Day 19 :

I'd like to thank Mary Jane (my bike of course) , excision, and salt water taffy for getting me through this day. It was a tough one

Had a slow start getting out of Redding. There was bike maintenance, a grocery store stop, and a post office run to mail home some stuff I can live without. I got rid of 8lbs!

The day was clear and hot. Not a cloud in the sky for shelter, but occasionally I would get a shadow from a tree for shade. At least I remembered sunblock this morning.

I have been climbing all day. Not even a slow incline, just one hill after another, after another, getting higher and higher.

Toward the end of my day I was starving. I stopped at the top of the hill to take a water break. Through some trees i saw a Taco Bell sign. Someone had nailed it to their shed. I know I was in the middle of nowhere , but for fraction of a second I was so happy. bizarre.

A bus blew a tire right in front of me. Pieces of tire flying everywhere. That was really scary!

I stopped at a fantastic, little shop on the side of the road. I'm not even sure where it was. Kind of in the middle of nowhere. It was a whimsical yard ornament / candy store. I bought some candy to fuel my journey, then stayed for awhile and talked to two pleasant older gentlemen. Bill and Jim.

Jim offered me to set up my tent out front. I do not know why I didn't take him up on that. Yes I do, its because I thought I needed to go further . About an hour later I was exhausted, and for the first time in 19 days I started chaffing. Boy do i regret that decision. The irony behind this is, since I haven't had this problem I put the chafing cream in the box I sent home today.

With about 2500 more feet to climb, and some extreme uncomfortableness in my region down below. Tomorrow may be dreadful.Read more