Day 6: Egg Rolls & Google Maps

Before you watch TMZ tonight, we want to set the rumors straight: Yes, the seven of us did in fact change the route for the 2010 Ride Against Aids.

Salivating for a different taste of America than last year’s riders, we chose to push the route a bit north because we felt that it would allow us to see a more diverse landscape and it would offer us more opportunities to spread the message of Face AIDS. Please click the link to the left to see our route!

As you can already tell, most of our time during this rest day in the metropolis of Fallon, Nevada was spent planning the next two months of travel. We spent over 15 hours today (and many hours over the last five days) hammering out each day of our trip and so we missed some the highlights on Fallon’s extensive wikipedia page. By far, the highlight of the day came in Claire’s duel with the Church showers to see if she could make it out of Fallon without submitting to the cleansing nature of the holy water. Sadly for our group, Claire won (Just kidding, after reading this post, Claire scurried to the sink). Other accomplishment were found academically today, as the frugal and intellectual Jason Lupatkin taught Zane about sales taxes (not every state is as asinine as California and charges 9%) and how to respond to an incompetent worker at a fast food restaurant who charges you $3.50 for some egg rolls that you did not order.

Today helped us establish a tangible goal for our summer. We can now visualize our journey ahead, and we hope to set up more presentations along our new route. If you have any contacts in the cities listed or could help us in finding a presentation in a given state, please contact us at clfisher@stanford.edu.

Well with 111 miles straight into the desert tomorrow, we have to go pack up our camelbacks, fill our water bottle, and hope that Shane can do a rain dance (all Indians can do rain dances right?). Wish us luck!

Day 5: An Oasis in Nevada

Apparently, the best way to overcome claustrophobia is by biking 62 miles into the empty desert commonly known as the state of Nevada.

Our $35.99 Motel 6 room was packed to the brim with bikes and limbs as we arose this morning to attempt a stretch. Two riders had chosen to sleep in the car, but with five college students, seven bikes, and seven suitcases, the room was a tad cozier than most comfort levels. Momma’ Fish was too tired to wake everyone up with a breakfast bell this morning, so each of us woke up at separate times to contort our ways out of the room to grab a bagel from the van.

By 9:30 we were all dressed and preparing to begin the days ride to Fallon, Nevada, but drama began earlier than in an episode of Lost, when an unnamed rider from NYC lost the keys to the van. Due to this, the ride was started in waves, with Mike, Shane and Sanford leaving early, and Claire, Jason, and Zane sifting through the van to look for the keys – which obviously wound up being found in the Jason’s pants.

Throughout the day’s ride the team put miles of asphalt in-between one another, making the 62 mile trek a mostly solitary one. Thankfully, however, our riders were able to find some companionship (or relief from boredom) in their iPods. Shane, listening to Rascal Flatts, missed the irony of the situation and could not fathom why anybody would consider life a highway. Jason, the hardcore, raw, lyricist from the mean streets of the Upper East Side decided to spice up his ride with the thus far underplayed catchy jingles of Shakira. And, Sanford, the Texan who claims bird listening as one of his activities on Facebook, decided that the desert was his second home and chose to bike Route 50 in silence (Let it be noted that his decision not to use his iPod was tremendously regretted).

Fallon was the roadrunner today, and each of us was a Wiley Coyote aimlessly pedaling again and again to hunt the down the city, only to be fouled by the tricks of the sun. Each turn laid out miles of road to be covered. At times, the sun shone so bright that it was nearly impossible to tell where the road ended and the sky began. Although the trip required less than 4 hours of travel, this desert could outfox Erwin Rommel himself, and made the journey seem exponentially longer.

Once in Fallon, we refreshed ourselves with some Sonic and were taken in by the lovely staff at Epworth Methodist Church who provided us with lodging, dinner, and a warm shower. The traditional post ride group nap was longer than usual today and Shane’s pleas to go to Karaoke night at the local Saloon was democratically vetoed. Who knows though, with 5 nights left in Nevada, and Vegas only 390 miles away, anything is possible.

Parental units: be ready to check the credit card statements.

Day 4: Is This Seriously a Capital City?

Grimacing from sore quads and night terrors of the Sierra Mountains, our team sleep-crawled onto our bikes and rolled out of South Lake Tahoe around 9:30 this morning - much later than Moma' Claire's breakfast bell at 6:30. We took off with the expectation that today's 30-mile ride to Carson City, Nevada would be a short trek, and from our gathered topographical readings (yes, I did just say topographical in context) we surmised that the brute of it would be downhill. With Shane ahead in the Mystery Machine, the delicate view of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding mountains was soon washed away by a beautiful gift from Mother nature: 1000 more feet of climbing spread out over 10 miles. Pushing ourselves to scale the mountain after nearly 12 hours of climbing yesterday, the only thing ameliorating the inclines was our newly purchased "Butt Cream." Add that one to the shopping list. Seriously...

Anyway, as the story goes, the indomitable Zane was the first to claw his way up the mountain, and, surrounded by unadulterated evergreens on either side, our group pulled it together and made the climb. As amends for her punishments, Lady Luck graciously gave us downhill, no-pedal riding for the last 15 miles to Carson City. Leading the charge down the Nevada side of the Sierras was Sanford with a group all time high of 44mph. However, knowing Jason and Zane's competitive nature, someone will be injured in the near future trying to break that record, and we can only hope that Shane's Indian genes will kick in to action to aid them in a quick recovery. Jai Ho!

For those of you who have been to Carson City, which I pray is very few of you, why did you come here? This bustling capital city is home to an overpopulated 50,000 people and its virtuous, historic, capital building is a few blocks down from "Casino Fandango." Seriously Carson City? Seriously? Casino Fandango? In disbelief, our group set off to find lunch and a place to stay for the night. The New Yorker managed to use his street sense and bartering skills to get us a discounted hotel room, but the Man of the Match was given to the small (not in stature) businessman from rural Toledo, Ohio who convinced the lovely staff at The Firkin & Fox Pub to give the entire team a free meal. No alcoholic drinks we're served.

After lunch our group collapsed on top of each other and took naps in the van and on our hotel beds. The day ended with a clutch purchase of a massager at Costco (from Shane to Mom: Ok, I know it is a ridiculous purchase for the credit card, but at least I was being cost effective) and a team dinner at "The Naked Fish," a sushi restaurant in South Lake Tahoe. It is rumored that Claire Fisher purchased a "Naked Fish" sweatshirt, but there has been no confirmation on that as of yet.
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Day 3: US Route 50

Before beginning today's blog, we would like to first thank Marty Clevenger who wasn't mentioned in last night's post. Marty offered us invaluable advice on planning today's route and provided us with much needed supplies. Additionally, Al Snowdon, another friend of the Garton family, helped us find a place to stay for our night in South Lake Tahoe, and after warm showers and cozying up into our own beds we must say that we are forever grateful. Thanks!

And on to our story...

We set off this morning from the Garton household trying to think of excuses to just turn around: We were unconditionally treated like family for a night, and saying goodbye so soon made Shane reminisce on his hundreds of past relationship failures. As we left Folsom Lake, our first major stretch of biking took us bobble heading up and down Green Valley Road, parallel to US 50. A scenic and yet extremely challenge ride, Green Valley provided our rested legs with a much-needed warmup.

A challenging, yet doable climb, Green Valley Road eventually led us to the historic Pony Express Trail. With Buffalo Bill on our minds, we trekked along, sans mail bags, down the path. Pony Express was perhaps the last true fun of the day, as we were forced to carrying our bikes uphill to Route 50 and prepare, 40 miles into the day, for the toughest portion of the ride we have yet encountered. In preparation for the climb, we stopped at a rest stop along 50 for lunch and advice.

Finally, we were ready for the 50 mile trek into South Lake Tahoe. Shane and Kirsten led the climb for the first leg, a la Tour de France, but Shane was soon distracted by the awe-inspiring scenery offer from mountain men to fill his camelback with moonshine. Jason took the yellow jersey for the rest of the day, leading the pack by 20 minutes--move over Lance! Meanwhile, Zane and Claire took the time to get to know one another as they critiqued different energy products and drinks. Eventually, the entire group reached the final peak, albeit with frozen toes and nearly useless Oakleys, unable to stop the reflective glare from the sun off of the snow. Sanford, tired of the particularly un-Texan cold at the 7000ft elevation, began to descend down the beautiful but potentially dangerous path to South Lake Tahoe.

Eventually, the group reunited at the base of the mountains at a McDonald's, where Maria the Manager was surprised by the sight of seven weary bikers using the front lawn as a bed. The team soon made its way to the house, only to find Mike relaxing comfortably after his day of rest. Overall, the team cycled 94.93 miles from Folsom to South Lake Tahoe--a fine effort indeed!


Once again, special thanks to Al, Marty, the Gartons, and a wish of good health to Mike's Uncle!

Good night moon.

Day 2: Margarita Shots and Cornhole

Waking up to the tantalizing shrieks of a crow outside our tent may have been the best way to put our trip in perspective: After twelve hours of biking and a seemingly impossible 100 miles completed, we still had 4347 to go.

So with heavy hearts and the thoughts of a warm breakfast cooked by mom on our minds, we saddled up and began our day’s journey to Folsom, California (45 miles away from camp). The route took us through downtown Sacramento and we crossed the Tower Bridge, taking a nice group photo while waiting for the drawbridge to fall. After enjoying a great view of the palace of efficiency that is the Capitol Building of California, we made a left turn on Front Street, passed through Old Sacramento, and found ourselves on the scenic American River Bike Path that would prove to be our home for the next 30 miles.

Following the river up through Lake Natoma, we found ourselves cruising along winding pathways and gazing into the natural American beauty that Jason only dreamed about from his bedroom window in Manhattan. The trail picked us up in Sacramento, teased us alongside happy-go-lucky teenagers rafting down the river, and spit us out just 3 miles from our day's rest stop at the Garton residence.

From 3:00pm until 6:30am, Michael & Donna Garton gave us a home -- not just a shelter, but a family. From the minute they met our team of seven strangers, we were embraced with food, our own beds, and the warm hug of a loving mother. Mr. Garton went as far as to call a friend at Bicycles Plus where we received friendly, all-encompassing service on our bruised egos and beat up bikes. Going again above and beyond, Mrs. Garton cooked the perfect dinner with enough food to outlast even Zane's appetite. Cornhole (a backyard bean bag tossing game of sorts) is the family sport of the Garton's, and even after a day of gratitude, the two Midwestern riders, Kristen and Shane, felt no shame in showing the Californian's how to really play the game. A night of laughs quickly wound down to birthday pie for Kristen (yes, we checked her birth certificate to make sure she was actually 22), magic tricks by Mike, and the dismay of the gathered family and friends in realizing that the "Margarita Shots" we packed we're simply Clif Energy Gummies and had a Tequilla content of 0%.

"We brought you into this home and love helping you all along your journey because we believe in what you are doing." As the day started with perspectives, the day ended the same. We we're just two days into our excursion, but somehow we had already taken a snapshot of the pure, innate love and beauty that resounds through this land and the citizens that call it home.

Day 1: The Garden of Eden

100 miles down...4347 to go...


Travel:What a day! After dipping our tires into the Pacific Ocean, the seven of us tore off along the Pacific Coastline for an unpredictably eventful day. With family watching and Romy fretting, we biked along the scenic coast under overcast skies for a a few hours, attempted to follow scribbled directions provided to us by the ever-selfless Austin Keeley. When it became apparent that the directions were faulty (not to mention illegible) our team moved to a more modern innovation for navigational support: the iPhone. Despite an unlucky first hour that included four punctured tires (known as tubes) and a few wrong turns, the 2010 FACE AIDS Bike Team fought their way to the outskirts of downtown San Francisco by 12:00PM, and rode as fast as they could to Pier 41 to board the 12:45 ferry that would take them to Vallejo.

In the rush, however, our energetic team was accidentally split into three groups, one of four riders, a pair, and a lone wolf, all attempting to make the departure time. Granting new meaning to the seemingly archaic "trolley dodger" description from the Brooklyn of yore, Shane, Claire, Sanford, and Jason led the charge down Mission Street. Meanwhile, Kirsten and Mike chose to take a more scenic route of San Francisco, touring the city that our Stanford representatives have become familiar with in the past year. On his own was the indomitable Zane, who blazed his own path to the ferry via alleyways and rooftops. In the end, our heroes made it to the ferry with moments to spare, all reuniting on the gangway. Zane volunteered to be the afternoon's driver and he sped off in our white van known as the Mystery Machine.

After a relaxing ferry ride, we chose to bike 20 miles to Fairfield before breaking for lunch. With cows roadside and an awe-inspiring landscape to distract team navigators, we took a somewhat circuitous route to lunch, stopping on W. Texas road in Fairfield and chatting with extremely friendly locals enjoying cool refreshments. During lunch our adventurers ambitiously decided to bike all the way to their campsite in West Sacramento, a journey of 75 miles in the afternoon. Watching Zane drive away from the lunch break in the van was both sombering and exciting as we clipped in (or tried to) for the long journey ahead.

While extremely difficult and long, the afternoon ride proved to be the most rewarding of the day. Filled with intellectual discussion with the law enforcement and long, flat roads through the scenic California countryside, our team was able to take in the breathtaking beauty of the state Woody Guthrie dubbed the "Garden of Eden." Finally, with tired quads and without water, our team arrived at its campsite outside of Sacramento to the pleasing view of Zane preparing a burger dinner only fit for the likes of our Face Aids Team leader Dave Evans.

"Wait... we leave tomorrow?"

At 6:45 tomorrow morning the seven of us will depart the breathtaking country club known as Stanford University and embark on our 67 day quest across the country. To be honest, we are a bit nervous and had to scramble to try to finish up the final preparations, but the car is loaded, the gas tank is full, and tomorrow our childlike excitement will force out any last jitters.

The blog will be inundated with pictures and videos to check up on over the next couple days so keep a look out!

Tomorrow is starting now....