Day 4: (and 3) the Sierras

Apparently my phone is not too keen on posting my blogs and my last one was lost so I'll include that. We left Fairfield early yesterday to begin our climb up the gorgeous Sierras. On one of many stops to make sure we were in the right direction, we met a guy with a beautiful (and comparatively weightless) road bike who was headed in the same direction as the bike shop we were looking for.  He insisted that he treated us to coffee and a incredibly delicious muffin. He was so passionate about biking- and had to be since he emptied his bank accounts to purchase it. it is very fascinating to hear people talk about how much cycling is a part of their lifestyle and seeing how happy they get. He rides often and with much joy, as it sounded, but he kept telling us that it was as privilege to ride with us. He was so sweet and excited to help us.
We had some last minute fine tuning to get done at the bike shops. As we were leaving the guy who had been helping us with our fittings gave us two t shirts because he "thought we could use some clean clothes" while it was certainly generous, he was 100% accurate, as we looked down at our salt stained shirts and shorts. At the shop, amidst conversation with some wonderful and intrigued shoppers, i picked up my bike for the first time without panniers, and it was shocking as to how light the bike itself was. This was not good timing as we were about to start our climb up the Sierras and i realized how much more difficult it would be with so much more weight. Talk about reality check.
We were stuck in the heat for the majority of the day. It was relentless. We sat in sprinklers on the side of the road, but the sun didn't let us enjoy the sweet coolness forever. We started climbing and would go from one shady patch to another until err finally decided that we should wait for the heat to pass..... On the side of the road. We napped. We cracked up. We choked diwn plain tuna. We looked pathetic lying there in the shade, but we were most definitely flirting with heat exhaustion, so we didn't care.
We made it to placerville that night and slept under the stars. It was beautiful, and peaceful. We did about 42 miles, majority of them climbing. It wasn't bad for our first day climbing with a hungry heat following us. We were exhausted... Or so we thought... Cause when you compare it to today, it was nothing.
We headed straight for McDonalds when we woke up as they have bathrooms and water... And apparently the locals... We awkwardly pushed put bikes through the door (those things go everywhere with us, or we take turns watching them at convenient stores). Immediately it sparked a conversation with the 10 retirees that obviously had a routine of having breakfast there, made slightly obvious by the lady who brought in her own fly swatter and was trying to kill them add she was talking to us. We had some great advice about route options and ended up following one of their suggestions add it cut of a few miles (the extras add up pretty quickly). And then we started climbing... With an extra 10 lbs of water strapped to our bikes. we began the day in beautiful national forests with lots of shade, and we were thought we would be fine without the sun beating down on us, but out legs were simply not used to anything like this. It tested our physical and mental capacities.  It is amazing what you can tell yourself to keep going even when your legs feel like their muscles won't fire anymore. One more hill before a break, get paSt one more tree, one pedal at a time. We biked as far as we could and would stop for water often, and usually talk and get distracted, curse, get into hysterics about random things. When it came time to ststart back up again, it didn't seem as daunting...( for three first few.pedals, and then the fire in my legs would return). The hill wasn't going to get shorter with out me. It was a test of perseverence. Remembering the bigger picture made it easier.
We did everything we could to make it to the beautifully blue Jenkinson Lake. Not only were we incredibly sweaty, but covered in salt and dirt.and grease from the previous two days. This was our first shower, since after our first day of biking. It felt like i had just won a jackpot. Hoping we could find lunch, we asked two girls passing by where we could find anY store with any food... Their.reply was 10 miles put of our way. Lindsay and i shook our heads without even thinking... Ten miles out of our way seemed daunting after twenty miles of v straight steep hills. It simply wasn't an option! of course we explained why and They convinced then to letthem take one of us to the grocery store to stalk up on supplies. I went and was so spent that i.could barely get it together to  orderr a sandwich..our shirts we had made with the logos often initiates some questions about what we were v raising money for... People are usually surprised that we are riding all the way across the country. The people i met at the grocery store were shocked that we were making the 40 mile cling to Kirkwood, let alone the east coast. I soon saw why. Holy Moly.
We took a.nap before we hit the hills again and once more we ran into the heat that was well into the hundreds. It was 2 pm. We decided it would be less taxing to let the heat pass and climb more efficiently when it was not so hot. So, a few miles after the "road closed in winter" sign, we found a lovely shaded area and spent the next few hours there, napping and as per usual, finding humor in what was really terrifying and daunting. This trip has really emphasized, so far, on focusing on the present moment. There is nothing that either one of us can do about what we face in the day. We function on a minute to minute basis and it.I'd quite hard to plan where we well be in even the next hour. We have no problem enjoying ourselves. Focusing on the moment at present goes for our rides as well... One pedal at a time. Hills burn enough, they burn more when you worry about the ones you haven't climbed.
.... Back to the side off the road. We stayed there for the hours and were surrounded by bees for the entire time. We thought they were after our food, so we even got up to move, but apparently e just smelled too good, even after our shower. I know. Gross.. Welcome to our reality.
We.climbed 30 more miles,.making our climb for the day a total of 49. We ended the night at 7800 ft. I am so proud of us. Neither of us knew what the Sierras had in store for us, and From what we hear, the Sierras are steeper but shorter than the rockies. That was one of the hardest things i gave never done. 800 feet left to reach the summit in the am.