June 3, 2008
Sacramento to Auburn, CA
Mileage: 51.3
Temperature: low 50's to mid 70's

Hi Everyone,

Today was another easy day with some climbing but not many miles. It's all in preparation for tomorrow when we climb Donner Pass. Actually, there is really nothing between here and Truckee where we will be tomorrow night so we pretty much had to end here today.

Started bright and early. We were on the road by 7:30. Within a mile of the start we entered what can only be described as the “bike path from heaven”. Over 30 miles of a path wide enough for two bikes riding side by side in either direction with a runners path on both sides. The pavement had no cracks, no holes and hardly a leave on it. In fact, at one point a special little vehicle going the other way was sweeping the path. It dipped and turned and twisted in a number of delightful ways. The views were terrific with some river (we'll have to look it up later) visible for half the distance. Over the course of the 30 miles only one stop sign slowed us down. There was, however, the wind which decided to blow out of the East, but given the path we were happy to deal with it.

The first picture is Amy on that "bike path from heaven". The second picture includes Amy. She's the one in yellow.

After the path were were on a nice road with a wide shoulder the rest of the way. At the end, God decided to throw in a nasty 1.5 mile, 8% grade which tested the legs just a bit. About half way up the climb there was a cute little spot to fuel our tank so we had lunch with a few of the other riders.

Tomorrow is going to be a bit of a challenge. We'll be starting out at about 6:30 am given the distance, about 76 miles up and over Donner. We're not sure of the elevation gain tomorrow, but we 'll probably have that information for the next installment. For those interested, today's total elevation gain was about 2,790 feet.

Keep sending the good vibes and while you're at it, say a prayer to the weather gods that we don't get snow on the way up Donner.

Take care.
Amy and John