Day 4 – Auburn, CA to Truckee CA via Donner Pass, 4 Jun 2014

Map and Pics:  Click Here for Map and Pics.

Miles 193 to 267, 74 miles, 8,450 feet of climb (the most of any day), max speed: TOO FAST

Today’s basic route followed Historic US40 (The Lincoln Highway) that wound its way between the rail line of the Union Pacific Railroad and Intersate-80. The roads between them were steep, not in the best shape, had old time bridges, and very heavily wooded – like cedar and pine trees 4 feet in diameter. Much of the route was in the shade on paved logging roads except for 16 miles on I-80. In the west where there are no other roads through the mountains. It was noisy, but worth it. Working a 6% grade for miles of the side of the interstate is much less taxing that 6%-17% grades on the back roads.

Our group, dubbed The Final Four, arrived with the cheers of all the other riders. It was wonderful, and they even took special pictures of us exhausted puppies. We had a reason for being late. One of our members could not handle the endless grades and had to be transported back to the hotel without experiencing Donner Pass. He had walked 12 of the 16 interstate miles and suffered greatly from foot pain and sore back. He hopes to ride with us tomorrow. (The final four have been given special permission to leave an hour early. This is much like being allowed to ride the ‘short bus’ to school, but we all took it well.

Donner Pass. Oh my. I am not good at links but if you want to watch a heart stopping video of what I experienced coming down that mountain today google/youtube ‘Bombing down Donner Pass’ and it should be the first hit that comes up. It is taken by a bike rider with an HD camera on his handle bars about a month ago. The video takes about seven minutes to show the bikers descend 3000 feet over six miles or so. Speeds of 50-60 mph are not recommended to maintain control of a 150 pound man riding on less than two square inches of rubber on a 15 pound bicycle. The problem with the high center of gravity and brakes melting under the strain are made worse by big boys like me weighing over 200 lbs. It did not help my nerves any to have snow at the top of the pass, a cold rain coming down wetting the pavement and brakes and rims that suffered from being grimy and wet. With those problems I didn’t even care about the 30 mph cross wind. I was not able to exhale the whole trip down – too much pressure on the lungs, but once at the bottom I lit out a mountain size exhale (actually a burp). I swallowed mosquitos and many bugs dinged me in the glasses, but they come off. Next time I will try to breathe through my nose. Second thought, I am not interested in a next time. There comes a point where fun becomes insanity.

I am exhausted and I need to put my feet up (to prevent lactic acid build up) and go to sleep. Tomorrow will require the energy to ride over Mt. Rose Pass (8,999 feet).

Bottom Line: Today’s ride will be one to remember for the rest of my life.