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Day 6. Pollock Pines, CA to Sly Park Rec Area, CAYesterday: Day 5. Folsom, CA to Pollock Pines, CATomorrow: Day 7. Sly Park to Silver Lake, CA
Synopsis
I woke this morning to find my resting pulse between 5-10 beats higher than it had been for most of the past week. I felt a bit fatigued and that was when I knew that trying to conquer Carson Pass today would be asking too much from my body. If my trip were to end at the top of the pass, yeah ok. But seeing how every mile I ride now is preparing me for later on down the path, I needed to let my 'training' attitude take over and slow down before I go too far. After spending a bit of time studying my maps to see what made sense for the next couple days, I decided to head today just up the road about 7 miles to a camping and recreation area on Jenkinson Lake, just outside of Pollock Pines. This would basically put me at the base of the tomorow's big ascent to the Silver Lake/Kirkwood area and give me a great opportunity to appreciate the outdoors of the Sierras. Once the decision was made, I had to call ahead to some of the places with which I had already made reservations to bump them ahead a day and to call the campground at Sly Park to make sure there would be room for me somewhere. The ranger says to me "it is friday and we are first-come first-served. we have 6 or 7 spots left so if you get here by noon you should be ok." This now put me on a schedule. After loading up the bike and going to check-out of the Westhaven Inn, I found myself surrounded my the woman who runs the place, a 50-something year old man and who I am guessing is his father, an 80+ year old man with that never-ending smile on his face. Also the 12-year old groundskeeper was there, too. They wanted to know about the bike and about my journey. For what seemed like hours, I was fielding there each and every question. I make some comment which triggers something in the old man's mind who them proceeds to tell me about this one time... then something else i had said had prompted the lady to go inside to get a detailed map of the area to show me exactly how to get where i was going, where the drugstore was, and where EVERY last restaurant was in town. meanwhile, the 50-year old was yelling at her (husband/wife maybe?) for interrupting him. then the 12-year old wants to learn about the GPS, which I am happy to demonstrate to him. I can sense a future cyclist in that kid. Awesome. Of course all of this is happening when I am dealing with this tremendous internal struggle. I *WANT* to stay and talk to them allll day long, but i HAVE to get to the campground before it sells out... so eventually a good time to break comes and I am able to scoot out of there, go to the store to fill my campstove gas container, then make my way to the campground, where a spot (one that's close to the gate, too! awesome!) is still available. I am safe. Then the ranger wants to hear the story which I proceed to tell him. He says "my son is on a NASCAR team down in Phoenix, so I drive there all the time; which route're you takin' ?" etc, etc, etc. Once I get to the campsite, which rests immediately up against the lake (i just got back from a nice little swim infact... a little free, a little backstroke, a little breaststroke, and a lot of just wading), I set up the tent and my neighbor comes over to introduce himself, to hear the story, and to offer anything if i find i might need it (i might have to go hit him up for a beer later). Awesome. So here I am, camping for the first time of the trip. The experience continues to build on itself. People everywhere are friendly; people everywhere like to hear and to tell their story; people everywhere really are helpful. Today is about rest and relaxation. It is about preparation for the climb up Carson Pass tomorrow. It is about sitting here at this picnic table in the shade at my laptop, looking out over the pristine Jenkinson Lake and hearing the waves crashing up against the shore (okay okay okay, and an occasional boat come by, too.... there ARE motor boats out there...). It is about appreciating what I am in the middle of and about appreciating the friends who are emailing and calling me along the way. I have only been out for six days and already I have been refered to as an 'inspiration' a couple dozen times -- from friends, family and strangers all alike. That's only true if you go out and do something. Get out there. Listen to your breathing. Challenge your body. Challenge your mind. I don't care what you do, but just get off your ass. I start the ascent of Carson Pass along the Mormon Emigrant Trail with the intention of stopping somewhere near Silver or Kirkwood Lakes to camp. The next day will see me summit Carson Pass and roll down into Carson City, where I will most likely rest for a couple days before taking-on Nevada and the Loneliest Highway in America. You probably won't be reading this until a few days from now. I am going to continue to try and write every day, but I will only occasionally be able to publish this on the net. So a couple days with no post is to be expected, but check back every day; I will post back-letters as often as I can. Get off your ass.
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