Day #32: Body Parts in a Pannier

Today's Route: Quincy, CA to Childs Meadow RV Resort (9 miles S of Lassen National Park) (66 miles)
Total Trip Miles: 1,335

The day started out wonderfully. We rode two miles into Quincy, stocked up on groceries for the next few days, and then spent an hour or so at a coffee shop. I ordered a pot of Jasmine tea. Yum!

My pot of Jasmine tea.

We chatted with the coffee shop proprietor for awhile. As it turns out, he spent forty or so years in Seattle prior to moving out to Quincy just a year ago to open the coffee shop. His wife's family is from the Quincy area, and her wanting to be closer to her family was the main impetus for the move.

When the coffee shop owner was in Seattle, he worked in real estate. One of his jobs was to help Amazon employees relocate to Seattle. Alex and I mentioned that we both used to work at Amazon. It's a small world, I tell you.

Both Alex and I used the restroom before we got back on the bikes.

At mile three, I needed to take an emergency tea pee break.

At mile four, I again needed to take an emergency tea pee break. I guess these things happen when one drinks a whole pot of tea and has a bladder as small as mine.

By mile five, I wasn't feeling well. That not-feeling-well feeling lasted for the remainder of the day.

Had I been able to selectively remove certain body parts and place them in my panniers to rest for the day, the ride would have been just dandy. The body parts and their ailments are listed below:

• Reproductive organs --> cramps
• Stomach --> nauseous
• Eyes --> overly sensitive to the sun
• Ears --> overly sensitive to noise (particularly the endless stream of logging trucks)
• Tongue --> dry and cotton-like, regardless of how much I hydrated
• Mood --> sour (refer to prior bullet points)

Alas, letting these body take an inactive role in today's ride was not an option. So, what did I do? I kept my eyes aimed on the road, a few feet in front of my tire, and I just pedaled. All day long. For 61 more miles.

I don't recall much of the ride. At the end of the day, I noticed a few photos from today on my camera. So I must have taken my eyes off the road at least a few times.

Riding along Indian Creek.

Approaching a bend in the road and seeing a view of Lassen for the first time -- front and center.

Leaving another note for Randy.

As there were no proper summits today, we left a note on a PCT crossing sign,
which happened to be at the top of a climb.

Fortunately, my lungs felt just fine today -- intake and outtake was of no issue.

My legs were also peachy. They were on autopilot, continuing to move the pedals round-and-round in circles.

Also on autopilot was my right hand, which moved the chain among the various cogs at just the right time.
Although my left hand wasn't bothering me, it was lazy today, and so it didn't bother to ever shift out of the middle chain ring. My right knee is a little peeved by this, as it would have appreciated the smaller chainring on some of the climbs. (The right knee is being appeased with an ibuprofen this evening.)

As we approached our camp for the evening, we saw these signs on the side of the road:

Indeed, I'm tired.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Bikers! That's us!

It's as if the camp owners could read my mind! Although the signs appear to be painted, I'm convinced that the camp owners are psychic and are able to digitally feed relevant messages to the signs as certain people pass by.

Admittedly, this has been my least enjoyable day on this trip. The way I look at it, though, the lows are an important part of appreciating the highs. And to have one low day out of 32 days ain't too shabby.

I'm getting to bed earlier than usual tonight in hopes that my reproductive organs, stomach, eyes, ears, throat, and mood will all return to their usual states overnight. Tomorrow is a big day -- we ride through Lassen Volcanic National Park -- and so I need these body parts to function properly so that I can fully appreciate the ride.

If the body parts aren't back to normal tomorrow, I very well might get out my Swiss Army knife, do some crude dismemberment, and just pack up my body parts in the panniers to be dealt with at a later time. For reals. Yes, body parts, that is a threat! So please behave!