July 25, 2017
Day 3, El Dorado Hills to Plymouth: Into the Foothills; A Late Start Means Traffic Issues
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Mileage Today; 24 Total So Far; 147 Remaining; 1,447
Climbing Today; 1,857 Total So Far; 6,077 Remaining; 94,041
Average Speed While Riding; 9.3 mph
Mechanical Issues; None
Photos Credit; Bud, unless noted otherwise
Bud Speaking:
We are still recovering from our hectic first day, and since this is a short mileage day we opted to sleep late and enjoy the Holiday Inn Express breakfast. We needed to make a Post Office stop to ship some things home, do laundry at the hotel’s facility, and we needed to try another bike store to see if they had suitable shorts for Doc. So sue us I guess, but a late start it is today.
Finally leaving town, the traffic was heavy on Latrobe Road. But it is a 4-lane road with bike lanes on the shoulders, so it wasn’t at all unpleasant – at first, anyway. What we didn’t know was that Latrobe Road would quickly arrow into a 2-lane road with very little to no shoulders, yet the traffic continued on at too-fast speeds.
If we hadn’t got lost on the bike path yesterday, we would have went past the Folsom bike shop and would have stopped in – and they would have warned us to take an alternate route (as we later learned). We had no choice but to endure it, and while most drivers were cautious and polite, many were not at all careful and I can’t use the appropriate language to describe them in this journal (something like “donkey-holes” might be appropriate). The scenery here is different than in Arkansas and Oklahoma; the grasses are brown/golden instead of green. The golden hue makes for its own special beauty.
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We were all quite happy to reach Old Sacramento Road, and the cycling was pleasant for the remainder of this day. My advice to other touring cyclists; if you MUST ride Latrobe Road, get a very early start and beat the traffic. As we traveled along Old Sacramento Road, it was obvious that we were getting into the foothills.
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Plymouth is a quaint and interesting place, far removed from the metro-California hustle and bustle.
The Rest-A-Boutique hotel was an enjoyable experience. We had expected to have to store our bikes in the basement, but they allowed me to just roll it into my room. The hotel is a luxury experience, and the staff was incredibly attentive to our needs.
I was impressed by the elephant made from towels in my room. One of my daughters collects elephant paraphernalia, so I took this photo for her amusement.
We ate at the Tastes restaurant, a rather well-acclaimed establishment, and the food was excellent. Since we plan for an early departure tomorrow (finally!) the hotel made sack breakfasts for us! Life is good for us right now, I can only hope it is for you as well. Tomorrow we encounter the first real test of our physical cycling condition as we climb ½ way up the Sierra Nevada mountain range. I need my beauty rest (desperately so, apparently), so good night all…
Today's ride: 24 miles (39 km)
Total: 147 miles (237 km)
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