There is a certain cognitive dissonance to being at the Super 8 in Alturas *not* covered in dust head to toe …
I woke in Portland on Tuesday morning and spent some time determining optimal routes to today’s destination, breaking down the distance to cover over three days. However, I failed to consider the weather forecast, which has resulted in several cold, wet days. Yesterday’s ride from La Pine, OR to Alturas CA offered the following: 35° and snow, 48° and sun, rain and just about every possible combination in between. I know, this isn’t “real” adventure riding, but it’s certainly been a test of my ability to relax on the bike while cold, wet and extra-attentive to road conditions.
I planned to continue down 395 to Susanville today, but the gloomy forecast for NE California plus reports of snow amounts in passes has convinced me to take 299 to Redding. Hopefully I’ll be visiting some friends near Auburn tonight, but that will make for a long ride today, and I’m still warming up into my riding setup. We’ll see what happens.
In administrative news:
- There’s now a ‘Current Location’ link in the menu at the top of this page. Check it out! It shows where I am (within about ten minutes travel time – depending on whether Spot got a reading at destination before I shut it down.
- I also set up my twitter tools to post a daily summary of tweets here, so that folks who aren’t following me there can see the little pearls of wisdom I toss out from my tricorder throughout the day. I’ll see how well it works and is received before making a determination whether I keep this set up).
Okay, time to pack up and get moving again. I’ve got 300 miles ahead of me if I hope to see friends tonight.