Stay on target!

Easy day. Wahoo!

I did 60 easy miles today though a few of those were off route since I took a wrong turn at some point. 2,000' downhill then flat to Sacramento with a few bumps inbetween.

Half the day was on a bike path from Folsom to Sacramento which was quite nice. I rode with one guy who was interested in the trip for around 15 miles (Dave) so it was nice to have some company. And yup, I was right next to the prison from the Johnny Cash song but never got to see it (just some fencing with barbed wire on the top).

I didn't see the couple from Indiana. Goodbye!!

I did, however, see a group of 8 just starting their eastbound trip to DC. They're a group calling themselves Bike4Peace (you can google it). One's actually a former 6 term congresswoman who's now running under the Green Party. They're intending to join some sort of bicycling rally in late September in DC.

They're not going to make it. There's no way. I don't think they quite grok what it is they signed up for. I haven't seen a single person on the Western Express who wasn't in very good shape and in their 20s or early 30s. They're mostly older and mostly overweight. I've seen other older people and other overweight people, but never two in one and never on the Western Express. On top of that they were carrying too much stuff... especially the congresswoman. On top of that, they've got a very aggressive time table. *Maybe* they could handle the TransAm on a more flexible schedule.

Their website is also treating their trip a bit nonchallantly. It doesn't seem like they know what they're in for (it's just like going for a 20 mile ride inbetween meals! Anyone can do it!). They've got to respect the physical and mental challenge that lays ahead of them.

Good luck to them though. I hope I'm wrong. They were going to get a taste of their first actual climb today. Hopefully it opens their eyes a bit.

Saw a rattlesnake on the path! It got into the bushes before I could get a good shot of it. Another biker almost swerved into me to avoid it then apologized explaining it was a "rattler" at which point I exclaimed, "Really?", looked, then "That's so cool!" and stopped for a picture. Ahh well.