May 25, 2005
Day 8: Yosemite Valley to Don Pedro Reservoir
I got up at dawn to get an early start riding up to Crane Flats. The roads were absolutely empty which made for scrumptious riding. And El Capitan glistened like a jewel in the morning sunlight.
I had hoped that I might catch a ride through the tunnels where they were flagging cars. Guess what? They weren't stopping traffic today. The ride up out of the valley wasn't too bad - just a steady climb. It was cool and I was mostly in the shade. I was also very lucky in getting through the long tunnel without any cars in either direction. The tunnel ain't flat. Even with reflectors and a headlight, it's pretty scary - not to mention the amplified roar of car motors.
Just before I got to Crane Flats, I found a woman's wallet on the roadside - lots of cash, credit cards, identification. She had just arrived from Scotland. The wallet was brown on brown needles. I don't think anyone except a cyclist would have ever seen it. Fortunately, a ranger located her within fifteen minutes.
I decided to take the old road through the Tuolumne Sequoia Grove. The first part of the ride was all downhill - albeit, with a few snowdrifts and downed trees to negotiate. There were schoolkids oohing and aahing. And there was even a grumpy, old cyclist who was spellbound by the majesty of these immense trees. What hubris to have cut tunnels in them so that we might drive our cars through. The rest of the old road was tougher - broken pavement, mud, and streams to ford. I made it back to the highway tired, but pleased.
Highway 120 was a roller-coaster - hot and exhausting. The climb up from the Toulumne River was a bear. I had another slow leak, so I changed out the tube. This time I counted the teeth on the rear cassettes only to discover that the lowest had 28, not 32 like I had ordered. Boy was I mad at Al at the bike shop back in Wyoming. He did a fabulous job overhauling my bike a few years ago, but this year he let his assistant do it. $200 wasted.
I stopped at the Groveland library to catch up on e-mail and avail myself of a little air-conditioning. Since I am a redhead, I hide from the heat of the afternoon. After dinner, I got back out on the road again, coasted down the switchbacks with my brakes squealing, and camped at Don Pedro Lake just as it was getting dark.
Today's ride: 62 miles (100 km)
Total: 352 miles (566 km)
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