Day 8

Day 8,

July 30.

By the time I got up, around 7, there were already many tourists heading towards the mountain, making a lot of noise on the road near by.

I rode to Mc Donald’s and got a yogurt and a banana from the grocery store, as a breakfast.

Stopped by the post office and pumped up the front tire again. It’s losing air pretty badly. Need to repair it some time soon.

Got back on 395 and headed north full of energy. Something was still knocking down there and I couldn’t find out exactly what it was. Riding slowly or walking near the bike, wouldn't help to determine the source of the knock.

Road was mostly going downhill and I was able to keep the good speed.

In 42 miles, I stopped in a little convenient store, in the town of Big Pine.

I ate some cream cheese with bread and a half of the cold watermelon. What a summer paradise.

Further down the road I stopped at another store and bought a little honey dew.

When I got outside of the store, I saw a young guy with a long hair, parking his old Suzuki 650 motorcycle. When I noticed that the tag was from Mississippi, I wondered if that’s where he was from, because I myself lived few years in Alabama and had a friend in MS.

Well, it turned out pretty unexpectedly. The guy, (I didn’t write down his name), was actually an Englishman. He bought this old motorcycle somewhere in Mississippi where he had friends, and now rides it all over US for already a month. He visits most National Parks and camps in the tent. Now he was heading to Yosemite and then to Canada – British Columbia. What was also cool about this guy is that he had a set of rear bearings ready to replaced on his bike, as the old ones were about to go. He was going to do it by himself! He also had a cool, old bucket from anti-freeze hanging at the back of the bike.

It was very nice to talk to him, as we discussed the impressions that strike Europeans when they first visit the country. He noted the beautiful nature of the States and that MOST people are amazingly friendly. He did also notice that many things are being wasted here and are not done as pragmatically as they are done in little Europe. We were doing something similar running a cross country, but he was convinced that cycling is a bit too slow for him. Indeed, in his month, he already made a lot of zig-zags from state to state. Well, I had my share of motorcycle experience, so I knew where the dog was. ;)

Near the evening I cycled another 17 miles and arrived to Bishop, CA.; a fairly big town, with a K-Mart, where I went to get some chocolate bars. When I got back outside, it was already dark.

Riding on some country road, along the fields, I saw an unpaved service road with no fresh tracks. I followed it for about half a mile and found a nice, dark spot in the field. While setting up the tent, there were frequent and long lasting lightings in the sky. Again, as soon as I was in the tent, it started to rain. The rain was short but the wind was blowing all night, and being in the field, there was no protection from it. I was afraid of the tent being ripped up and had to hold the fabric from the inside, occasionally getting some sleep. This really wasn’t very nice.

Today’s total – 60 miles.

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