Today is a special day for me. It would have been the 100th birthday of my father. He was a wonderful person who helped to shape me into the person I am today and is very badly missed.
It was also a day when Mary and I both felt that the wisdom we have gained through the years really paid off.
We began the day with a 26 mile ride to and from our motel in Porterville bringing our total of riding to 416.
We then drove up the mountains again this time to the Giant Sequoia Forest and Park. The climb was more than 7000 verticle feet and the road was not great for bikers most of the way. There was even one section where the road is under construction with just one way traffic allowed through once per hour and I don't believe they would have let us bike through there at all. On top of that, there was sereve fog (really clouds) in many areas where it was difficult to see even 20 feet in front which wouldn't have been all that bad for a biker going up but would have made us virtually invisible to drivers and palced us at high risk. Over the years, I have learned that sometimes it is best to listen to the advice you would give others and follow it yourself and this was certainly one of those occasions.
We enjoyed the huge Sequoias and had a great day. We did meet our first other bikers on the route. There was a young couple from Whithorse BC who have been south bound since mid April. They have also encountered many problems with weather, closed roads etc and have had to make some serious detours. I think we have made a very wise decision.
Tomorrow, we will drive to the entrance of Yosemite and hope to ride the loop road through the Park. This will give us a chance to really feel the Park and take some short hikes to see some of the sights.
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