If you want to start at the beginning of this trip click here.
Rolled out of Wes’s house around 6am after consuming a large breakfast of cheddar cheese, eggs and bacon courtesy yet again of Wes’s wife Donna.
The goal for today was 95 miles to Lakeview. No more mountain passes to deal with only about 3 small hills. I now refer to anything less than 2000 feet of elevation gain as a hill.
The forecast for the day was highs near 102F so I thought an early start was a good idea.
Early in the day was miles through high dessert farming land. Very little motor vehicle traffic. There were a few farming implements trundling down the road that I actually passed. Bicycles are not as slow as people think.
With the fiasco yesterday of running out of water, I decided to make sure anytime I passed a location that offered liquid I would stop and refill both my water bottles (2) and my belly.
Long stretches of pan flat and straight roads we going to be the theme of the day until I reached the first hills. There was at least some shoulder to ride on but I found with almost no traffic, riding in the oncoming lane proved a lot less stressful. Having to constantly check my bar end mirror to see if someone was coming got old really fast.
Onto the first climb of the day and the shoulder disappeared. With road now starting to wind I rode as far to the right as possible. There was still very little traffic on the road but the lack of shoulder made each fast approaching vehicle feel like a near death experience.
I had planned on eating lunch at the halfway point of the ride in Bly. While this was the first business I would see that was boarded up and now closed, it would become a very common occurrence as I went through the Midwest. I ended up yet again at a convenience mart loading up on Gatorade and junk food.
The Booth wayside was the stopping point for the day, just outside lakeview. This would be the first day of actual camping. I saw a creek just across the road from the wayside. There was no running water and it was labeled as day use only but I really didn’t see another option. The sun was about to set and I didn’t have a headlamp for the bike. So up went the tent.
I was now wondering if one pair of socks was prudent. I took them off. Changed into my other single outfit non biking shorts and a t-shirt. Took the socks, worn shirt and cycling shorts to the creek to wash. Then let them hang in a tree branch to hopefully dry by morning.
As I was sitting outside my tent an RV pulled up and an elderly couple got out and approached me. They were just returning from a month long trip and asked me if I would like to join them for dinner in their RV. I was starving as there were no restaurants nearby and the last meal I had was at the convenience mart. It turned out that they were not actually eating dinner with me., They were going to hit the road and be home in a couple hours. They were however keen on emptying their fridge of all it’s contents. I am not a picky eater, even less so when starving but that “dinner” was on the eclectic side even by my standards. It was a large bowl filled with cabbage, onions, sardines and olives. Not something I had ever eaten in combination before nor since. Regardless, I was thankful for the food from total strangers but was looking forward to finding a breakfast location first thing in the morning.
