This was the most challenging and rewarding day of bicycle riding day I've ever done! (I've ridden 20 double centuries, including some of the toughest in California.)
Trudy was there with me the whole time!
We started around 8:30, our usual time and headed for "the hill."
About a mile into the ride, I realized that I'd forgotten to drop off our camping fee, so I went back and Trudy went on. The weather wasn't looking good, but we decided to press on.
I hustled to catch up to her.
Soon, the wind picked up, in circling blasting gusts! The wind direction was continually changing - we could hear it roaring toward us, so we had a few moments to prepare. Most of the time there was no shoulder, so we had traffic on the left, a soft shoulder on the right and blasting winds bashing us around as we crept up the hill.
Many times, we stopped and cowered over our bikes until the wind blast went by!
Where we were...
The rain came in short squalls. We were wearing all our warm layers and rain gear.
We passed this lake near the summit, which meant we were getting close to the top.
Just before the top, we reached the Tioga Pass Lodge, a truly welcome sight - warm, dry and food!
We made it!
The ranger said: "Are you two crazy, riding up Tioga on a day like this?"
Guess so... But, we had to press on!
It wasn't our longest riding day in miles, but it was by far he most challenging!
Our camp for the night was Porcupine Flats, at a little above 8000 feet elevation.
The Bears were happy to be off of the road and advised us to put on all our clothes. They were right. Brrrr!
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