Aug 29th - Day 15

Ah, waking up at 5:45 in Porterville - nothing exciting really. Actually, I'm quite amazed that my sleep has been fairly good considering I'm waking up in a strange bed, strange room and strange city most every day. When I do get home, I wonder if I'll wake up, get ready and jump on the bike before I know what I'm doing?

We were joined by some firefighting crews at breakfast just before heading out on a 320 mile day, making good time North towards a small town / dot called Walker, just a few miles below Coleville, CA. Heading N on the 65, we passed through Exeter and switched over to the 245 at Woodlake. What began as a meandering road through the country, looking over dry golden fields with a distant mountain backdrop, quickly turned into another gem of gorgeous black top, twisting back and forth into the low level hills and valleys of the Sierra Nevada Mtns.


We stopped a few times to make sure we were on the right track, then rounding a corner came across this little bar in the middle of - nothing - It's amazing to find places like this when you definitely don't expect it. Continuing deeper into the dense brush, we emerged at the 180, taking us West towards Fresno. Getting closer and closer to dense population we aimed to the 41 North with Oakhurst in our sites. This was boring and painful riding as the traffic was busy and the heat was coming on.


A quick bite at Grandma's Dinner (while watching a program on the best steak houses that serve - and people eat - 72 oz steaks!) then we headed out on the 49 towards Mariposa and Coulterville. Kept seeing signs (sorry, no pics of them) of Hornitos 12 miles and La Grange 8 miles, giving a shout out to Tequila and ZZ Top accordingly.

We hit a side road at Coulterville taking us into some wonderful sweeping and twisting roads again pulling out at Don Pedro Lake. We were now the envious ones watching the boats and people playing in the waters below as we downed water and gaulked at the temp gauge.

Getting back to it, we still had over 80 miles to cover and it was now late in the afternoon. Passing through Sonora on the 108 heading around Yosemite we started to enjoy a declining temperature but struggled with fatigue. I had downed a '5 hour Energy' at the last location and found it really helped while Jeff was having difficulty with a plugged ear, heat strain and uninteresting roads behind slower than posted traffic. As we approached the Sonora Pass at 9625 ft, the road got quite interesting again. Probably one of the most technical sections with 10% declines over 10 mp almost vertical corners, blind dips and whoop-te-do's, combined with stunning scenery and campgrounds left and right.

The road mellowed as we approach the left turn on the 395 N, rounding a corner was a sign reading "Watch for Helicopter Debris - Absolutely No Stopping", then opening to a mountain top military base. Just 15 more miles to bed!


Finally, with 4.4 still showing on the GPS was our home for the night, the Toiyabe Motel. A great little 11 room place owned by Sam. We quickly got beer, gas and water for the next day, rushing back to get a meal at Walker Burger, the only place open until 8PM - basically a road side burger shack with a great little garden area out back. Simply scrumptious strawberry milkshake!







Relaxing and route planning in the evening, we had a nice visit with a young couple from Australia doing a month on both the East & West coast. Tomorrow brings a short day (129 miles) and a relaxing ride around Lake Tahoe, with a day off in Carson City. Why Carson? Amazingly, all the little towns in the area are 2x the price for hotels. Night ya'll!