Day: July 7, 2008

forgot to attach this to the last post.

sunset behind mount shasta – with smoke

It’s been a great couple of days! Christian and theresa were once again awesome hosts – it was fun to hang out with the kids. The climb up lassen was probably the hardest i’ve ever done – 8300 ft in 2 days. The scenery once we entered the park made it worth the climb. There were a few times i’d cursed the extra weight of the clarinet i’d been carrying, but it paid off when jeff and i started jamming ‘eye of the tiger’ at the summit. Jeff the madman made a solo ascent of the peak, while we met up w/marcus the road angel – beer and truffles! – and coasted down. The next day megan and i bade our escort goodbye. It was rad riding with everyone – we’ll miss having such great company. Now that our bicycle armada is gone, we’re taking a short day to recouperate. got a late start fixing megan’s broken spoke plus we had a head wind and some cutoff grades to climb, so we took it slow. We’ve met cool people, none of whom want to live in oakland.

Traded smoke for heat! We are on our own, and miss our fellow bike bums, but looking forward to the roads ahead. About to eat lots of pizza. Met hang glider who climbed part of everest. Got a late start due to popped spoke and water fall. -megan

Can’t drink enough water.

Ok, this is my last post. Sorry for the surge of photos of myself– I got pretty excited about making it to the top. Thanks to Nick, Rai Sue, and Megan for your support and inspiration, and especially to Greg: you made it all happen, from encouragement and advice to repairs and loaning almost all my gear (Trigger the bike, the helmet, the gloves, the jerseys, etc., etc.) Y’all made my first-ever bike tour unforgettable. Megan and Greg, have a great ride to St. Paul! 🙂

Met some folks from Sunnyvale on the way to the top. Took victory photos of each other. 10,457 ft.

Took about 1 hour, 15 minutes to hike up the last bit–just under 2000 ft climb. Nobody else was up for it, but they agreed to stop at a closer campsite so i could meet them tonight. (Thanks!)

Only a couple more miles to go to the peak! I ambushed Nick with a snowball soon after. 😉

River below bridge.

Nick pointed out the sign and told me to slow down. ;-)  Hot. 1000 ft. elevation and climbing fast.

Jeff G., Trigger the bike, and B.O.B. the trailer.