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).

Elementary error

Ride #63
Thursday, April 14th
21.5 miles on the El Dorado Trail

The parts of this trail that are paved are great.

All kinds of excitement today: wildlife, traffic, hills, repairs, human powered towing.

My triking friend and I headed out once again from the Missouri Flat Rd. trailhead of the El Dorado Trail. We worked our way up the grade, figured out a shortcut from our usual route, zoomed down Main Street in Placerville, over the nifty twisty bridge, and this time did NOT get lost picking up the trail again at Clay St.

Double Trike Madness? Enough flags, you think?

With two trikes and bright clothing and multiple flags. OH, and lights, we felt OK to take the lane and control the traffic behind us on the Forni Rd. downgrade. We decided not to take that shortcut on the way back since we would be in very low gears and there is no bike lane, no shoulder, and limited sightlines. And we wanted to stop at the local bike store later. But flying down that road was fun.

In Placerville

After we picked up the trail again at Clay St., we climbed steadily up the old rail road grade. We were loafing and chatting and generally in no hurry, so our speed to our turnaround point was a lousy 5.3 mph average. We saw a deer turn around and bail off the trail.

Yes, I know those are not deer.

We got to the end of the paved segment and decided to do a little dirt riding.

Since my trike has suspension all around, I came down hill on that dirt faster than my friend did. And I had many more mud-splatters on me then she did.

We made our way back to Placerville, this time skipping the curly bridge and just using Main Street. It is downhill in that direction through Placerville, so we had no trouble at all staying with the traffic through town. My friend was feeling bold, so we used the left turn lane to get onto Ray Lawyer drive and start up our last big hill.

Our left turn lane is at the left of the frame.

We were almost at the top of the hill when my friend's chain snapped! So close to the trailhead where we had parked this morning!
So we had a little chain-tool smackdown (my chain tool lost), and she successfully removed the bent link and reattached her chain. She has reusable rivets on her chain. Mine are not resuable so I would use a special replacement link in her situation. HOWEVER, we did not double double check the chain path before reattaching the link (we were too entranced with our mad chain-breaking abilities) and we crossed her chain.

Blah. Trike no go.

We did not want to mess with the chain again (I suppose we should have, but we did not, why I do not know. I figure we did not want to tempt the chain-tool-gods again) and we decided to go on anyway: coasting on the mostly downhill route. I gave her a towing assist on the flats, and she walked up the two short hills. We did a lot of unseemly giggling.

Try shooting straight over your shoulder. Obviously, I failed! We are on a trestle bridge, that's the wood platform. She's got a grip on the back of my trike's rear rack. Figures she'd be grinning.

Ooooh! A Tunnel!

Not in the flat land anymore

Bridge over US 50

Today's route. Dig that elevation profile!

Are we lost yet?

Ride #59
Tuesday, April 5th
About 15 miles around and around and up and down Placerville

We tried to get to Camino, but we got a little lost, saw hills, climbed them, turned around and sailed back down. Played in traffic, enjoyed a rail trail. Waved at lots of peds and cars.  Had fun. I think my neck is a little sunburned.

We used the 3 mile segment of the El Dorado railtrail, including a fantastic trestle bridge over Weber Creek.

That's Weber waaaaaaaaaaay down there.

The trail dumps you out on Forni road, which has no bike lane, but you can go out of your way onto Ray Lawyer and that does. Have a bikelane that is. And it is a biiiiig downhill.

Some new bike lane (full of glass and rocks and bolts and other garbage) in Placerville.

The cool snail-like overcrossing (for Peds And Bikes AND horses!) at Bedford.

This is looking up through the overcrossing's structure. Feels like inside!

I think this sign is lying and we should have taken this road.

But we ended up climbing up Bedford and then turning around and screaming (I was literally screaming with fear. Screaming on the inside) down Bedford. My brakes got HOT 'cause I'm a big fat CHICKEN and I braked most of the way.

We went back UP Ray Lawyer. I don't know how many times we stopped to rest. But it was frequently.

We tried to stop at the library for water but it was not open yet, so we amused ourselves chatting bike mechanics with a fellow who was waiting for the library to open.

I've tried to record where we went today, I'm not sure I got it right. But I can tell you it was fun!