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!!! 
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!!!”
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.
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| resting at one of Jill's poop stops |
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.
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.
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
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.
 |
| Jill eating chocolate chips for breakfast |
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,
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!
Doesnt that sound like a load of FUN!!! Well, it is meditative for me.
PLUS......the downhill makes it all worth it.
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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