I tossed and turned all last night thinking about the 12 mile ascent to 10,000 feet from Lee Vining to the entrance of Yosemite National Park with a partially lame bike.  And what goes up to 10,000 feet must also come down as Sacramento is at a much lower elevation.  By morning, I had decided that it was just not a good idea as much as I would like to see Yosemite.  It will have to go onto our “Must Return” list with the Grand Canyon.

To get to Sacramento, we did have to cross over the mountains, but Jeremy and I found what appeared to be a less challenging, shorter route to Sacramento with Google maps.  It involved some smaller state highways, one of which wound past the entrance to Tahoe and then through the El Dorado National Forest.

We set out in rather chilly weather.  It was only 9 degrees Celsius, making it feel like 0 degrees Celsius when we were on our bikes.  It’s hard to believe you can be driving in the desert one day and the next day you are freezing in this country.  At least with colder weather, you can add layers for warmth.  In hot weather, we still need all our gear so there are not many options to feel cooler except open up all the vents and get some speed up.

I managed to figure out a hand position on my throttle that allowed me to keep it open a little even when I was braking and prevent my bike from stalling.  My bike did not like it very much, but it was the only way I was going to make it to Sacramento without stalling every time I had to stop, turn, brake suddenly etc.  I also discovered that I could not let my bike coast down hills or it would stall as well.  I had to find that sweet spot when descending that provided enough gas to the engine but allowed the engine to do my braking for me.  Mechanical problems certainly force you to learn a lot about your new bike . . . quickly.

Even though we did not get to see the beauty of Yosemite that everyone has been telling us about, not all of America’s beauty is in national parks.  The road to Markleeville brought us to a lookout that took our breath away . . . and made me feel pretty small.  We took a picture, but once again I do not think it will do it justice.

We stopped in Markleeville to warm up and have breakfast.  A nice, very little town nestled in the mountain surrounded by trees.  We had a hearty breakfast and lots of hot coffee.

After Markleeville, we basically had, what felt like to me, three hours of downhill driving through the Tahoe Basin and El Dorado National Forest.  Very tiring for both of us, with Jeremy watching and worrying about me the whole way and me trying to manage my throttle so I did not stall.  After we passed through the Tahoe Basin, traffic picked up significantly as it was a Sunday and everyone was trying to get out of Tahoe and home for work tomorrow.  People were pretty patient with us (they probably took it easy on us because of the Ontario plates, thinking we were slow because we were enjoying the scenery) and there were lots of sections where they had passing lanes, but it just added to the stress of the drive anyway.  What a relief when the roads finally started to level out!  I love the mountains, but it is no fun with a misbehaving bike.

We made it to Jeremy’s friend Chris’s house about 2:00 PM local time, tired but relieved.  We got settled into the guest room and tried to relax a bit.  It is so nice to be in a home again, even if it is not our own.  Hotels try to give you that “home-like” feel but it is just not the same.  Thank you again, Chris!

Despite the exhaustion, we needed food so we forced ourselves out the door to explore Sacramento a little.  Jeremy’s friend, although he is in Canada visiting friends right now, had given us a list of his favourite restaurants, so we decided to try “Tapa the World,” a Spanish restaurant within walking distance.  It was so worth pushing away the exhaustion and taking that little walk!  As instructed by Chris, we had the Sangria and the mussels, plus we added the olive selection “tapas” and the Kobe beef.  Everything was so good and improved our moods dramatically!  We are excited to try the next restaurant on Chris’s list!