St Bernard Lodge-East Quincy, CA: Logging trucks smell like Christmas.

July 7, 2015

Ranchito Motel, 2020 E. Main in EAST Quincy. 530-283-2265 $86.11 includes tax. Reasonably sized room. medium wi-fi. Flat screen TV. I would stay here again. This is through Quincy on the east side. There is a grocery store and a couple of restaurants nearby. It looks like a touristy kind of town. Jim and Genny stayed at the Courtyard next to the courthouse right downtown. $120.

The walls at the St. Bernard last night were more than paper thin. Oren came over and said he could hear everything we were saying, he didn't want any passion going on later. In the morning I could hear him rattling around at 4 AM, I went ahead and got ready. When I was good to go downstairs, I just stood next to the wall and said, "Oren, I'm good to go." He answered right away. Not a place to stay if you want to be intimate with your sweetie!

In the end Oren got one skinny piece of banana bread and a couple of hard boiled eggs. I had milk, juice, and eggs. There was also ice in the cooler. I had Spiz to get some calories in. But one slice of banana bread wasn't going to do it for Oren. He didn't make coffee this morning, so wasn't much into conversation. I went ahead and left at 5 AM, my earliest start yet.

I had my blinky light on it's fastest mode. I don't think I've ever used that setting before. Today was supposed to be a bad one, once Highway 70 joins Highway 89. No shoulder and lots of truck traffic on a twisty road. That's just not a good combination. Jim said it was nerve wracking. Genny's opinion is she was down right scared. Today is mostly a downhill day, we wouldn't have left so early if we hadn't wanted to beat the traffic.

Jacinto said he had an excellent, huge breakfast of an omelet and country potatoes. Sure sounds better than hard boiled eggs . . .

I was only down the road about 15 minutes when I saw a bear crossing in front of me. ! ! ! How exciting. I didn't think the bear saw me at all, so I chanced stopping to get a photo. A Jeep coming the other direction stopped between me and the bear and flashed his headlights to scare the bear. Good thing I already had my photo. Then the man pulled up beside me and asked if that was my big dog going in the woods. The encounter put a smile on my face for several miles.

We had lots and lots of rolling terrain today. Only 2,500 feet of gain, but it felt like we gained it far too many times. Oren caught up and passed me. Mostly we stayed quite close together. I think the unspoken thought was safety in numbers.

Oren's banana bread was gone by Greenville. We stopped at the recommended Annie's Cafe. I'm sure I ordered deluxe country potatoes (green peppers, onion, ham, etc mixed in) but all I got was regular potatoes and eggs. Oh, well. I ate it anyway. I warned Oren I wouldn't be riding too fast on a full stomach. Of course there was a big climb right out of town. I definitely didn't go fast on that part!

Soon enough we came to the dreaded intersection of 70 and 89. We took a break to mentally prepare ourselves and then started up the slow climb. Slow. Climb. Darn. A downhill on this narrow piece would be very opportune. You know what? It never was too bad. There wasn't too much traffic and what there was moved over nicely for us. We did get off the road a time or two when there was room and we could see some big guys behind us. There were a fair number of logging trucks, but not too many.

Jim sent me a text and asked let's have lunch. We weren't hungry yet and we got to town so early they had just had breakfast. We sat in the shade at the courthouse for a couple of hours until we were hungry and then went to eat. We were just sitting down when here came Jacinto! He hadn't heard his phone ring when I tried to call, but saw our bikes outside. Service was unbelievably slow. If we weren't hungry when we went in, we were by the time we got our food. It was a busy place, but food just wasn't coming out of the kitchen.

After lunch we agreed we would not eat dinner with Jim and Genny because our lodging is several miles apart. We would see them on the road or tomorrow night. They have been having a lifetime of tire trouble in one tour - check Jim's journal. They are hoping to buy tires in Greagle tomorrow.

Jacinto went to Safeway - not worth it he said - the gas stations have all we need. Safeway is too large. Maybe he's been on the road too long if he's not happy to see a real grocery?

We are settled in our room, enjoying the rest of the afternoon. I bet I go to sleep early tonight, with that 4 AM wake up.

Tomorrow is short on miles, long on climbing. To make things interesting, we are almost for certain going to get wet. That will be the first time this trip - can't complain too much.

The mural across the street from Annie's Cafe in Greenville. It was recommended by many.

We saw several of these signs kids made.

Lake A**** has a nice paved bike path that runs along side. Unfortunately, it is covered with downed trees from the recent windstorm. Jim and Genny did the research for us.

The shoulder was wide enough on the bridge at Spanish Creek that I felt safe taking one photo of the train trestle. It's too bad road conditions were such we didn't dare look around today. It's beautiful country.

Today's ride: 53 miles (85 km)
Total: 1,302 miles (2,095 km)

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