Wednesday, June 21: Another day in the NoCAL bast furnace, but at least we’re starting earlier and earlier on each day. Got up at 5 AM this morn and got on the bike at 6:30 for our earliest start yet. Got rolling on the northern tip of Clear Lake and proceeded south on paved Lakeview Blvd. into Lakeport, then took a right and headed west on 11th street up to Scotts Creek Rd. This is the point where Judy left us, so we loaded our Camelback packs with water and food and bid Judy farewell until Ukiah, CA. 

Scotts Creek Rd reminded asphalt for a bit longer and then turned to gravel, and it was still slightly residential - until we rode across Smith Creek, which at this time of year is a dried up riverbed of wash and stones. Once we crossed that creek it was game on, first with this steep as hell asphalt pitch that was easiest gear all the way. And I thought the climb had ended when it went back to gravel. Ha! Not a bloody chance. This climb was a kick in the gut that never stopped giving.

It just went on forever, and each twist and switchback was a pretty steep pitch that had me on the tip of the saddle, hunched forward, pushing the littlest gear I had, and thinking, “this has to be the crux of the climb with the end in sight. But be damned if I went around that corner or that switchback, and another series would be staring me in the face. Every now and then there’d be a lighter section where I could kind of regain my composure. So this went on and on and on and on, with no end in sight. Several times I really wanted to take a breather, but some point into that climb I’d decided come hell or high water I was going to get to the top of that with 1) no dismount, and 2) no dab or tap. This thing became my motivation. 

So I stayed with it and tried to recover on the lighter gradients which are in the 5-12% range, and then pushed through the steep stuff which is in the 19-20% range. Dave later told me this thing went about 600 feet of elevation gain per mile for 2 miles. Eventually the grade mellowed out to the point to where I really did begin to believe that the climb was over. Finally Dave rolled down towards me which told me the climb was, or soon would be over. 

As I told him at the top, this damned that became my personal challenge, especially having gotten such a beat-down in the last couple days where the heat’s been thrashing on me. From there we did a series of rollers up on the ridgeline, then over one more small pass, and finally down, down, down, for a massive long descent into Talmage. The last part of that descent was a monster rollercoaster through this tunnel of trees. 

There was a point where I started seeing a bunch of No Trespassing signs along the road, and it made me think whether or not I was on a wrong track. But even at that point I was NOT about to ride back up that behemoth to see if I was wrong. Nope, I was bloody descending back down to wherever I came out. Turns out this was the right route and I finally arrived, via a steeply descending asphalt roadway, in Talmage. From there I rode into Ukiah and up to Low Gap Rd to our finish point. Not more than a mile up the road was Judy parked in a skatepark with Dave at the van. Day’s ride was a success. From there we were off to the Parducci Winery for a little wine tasting. Ended up getting a couple bottles of wine, and for me, spending 30 bucks for a bottle of wine?????? Whoo. I’m no wine guy but I thought the very least I needed to do was to buy some local Mendocino County wine as a little pat on the back for the effort thus far. After that we went to a Buddhist monastery for lunch. Yea, we heard that there’s a vegan restaurant in Talmage at the monastery, so that was our gameplan for the last couple of days. It’s called the City of 10,000 Buddhists Dharma Realm Buddhist University. In a word…AMAZING. The food was so great. And we ordered a ton of stuff, 3 appetizers, 2 soups, and entrees. The place was just off the charts. I think we ALL left with Buddha bellies. 

Back here now staying out of the heat at the Day’s Inn where it’s like 105 degrees out there. So looks like one more day to get to the coast. One more day. Really don’t know what to say or write at this point so maybe over the next couple of days I’ll figure it out. Until tomorrow