Day 7

July 29

When I was setting up the tent last night – it was very windy. By the middle of the night wind became so strong that I had to pull the poles from the tent and put it down; that way I was being wrapped in it like in a sleeping bag giving it a low profile. Then, however, a rain started and water began to pour through the mosquito net. I set down and got ready to spend some time being wet and miserable.

But the rain stopped in about 5 minutes, as the intense wind probably moved the little cloud away.

In the morning, after little snack, I stopped by the gas station to add some air to the tires, which were losing so much that they had to be inflated every other day. As I found later, there were few more little holes in the tubes.

Before leaving the Inyokern, I would like to list few notable things about this town.

Town is located in a big Indian Wells valley. It was originally established as a construction site for workers building water pipes systems and railroads. In 1913, original name Magnolia was changed to Inyokern, which reflects the names of surrounded counties, Inyo and Kern. Kern is also the name of the river in the area.

Both, Inyokern and Ridgecrest are adjacent to a huge military base – China Lakes Naval Weapons Center, where some of the local residents are employed.

At around 7 am I was back on the road, which was called Three Flags Highway.

Since I had almost two days of rest, it was amazingly easy to ride. I think this is what they call “recovery”.

While going along the local fields and houses, I waved to a passing group of cyclists.

In several minutes I got on highway 395 going north.

The road was going along the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

The passing trucks didn’t bother me too much as the road was wide with a decent shoulder.

In an hour I stopped at a gas station to eat a little lunch.

At around 1 pm, the clouds became to gather around, so I stopped and packed the valuable items in plastic zip-lock bags.

Soon the rain started and lasted about an hour, in addition with a moderate head wind. This was the first time riding in the rain when there was enough water on the road to splash all over. Trucks driving by would give me a real shower.

What was interesting is that the cloud seemed to be right above me and it was clear in all other directions.

By the time I got to a little convenient store, I decided to stop and see if rain could pass me.

Indeed, in 5 minutes of wandering around the store, it was not raining anymore when I walked outside.

Next 20 minutes of riding dried my clothes and I arrived to the town of Lone Pine.

It seemed like a small, touristy place with major shops situated at both sides of the main road – Hwy 395.

Since I was really hungry by this time, first thing I did, I went to the grocery store and got bottle of milk, few bananas and couple of fresh vegetables. Then I went to Mc Donald’s and ate all this with a hamburger. Nice lunch.

Right outside of Mc Donald’s, there was a nice view of Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the lower 48 states. Many tourists around were planning to climb it.

When I got back on the streets of Lone Pine to wander around the gift shops, I stopped at an intersection and talked to a young girl on the bike – Lindsay. She was dressed as professional cyclist and was riding a Cannonade. As it turned out, she was spending time in Lone Pine with her boyfriend, but originally she is from Thunder Bay, Ontario. Since my route was suppose to go through that area, she left her coordinates and invited to visit them when I will be there. Cool.

As it was close to the sunset, I rode away from the town to look for the camping place. When I saw a nice, quite area behind the trees, I asked a farmer down the road, if I could pitch a tent for the night near his horse barns. He allowed me to do so and I went back to town since it was still too early to sleep.

I looked around the shops and talked to a group of foreign tourists that came here to hike to Mt. Whitney. Then I wrote the notes for this journal and by that time it was around 10 pm. It was raining on and off outside, so I waited for a moment when rain stopped and rode to the earlier found place. It was dark so I had to turn on the head lamp. Very useful. In those little towns, where there are no lights on the streets and no moon, it can be really dark.

When I almost finished setting up the tent, the rain started again but I managed to get the documents with camera inside and escaped without getting wet.

Today’s total – 70 miles, a new record.

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