Things I love about touring California

Today’s ride was fantastic but pretty uneventful. We stopped in a couple very nice towns on the way from Chester to Tahoe city, but that was about it.


We’re now in Tahoe, staying in a hotel with a ‘partial view’ of the lake. We had a few beers out on the deck, watching the sun set over the mountains across the lake, illuminating them in red and pink, and then pastels.
Click here for photos


So instead of a lengthy post fumbling to describe sunsets and landscapes, I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve really gotten a kick out of so far.

• Driving past places with cool names like Jump Off Joe Creek, Weed, Dead Horse Summit




• That feeling of gliding you get when you take a bend well




• Going around a bend and watching the scenery open itself to you, cliffs over the turquoise sea or mountain vistas stretching to the horizon




• How nice and interested people are when they see you’re a biker, always curious about where you’ve been and where you’re going




• Driving past cyclists in the middle of nowhere in the mountains: mix of absolute admiration and delight that it’s not me




• The inspiring people you meet like our young rafting guide in Oregon who does that in the summer, ski instructor in the winter, and bow-hunting on his spare time.




• The bike packing ritual every morning and the thought that all you could need fits in a couple side paniers




• Bugs splatting on your glasses instead of your face when you’re riding with the visor up




• The way bikers wave at one another when they’re driving past, and will stop to check you’re ok if you’re parked on the side of the road




• Not having heard any of the following in ages: ‘did you get the email I CeeCeed you on, we have to sit down asap and revert on these amends’, ‘the client thinks the work you did yesterday is perfect but…’, or ‘we have 24 hours to come up with a media-neutral big idea for an original campaign idea that will make this product sexier than its arguably equal competitors’




• Don’t tell him, but sharing all this with my little brother ain’t that bad either