Plymouth to Cooks Station CA, 31 miles, 4347 ft of climbing

Day 5, May 17: New traveling companions

At breakfast this morning in the hotel I got to talking with the ladies at the table next to me. They had troule understanding when I said I was travelling by bicycle. (I was wearing street pants over my cycling shorts.) Alysia is from Georgia and is travelling with her two cousins and another lady. We chatted for some time. When I was ready to leave she took my photo and wrote down the Internet address for my blog.

The Adventure Cycling errata sheet says that Shake Ridge Road before Cooks Station is under construction so I took the detour via Shenandoah Rd, Mt. Aukum Rd, and Omo Ranch Rd. It wasn't too horrible a climb. Do the math: 4000 feet of climbing in 30 miles is less than 3% average grade. But of course the average hides important details. There are places where you actually go downhill a bit and other places that are a lot more than 3%. I made good use of my 20-inch granny gear today.

There are some services on the early part of the route. A restaurant or two, a bar, a feed store, a general store, and a winery.


I have been surprised to see how much wine production there is in this area of California.



After turning on Omo Ranch Road, there was no sign of human habitation until I came to the town of Omo Ranch, which consists of a school, a fire station, and a half-dozen houses. I pulled over shortly after to make a couple of bagle peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I had barely got started when a large dog wandered up and started to beg. I don't know where he came from - there were no houses in the vicinity. Even if I had been disposed to share my lunch, I don't think a PB&J sandwich is good for a dog. I did point out a blopb of jelly that had fallen on the ground, which he gobbled up. He must have thought we were friends after that because he tried to follow me as I was riding away.

In another half mile I came to a general store. Durn, I could have had a soda with mu lunch!

The Adventure Cycling map says that the restaurant and convenience store at Cooks Station has "limited hours, call in advance" and has camping, "tent spaces available behind store and restaurant, inquire within." I was never able to get them to answer the phone, so I was not 100% sure I would have a place to stay tonight.


I pulled in just a few minutes before the restaurant closed at 2 pm and had a double cheeseburger, fries and two root beers. They were nice enough to let me pitch my tent for free. The young lady said sometimes they charge $10 and sometimes free. She is the granddaughter of the owners.


As I was typing my blog on the picmnic table on the deck two other cyclists arrived and decided to stay the night also. Good choice, there's no way they would make the summit before dark. A youg couple, Jim and Kate are riding from their home in San Francisco to Washington DC. Jim is from Scotland and Kate is from England, but they both live in the US now. The restaurant was nice enough to make them sandwiches even though it was way past closing time. As we were sitting at a picnic table chatting, they brought us several bottles of water. Cooks Station is very friendly to cyclists.

By the way, they came by Shake Ridge Road, so it is now open.



Cooks Station to Kirkwood CA, 35 miles, 4500??? ft of climbing

Day 6, May 18: More adventure than anticipated

After an excellent breakfast at Cooks Station, we three set off for Carson Pass.





Jim tends to ride ahead and I follow behind Kate. Her pace is just about perfect for me. Then Jim will stop and wait for us to catch up, catch our breath, get a drink of water and some Skittles.

As I came up to one of the stops I could see a couple of Highway Patrol cars with lights blinking and Jim was talking to a couple of people with yellow vests. I feared an accident, but it turned out it was a feed zone on the Amgen Tour of California bike race! We leaned our bikes up against the FEED ZONE sign and ate our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.

20 minutes or so later the racers came through and I got some photos. Here are the leaders:


and the peloton:



One of the CHP officers directing traffic came over to chat. He said he does a lot of mountain biking and recently has done more road riding with his parents, since they are road riders. When he saw my Steve Rex touring bike he got excited because he had just been in Steve Rex's shop a few days ago. He asked to take a photo of the bike to show his father.

Up until this time the weather had been perfect - just a few light sprinkles a couple of times. After we passed the first summit it started to rain. Heavy and cold. I think we would have been OK except that CalTrans had traffic stopped to clear some rocks that had fallen on the road. I think we were standing in the rain without moving for a good 20 minutes. There was no place really to change into proper clothing, although I did get on a warm undershirt and rain jacket. But my legs were unprotected.

It was getting late in the afternoon so we decided not to try to make the pass today but to stay at the Kirkwood ski resort. I was seriously hypothermic by the time we turned into the road to Kirkwood. We pulled up on the porch of the first house we came to. Kate got out her sleeping bag and put it around me and Jim rode to the lodge to get the desk man to come for us in the car.

Once I got inside and started to warm up I was OK. After getting a room, the clerk drove Kate and me back to get our bikes. We three are sharing a $180 room at the Kirkwood Lodge. While Kate and I were retrieving the bikes, Jim went to the store which was about to close to get sandwiches for dinner.

A warm shower never felt so good!

My Garmin didn't record the ride today. I must have fumble-fingered it when I turned it on. :=(

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Last updated May 15, 2018