June 17, 2023
Day 1: Riding to the Amtrak Station
Sorry, I must be sleepy…Photos are before narrative.
Brad!
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Ed!
Dawn Getting Ready for the Crossing
AKA: Pannier Yard Sale
Photo Courtesy of Ed Craft
Mike’s Crossing
Photo Courtesy of Ed Craft
What an incredible first day! It was long, hot, adventurous and social - perfect. Today happened to be one of the hotter days this month, and as always it was an arduous ride out of the valley, especially with gear. And, you would think that would be enough, but no, we decided to throw in a creek crossing. It was pretty mellow, but we decided to take the gear off and carry the bikes as to not have the bottom brackets under water on the first day.
Well, we made it to Sacramento riding country roads and the American River Bike Trail most of the way. What a nice bike amenity to have in our back yard. We now sit at the train station waiting for our midnight train to Tacoma, and so far, it’s on time; hopefully, we will be sound asleep in our sleeper car by 12:30. It’s been a long day.
Lastly, the best part of this long day’s ride was sharing it with two rock stars. Ed Craft, a fellow tourist who lives not too far from us and just finished the Atlantic Coast Cycling Route (Key West to Maine), rode the entire way with us. I think I caught him pedaling with one leg today as he was attempting to bike at our slow tourist pace; he is super fast, and nice: he lent us his Northern Tier route maps. It was nice to spend some time with him and hear about his recent tour. Then, we had another super biking star join us for part of the ride. Brad Cole! Brad is the one responsible for getting us addicted to biking. He is also one of the strongest cyclist I know. Thanks, Brad, for joining us on our cross country kickoff.
Until tomorrow…Here we go!
Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 56 miles (90 km)
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