to their blog at
<http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/re****ts.php>.
All of this excitement will al be consummated at the second annual
Santa Cruz NBG Bike Fest on Sunday August 17 c/:o
<http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Festival>:
btw: If you want to become a rider, we still welcome you!! Go to
<http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/getstarted.php>,
to find out how!!
btw2: We have pictures from the various ride legs on line at
http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/gallery/2003Mayors
btw3: If you want to see who these cyclists are, go to
<http://www.nationalbicyclegreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/bios>
MARTIN KRIEG: "Awake Again" Author c/o BikeRoute.com
79 & 86 TransAms, nonprofit Nat. Bicycle Greenway CEO
Ever wanted anything so bad U were willing to die for it?
Really die? By moving thru clinical death and reversing
paralysis, *I saw God* when I answered that question.
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