Once More a Traveler
[ Day 2 – June 14, 2012 ]
I woke up early, hoping to beat the midday high temperatures across the Central Valley. Back on the road, I continued my descent through Del Puerto Canyon. The narrow roadway dropped about 1,000 feet over 20 miles, through ranch land that suggested a way of life far removed from that of the cities nearby. As the scenery became less and less familiar, I found myself paying better and better attention. I felt like a traveler once more.
The town of Patterson marked my arrival into the valley. Like most coastal Californians, I’d spent very little time in the state’s interior, driving from San Francisco to the Sierras the way one might fly from California to New York: my attention narrowed by my desire to arrive, my layovers brief and businesslike.
Expecting the same flat, hot, muted experience that I’d had by car, I was pleasantly surprised by my experience on two wheels. The roads were clean, smooth, and well maintained, and the surroundings offered plenty of food for thought. Patterson appeared to be reconciling its agricultural heritage with a rising tide of exurban development: a cluster of fast food franchises along I-5 gave way to a mass of earth-tone, cookie-cutter homes, which soon yielded to the bubbling irrigation canals and varied plots that help make California the most productive agricultural region in the world.
With a gentle breeze to my back, I made better time than I had expected, and did so in better spirits. I’d ridden 60 miles and reached my intended destination by early afternoon, opting to continue towards Mariposa. It would add another 36 miles and some 2,000 feet of climbing—a foolish extension—but I felt good.
To balance out the morning descent, I made my way up the other side of the valley. The ranch land of Mariposa County proved every bit as beautiful as its western counterpart, but felt even emptier—roadside cows outnumbered the passing cars by a wide margin. I rode quietly but steadily, the late afternoon heat my only companion.
I arrived at the county fairgrounds exhausted, but in one piece.
[ Daily Miles: 100 ] [ Total Miles: 150 ]