decyclesindiananame

deCycles Pacific Mountains 2010
Journal Entry
Date: June 26
Day 14: Saturday
Departure: West Point, CA
Arrival: Mariposa, CA

Distance: 103 miles
Highlights: Zigzag route through the western foothills of the Sierra Mtns.
Description: Up at 5:30am for breakfast burritos put on by the congregation. This little town and the people are the best. They live in a economically depressed area and yet have enough abundance to share with a group of strangers on bicycles. WOW! Both days on either side of our stay at West Point are the most challenging of the entire trip. The hills and mountains here are endless and unforgiving. We can attest to that yesterday. And today provided another challenge…..103-miles of continuous uphills and downhills. The descents were exciting……countless twists and turns as we coasted over 8000-ft. The ascents were painful, especially near Tuttlelake and Hell’s Hollow. Each climb required 2-hours plus. The downhills required additional attention to safety. We spent a lot of time repeating the same thing over and over again. Remember, we have 15-year old boys on this trip not fully wired for risks and consequences. One male rookie bit the dust in the first ½ mile this morning. They can be such a danger to themselves and others.

It took about 12-hours to arrive at Mariposa, a gateway town to Yosemite NP. We will be visiting there all day tomorrow. It should be a great day of rest and sightseeing. Hopefully there will not be any injuries during hiking and scrambling on top of big boulders near lower Yosemite Falls. John Zeller’s son Mica had the worst injury on the 2004 trip not because of a bike accident, but a fall between boulders in Yosemite NP. We’re hoping for a good safe time at Yosemite on Sunday. It was super hot and what a difference a day makes. Yesterday we were freezing. Today we’re getting cooked. It certainly has been a trip of diversity in climate and with people.
Climate: Clear, sunny, hot all day. Upper 90s.
Overnight: Mariposa Methodist Church

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