Fried

Ride #83
about 20 miles in Placerville, and on the El Dorado Trail

Thursday, June 16th

Back for a June trip up the El Dorado Trail (and I'm not doing it again until maybe October. Too Darn Hot).
One paved section was in the sun, no shade, a steeper than usual grade for a rail-trail, and I felt like an egg on a griddle. A very slow egg. The hotter it gets the slower I go. It was hot. I was slow.

We set off at 8am (sunrise is about 5 so that was bad planning on our part), taking again the Forni road shortcut. More traffic than last time but we took the lane anyway.

Then into Placerville proper, eventually pedaling like madwomen up Main St., smack in the middle of the lane, with all cars behaving nicely.

Up the curly bridge, up Coleman (stupid freaking hill) then down. Is it strange to feel nervous when your triking pal disappears over the hill?

Like she was swallowed by the deeps or something.
All I could see was her flag getting lower and lower and finally, POP it was gone!
Roads should not drop off like infinity pools.






Then a quick rest stop at the P-ville bus station.

Through the tunnel and then up up up to the zone of frying eggs.

Today I finally got total and complete "hot foot". Hot foot is when a recumbent rider's feet get severe pins and needles and burning sensation on the bottom of the feet. Standing and walking around ends it nicely. I think hotfoot appeared because we did not stop nearly as often as we did the last two trips up this trail (April 5th and 14th).

I noticed a pretty creek at the hotfoot rest stop.

Past the zone of egg, we slogged through agricultural land, and saw an alpaca and a deer.
It took a while to get the deer picture since the deer positioned itself right behind the tree. I rolled backwards a few feet to get the shot.

It took us 2.5 hours (including rest stops) to get to our turnaround point at 10 miles. Coming back was only 1.5 hours and it seems like no time at all as we sped down the trail (exceeding, I must confess, the 15mph limit at times). We took the lane on Main Street again (much faster since it is ever so slightly down hill). The roads everywhere are in rotten shape. Going 20 mph on patched, potholed, lumpy, busted up asphalt is not great. My vertebrae rattled like a string of beads.

We slogged up Ray Lawyer drive, our bike lane totally full of cars parked for the County Fair. I had one beer-enhanced fellow decide it would be a good idea to push my trike up the hill. I asked him, nicely I'm pleased to say, to stop. And he did.
I can totally understand why he'd want to help, since I think I was going about 2mph at that time, frying like an egg again, sights set on the next patch of shade.

No broken chain episodes this time, and we were back at the Missouri Flat Road trailhead in no time.

Sunday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Tuesday rides upcoming. Stay tuned!

We did not go quite as far as this map indicates (we turned around at Los Trampas).