Day Six - Ashwood to Grass Valley
I awoke fairly early on McDonald's ranch to the staccato sound of some birds getting it on above my tent. I have long thought that the birdsong at my house in Folsom is lively and even a bit loud at times. However, McDonald’s ancient apple trees must be the spot where birds flock to court and compete. His great-grandfather planted the trees and built the barn in the 1800s. Until recently, his grandparent’s 1907 Cadillac sat undistrubed until his brother finally pulled it out and had it restored. It was the first car with electric ignition and electric lights. The bulbs still worked when they tried them.
The sun was up early, too. Maybe a bit earlier than we were. There was still part of the log burning from the fire the previous night, and James added some additional wood so that we had a bit of a nice warm fire to wake by and drink some coffee.
Today was going to be our longest climb and highest elevation gain. Three thousand feet climb, with a slightly larger descent, which would normally mean that the second half should be pretty easy.
And it was spectacular up high in the plains. We could see four of the seven sisters mountains in the panorama. The day was mild and lovely.
However, once we crested the climb, the wind picked up. A lot. So much that it required us to pedal on the downhill to go forward.
What’s up with that? Our easy half-day turned out to be a long (70+) mile slog, much of it along the hectic Highway 97.
We started on 97 at Shaniko, after a bowl of soup. I was hungry but didn’t want to repeat my previous experience. We talked with a couple of bikers (of the motor kind) and they warned us about the semis on the highway and how they have been almost blown off the road as they rip by. “Good luck.” One of them said. “I hope you make it.”
We hoped so, too. Off we went with that ominous blessing. Between the semi-trailers blowing dirt and the huge headwind (also blowing dirt and grit as farmers were plowing), I rolled into camp at dusk, worn out and weary. I was dead last and dead tired, but not dead dead, so that was good.
