Day 6 Carson City, NV to Fallon, NV

Fill'er up! Well, this is a joke of course, but I did need gas stations. My camp stove used auto gas, so I would stop about once a week and fill up my small fuel bottle for about 45 cents. It was always fun watching the gas attendants face as I hand them the few coins to pay for it. Fallon, NV is the start of the "Loneliest Road in America", also known as Highway 50. This stretch of road goes almost 400 miles straight across Nevada. Back in the 1980's, a writer for Life Magazine did an article on this Highway 50 and gave it the name "Loneliest Road in America" and it stayed ever since. AAA does not recommend any motor vehicle drive this road due to lack of services. What's that make you think about riding a bicycle across it?

Day 5 Cooks Station, CA to Carson City, NV

Today's ride was to finish Carson Pass, which was another 3500' of climbing. It took me most of the day to crest the summit at 8,573'. Now on top of the Sierra Nevada mountains, it was all downhill to Carson City. While on top of the summit, I talk with the 2 park rangers that had a shelter on the top of it. Beside the shelter, was the path of the Pacific Crest Trail, a hiking trail that goes from Canada to Mexico. The PCT is 2600 miles long, and it made me happy to be on my bicycle. At my campsite that night, a man named Richard came over to me and interview me for his website, taking photos and video of me, taking about this and other trips I have taken. His website is about crazy vacations people take. A prize goes to the person with the craziest vacation and he thought for sure I would win. I haven't heard anything as of yet and really don't expect to, but it was good company that night even though I was cooking dinner as he came over to me. Something that always seems to happen. I never turn down company or friendly people on the road that I meet. Meeting new people is one of the main reasons I enjoy bike touring, especially since I am solo.

Day 4 Placerville, CA to Cooks Station, CA

Let the climbing begin! This morning I started near sea level and by days end, I was at 5000' above sea level and only half way to the summit of Carson Pass. It was only getting hotter as I continued inland, but the elevation kept it cool, or cold at night. Near the end of the day, I came across Dave and his son Josh. (the 2 in the photo) Dave was playing sag wagon for Josh who was doing a one day 200 miler from Carson City, NV to Sacramento, CA. Josh called it the Capital to Capital ride. At this point where I met them, he had miles and miles of downhill and I was very jealous as I just spent my whole day climbing and only doing a fraction of the miles he was. Dave gave me all kinds of food and drink as his whole truck bed was full of supplies for Josh. After leaving those two, I came across a one stop town called Cooks Station, and they let me camp behind the store, for the night.

Day 3 West Sacramento, CA to Placerville, CA

This is the American River Bike Trail that runs 30 miles from Davis, CA to Folsom, CA. Very flat and heavily used, as I saw and met a lot of bicyclists. The Sacramento River is on the right side of the photo above and the biker is "Chris". Chris, pedalled up to me on the trail and started talking. I rode with Chris for about 25 miles to the town of Folsum, where the trail ends and he lived. Chris asked if he could buy me lunch in town. I couldn't turn that offer up. We filled up on pizza and said our goodbyes afterwards. Not a good time to be bloated on pizza, as the hills were to begin. Later that day, I met Liz and Bill, 2 school teachers from Connecticut who were just finishing there cross country bike trip which started out early in the summer from Virginia. I talk to them both for awhile before going our own way.

Day 2 Winters, CA to West Sacramento, CA

This graffiti bridge lead me to the small town of Winters, CA, where I took my morning rest stop at the town park. Already temperatures were rising, so early starts from now on. Today I pedalled through the "Bicycle Capital of the USA". Davis, CA is world class bicycle city. I felt as though I was back in Holland, with bike paths everywhere. More bikes then cars, it was a very nice surprise for me. I ended this day at a KOA campground, early due to the temperatures in the 90's. It didn't make sense to me, to push myself early in the trip. I had flashbacks of Southern California, 1997 and my first cross country bike trip, that nearly ended in disaster. I had passed out from heat exhaustion, and needed an ambulance ride to the hospital. I didn't want to re-live that again.

Day 1 San Francisco, CA to Winters, CA

It was a cold and foggy morning on August 19th, as I officially started the Western Express Route at the Golden Gate Bridge. Before this photo though, I had 15 miles of busy city cycling from where I stayed in San Bruno to here. After I left the bridge I went to the waterfront and saw the seals at pier 39 before taking a 1 hour ferry to Vallejo, CA to avoid a day of urban cycling. By days end, I pedalled 77 miles and the temperature rose to the 90's.

The start of the Western Express

I arrived in San Bruno, CA on August 18th, 2009 to begin the Western Express Bicycle Route. The route starts in San Francisco, CA and ends in Pueblo, CO. In this photo, I just flew from Seattle, Washington, where I was hiking the North Cascades with Bonnie and her family to San Francisco, California, and took the train to my motel. I stayed the one night in San Bruno's Super 8 Motel, mostly because I could ship my bike there by UPS and they would hold it for me, until I arrived. My bike was waiting for me, in a 3 x 5 box. No problems this time, no broken parts, and nothing missing from the box. I will rest up tonight and start fresh in the morning, across downtown San Francisco. I can't wait!