Building perserverence one tenth of a mile at a time.....


If you missed Day 1 of our bike trip along Bizz Johnson you may want to start here - 

BIZZ JOHNSON DAY 1


The day after the thunderstorm was a disaster. Everything was soaking wet. Our bikes had just been abandoned by the trail because we were so strapped for time so they were drenched. But it was a beautiful clear day and we were ready to get a move on. Jill's trail a bike was totally flat and Shane had to drag the whole thing down to the creek to find the hole in the tube because he could not get the back tire off. We had to pack everything back up and reassemble all the panniers and finally we were set to go. Wouldn't you know it! We rode 0.2 miles and got to the CAMPRGROUND!!!
But really, the night before we would not have had time, so it really worked out ok.

Now remember what our original plan was.....we were going to cycle to Westwood, then come back to Susanville to get our car, all over a 4 day time span. I believe that in the morning we still had hope that this would actually happen. We had done 12 miles that first day, at mile 19 it was supposed to finally go downhill for 7 miles, then on the ride back we would only have 7 miles uphill and 19 miles down. Naively, we still believed this was going to work.

Pretty soon after the campground we realized that there was no way on this EARTH that we were making it to Westwood and back. The trail was thick and mucky sand. Alli was such a trooper. Shane was way up ahead of us with Jill and Alli and I would ride our bike a tenth of a mile and stop to do some standing yoga breaths, then another tenth of a mile and more yoga breaths. It was a long and arduous day. We finally made a plan that Shane would stop at every mile marker and wait for us. At this point, Alli and I were just walking our bikes because it was just impossible to ride them. Shane was managing ok, but he is a beast so, you know????

At each mile marker we would stop for a break all together and Jill would usually say, “I need to dig a hole!” code for – “I ate WAY too many raisins and need to go poo again!!!”
resting at one of Jill's poop stops
She must have gone 6 times that day. Guess what...if you eat a cup of raisins all yourself, its gonna give you the runs! We tried to tell her, but she is learning about fiber. It's a good thing.

When we would stop for break I would also read to them out of The Willows in Winter – believe me when I say I will not bring this book on a bike trip again. It must weigh 2 pounds! I was regretting all the weight I had on my bike. Every mile was so HARD!!! At our lunch break Alli read to us from her book. She still doesnt LOVE to read, but the fact that she WILL do it and CAN do it, makes me so thankful for what Vision Therapy did for her.
The girls would also build fairy houses. I love these...

As we trudged on we went from being able to walk our bike S-L-O-W-E-R than molasses in January, to being able to ride 0.05 miles in tiny little spurts. Seriously, it was way better to ride for 40 seconds and stop in the shade, then ride again instead of pushing our bikes up the hill. At one point, I wanted to take Alli's picture – a candid one – that showed how determined, but miserable she was.....and the minute I got the camera out she put a big smile on her face. I told her, “NO!!! We need to remember this trip as it was, you are not having fun!!!” and bless her heart – she said, “I wouldnt choose to be anywhere else right now, but I AM SO TIRED!!!” Then she gave me the real face she had been making (the picture is at the top of this post!)

Probably half way through our day (we took 6 hours to go 7 miles) Shane and I decided that we would push on to Westwood. It was supposed to be 30 miles total and then I could ride the highway back to Susanville to get the car. I loved that idea. It would be just me, no gear, riding through beautiful country and being able to go maybe up to 30 miles an hour!!!! That sounded fantastic since all I was doing right now was about 2 miles an hour in little 30 second chunks of time. I think this has to be the WORST time to ride the Bizz. Snow is melted so the sand is mushy...then rain is possible....I would love to try again in the fall.

After about 5 miles the conditions improved a bit. We were running out of water and knew there was a river coming up so we hiked over to where it was. As we hiked we had to step over hundreds (and I am not exaggerating) of piles of cow poop. Well, wouldnt you know, when we got to the river it was FILLED with hundreds of piles of cow poop.
We have a filter, but really.....I couldnt have drank that water. I would rather go thirsty. We took an inventory of our water supply and figured we would make it through the night and get some fresh water in the morning.

At one point about 6 miles in, Alli and I were riding now maybe 0.2 miles before taking a break, Alli says to me, “I can keep going, dont stop just because of me.” This girl has some crazy determination. I wanted to fall on the ground and curl up into a ball, and here she was wanting to push on. We ended up stopping after 7 miles and setting up camp. We are slobs, I'm glad there was no one around to see this, but here I will show you:

After this incredibly long day, Alli and I get into the tent and she asks to see the Trans Canada Trail book....this is where we are planning a 7 week bike tour this summer. I asked her if she still was excited about going on our long bike trip or if she didnt want to go
anymore and she looked at me and said, “WHAT???? Why wouldn't I want to go? Of COURSE I still want to go.” Then she spent 20 minutes looking at all the stuff we are gonna see this summer. What an awesome kid.

The next day we woke up and I realized that we are going to need to cut their hair before our 7 week trip. There is no way I am going to be able to deal with these mops.
After a healthy breakfast of beef jerky and chocolate chips we got loaded up and started for Westwood. Amazingly, we had passed the 19 mile marker and we were still going UPHILL! We continued uphill for another 2 miles. Luckily the trail here was not sandy so Alli could ride a half mile before needing a break.

Jill eating chocolate chips for breakfast
Finally, with smiles on our faces, we got to some downhill. Alli was so excited, she could pedal a full mile before needing a break. We still met up with Shane and Jill at every mile marker (this is the reason why I dont have much about what those two did....we were hardly with them!!)
And as tired as Alli was, it did not stop her from having to climb this sign when we finally made it to Mason Station.

After Mason Station it is a 4 mile ride on the pavement. I have never loved pavement so much in my life. After the last 3 days this was a welcome surface. Alli felt very mature to be able to ride on the side of the road. We got into Westwood and went to the Old Mill Cafe and had the best food I have ever had in my LIFE. 

Well, you need to be a cyclist or backpacker or do something where you eat nothing for days on end, all while burning 5000 calories, to really appreciate what I am saying. For 3 days we ate nothing but nuts, jerky, avocado, some almond butter, a can of chicken, olives and some larabars....and cycled for 7 hours a day. So we went a little crazy at the Cafe.

Shane and I had not had potatoes since going paleo, and since we couldnt have biscuits and gravy, we decided to have hash browns and gravy instead. We had 4 cups of coffee each. I cannot even describe how good this food was. The girls were eating the gravy out of the BOWL with a SPOON....like it was soup. Then to top it all off, the girls wanted pie,
and after what they just survived we were fine with that. Would you believe they ate this entire thing (minus 2 bites that shane and I managed to get) in about 45 seconds. So guess what.....
this is Jill 5 minutes later, out on the concrete saying she needs to throw up. OOPS! She never did, but boy did she feel awful.

After we rolled out of the cafe and found a park for everyone to hang out at, I rode off to get our car. We cycled 30 miles to get to Westwood, and I had to cycle 21 miles to Susanville. It was beautiful. I love being able to road bike. 

The road was pretty clear which is nice, so I didnt have to worry a lot of cars and there were no semi trucks. It might be hard to believe but I love biking up hills.  Look how steep this is!!  And I am SMILING!
As I climb to the top of a pass, I end up cycling like this.....I stay in a low gear and count my pedal strokes to 100, then I shift up and stand up, then count my pedal strokes to 100.....over and over and over and over until I get to the top. 

Doesnt that sound like a load of FUN!!!  Well, it is meditative for me. PLUS......the downhill makes it all worth it.
Once I get over a pass it is usually speeds of 25 – 30 miles per hour for a good solid 10 minutes. There is nothing more fun than that.

We had been on our bikes for about 16 hours during our trip. It took me an hour and 45 minutes to go get our car! What a great learning experience this has been for us. WE have a lot to figure out before we hit the road for our 1000 mile bike trip through British Columbia!!!


Next up....Biking up Lassen for the Car Free Weekend!!



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