Getting out of the tent this brisk and beautiful morning I walked the 200 yards over to Rock Creek Lake and poked around a bit enjoying being in the High Sierras. I then packed up and rode over to the nearby Pie in the Sky Restaurant only to discover that I was one hour too early.
So I road off and down Rock Creek to Highway 395 and north to the scenic June Lakes Loop (all the hype is well placed) then continued up 395 to Lee Vining for lunch and a stop at Mono Lake. On north another 60 miles to highway 89 where I turned west then north again to cover about 40 miles of friend Tom’s 113 mile 2009 Death Ride course, a good and beautiful choice. I stopped around 4:30 in a restaurant in Tahoe City for a delicious and MUCH overdue turkey burger.
Riding around the west shore of Lake Tahoe to arrive at the burger was stunning. After the burger I planned on heading on up 89 to 49 then look for a place to camp. I went into three adequate campgrounds but I would have been the only one in any of the three so rode out of each. I was just enough frightened to not wish to stay, oh well.
It was a spectacular evening so I road to the end of 49 then on to the end of 70 again rejoining highway 395. This 65 miles was through amazing long and beautiful valleys of cattle ranches.
It seemed about 35 minutes to dark as I arrived at the juncture with highway 395 and looking on the map north saw few choices for accommodation so I rode south 23 miles to Reno and gratefully found and stayed the night in a Super 8 Motel.
Journeying forth uncharted on a motorcycle has lots of similarities to bicycle touring, e.g. easily starting up conversations with folks or as with my lunch stop today in Lee Vining someone coming over to my table and asking me to join him. Also, there is the similar feeling of just being out there in the environment rather than moving along in an isolating glass and steel bubble.
All in all I am loving doing this. As usual, almost the only time I am not enjoying it is when I’ve ridden too long without stopping OR have gone TOO long without eating. Nothing new there.
3 Responses to “Rock Creek Lake to Reno (307 miles)”
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OK. I finally got to a computer that Steve Jobs allows flash to run on. Great slide show! I like the story told by the captions. That guy on the Mondia was very interesting. Did he know that dBASE was written within walking distance of the Montrose bicycle shop? Did he know that next to it was a sunglasses store and one day the authors of dBASE realized if you bought even non-perscription lenses at t glasses store the company would reimburse you?
I love the way you have put your blog together Ashe! Nice story and photos. It makes me want to get up and go! Thank you!!
What an adventure. Can’t see the pictures but I will try again on the Mac tomorrow. Are u using a nextgen gallery? Do you carry some food with you on the bike? How about getting used to those emote campgrounds by just taking a quick nap during the day? Looking forward to the rest of the installments.