Sacramento to Pioneer

Today was quite challenging and we got to see all kinds of terrain through the day!  We started off in Sacramento and went along a river on a bike path for quite a ways.  It wasn’t a rail-trail, so it had more hills and bumps than a rail trail does.  It was beautiful and a fun ride.

Morning circle up and devotions: The Rag Man
Along the river

We began our climb out of the valley and got up to some high prairie lands.  As we were coming out of Folsom, we were looking for a road called Prairie City.  I did not know there were any prairies out here.  There were a couple of stretches when we had a headwind, so that added a bit more to the challenge.

Rest stop in the high prairie

Pioneer is a little town in the foothills (?) of the Sierra Nevadas.  I decided to take the sag wagon in to our destination after about 46 miles of riding.  I was not the only one, and I was glad I did once I saw the parts that I was missing.  Probably about a third of the participants took the sag wagon.

Our destination: Sierra Baptist Church in Pioneer, CA
Anybody know what kind of pine tree has this bark? I love trees

I got to ride with Macy today, and really enjoyed visiting with her during that time.  I started to let some negative self-talk into my head–also one of the major challenges of a trip like this–but Macy was pretty good at helping me through it.

Tomorrow is a doozy of a day, up into South Lake Tahoe.  I honestly don’t know if I will be able to do it.