Day 23-California Love

Tonopah, NV to Benton, CA
Distance: 85.45 miles
Time: 5:45:00
Max Speed: 33.6 mph
Average Speed: 14.8 mph

Another rough day. It started out well, as we headed downhill out of Tonopah, but that did not last too long. Actually, the day was not really very rough, except for Montgomery Pass and the last few miles into the campground where we are staying. But, we are staying in Historic Benton Hot Springs in a campground where each site has a hot tub fed by natural hot springs. Sitting in the springs after two very rough days feels amazing on the muscles. We spent at least three hours in the hot tub tonight. Delicious.

Today, we climbed Montgomery Pass without ever having heard about it. It was a beast of a climb with the summit at 7,167 ft, which took us about 13 miles to reach. Not only was the grade fairly steep, but the wind was blowing hard in our faces the entire time, robbing us of our power. Also, yesterday's ride was brutal and my knees were still hurting this morning when we began, so they were not feeling all that well during the climb. The summit was interesting though, somewhat of an abandoned tiny village. The descent was awesome, with a rest stop about halfway down the descent.

From the rest stop, we were not far from the California border, so we put together a small peloton for a border race. It was pretty awesome as we took up a whole lane, flying down the hill. Jordon won the race, with Elyor coming in second and me third. Haase and I were pulling to catch Jordan when all of a sudden Elyor sprinted past us, causing Jordan to take off sprinting and leaving us in the dust. Crossing the border into California was awesome, such a cool feeling. It is finally starting to hit me that we are riding our bikes from Austin to Alaska.

The last four miles of the ride we experienced some of the worst headwind I have ever seen. It absolutely killed at the end of a day's ride. But we won't talk about that. Tomorrow we ride to Lee Vining at the base of Tioga Pass, which leads into Yosemite. It should hopefully be a good ride. For now, I am going to enjoy the hot springs once again.

Peace and Love,
Miggy Stardust