Today was a strange mix of fun moments, exciting views, and lots of descending paired with a tough heatwave and many members of the team picking up flat tires as the day wore on. Interstate 5, which had been so good to us the previous day when we were on it for a few miles and enjoying the wide shoulders turned into a minefield for our tires. What was the good news at the end of it all? We found ourselves in dorm rooms with beds, bathrooms, and air-conditioning at Simpson University that we knew we would have for not just one night, but two! Our final rest day of the summer is upon us and we have some good stories from the road to tell.
Ride Overview
Mileage: 64.0 miles
Elevation: +2,450 ft. / -4,940 ft.
Points of Interest: Shasta Lake, Signs to San Francisco, Redding, Simpson University
Tales of the Trail
Starting the day, we rolled out of our stayover and through the small town of Mt. Shasta where we saw the main street with shops and businesses. One of the groups on the road was already held up from the first of many flats when Vedang found his tire to be low on pressure as we finished the morning circle. Moving through town, we were descending quite quickly and encountered the fun back road that Anthony had put on the route for the day. We were going through the forest and having a great time! The road was steep and a bit bumpy with some gravel sections to keep our speeds honest, but it really felt like an adventure and we love that. At the end of the forest, we rolled into another town and the groups with Ehsan, Nishk, Lauren, Anthony, Ren, Cole, and Aadit met up while waiting for a train crossing. They decided to ride together until the highway and had a great time enjoying the company and camaraderie of a large group. Soon enough though, it was onto Interstate 5 and the beginning of the day of bike troubles.
The morning just had Vedang pick up a flat tire, but that was easy to remedy since it was at the stayover with all of the tools, hands, and the floor pump necessary to make the tube change simple. Not long before the first rest stop, Ren was having some chain and shifting trouble that we still can’t quite put a finger on the reason for, but it seemed to work its way out just as we had called the van to come take a look. Over the second stretch, from rest stop one to rest stop two, was where events really picked up. Max had a flat tire through this time pushing his group a little ways behind. Anthony also caught a flat of his own which left the group of Cole, Ren, and Aadit pretty far out in front as they had avoided flats on the day. Feeling smug was not the right emotion for them though as just after the second rest stop Ren noticed a flat on her bike. When they pulled off, Cole felt that his rear tire had been flat too and Aadit found out he was riding on a flat also! A full group knockout! The other teams caught up and rolled past and Anthony, Nishk, Lauren, and Ehsan were now having the good luck. Not long after the triple flat, Ren had her tube essentially explode in her rear tire which was found to be at the end of its life and the van was called to come and shuttle. For those of you keeping count, we were now up to 7 flat tires on the day!
As Ren was picked up, there was a fun Illini 4000 moment where Aadit and Cole joined the group of Max, Tada, Vedang, and Maaike just before a bridge to cross Shasta Lake. Vedang had picked up another flat tire, so that team waited for the two behind them on the road to catch up. We rolled with 6 and had the van escort us across the bridge which had no shoulder. We were going somewhere in the mid-20s of miles per hour and knew we had the whole lane to ourselves with Parker in behind blocking traffic with the van! This was a ton of fun! Meanwhile, the first team had reached the stayover having had only one flat tire on the day. The game was not over for our group of 6 though. Max caught another flat tire after making it off of the highway. Last, but not least, Tada punctured a few miles out from the stayover bringing our total to 10 flat tires on the day.
Outside of the hilariously large number of tubes we burned through (we will have to restock in Redding), we had a great day and our first full day exploring California. The trees were beautiful and we were mostly descending, so the riding was actually pretty easy. Temperatures rose over 100°F before the end of the ride making us super happy to get indoors when it was over. We made a van trip to In-N-Out and decided to spend the evening doing a movie marathon of the Tom Holland Spider-Mans. Maybe this gives you a hint for what we are doing in the morning on our rest day. Everyone was happy to have beds to sleep in for the evening and planning to enjoy the day tomorrow.
