Riding in a Windy Wonderland

I just wanted to start out by saying pictures are coming in a couple days - once I can use my friends computer in LA.

Now, today was a short 26 mile day. It was supposed to be 30 miles longer, but the wind advisory apparently got extended and it became unsafe to ride.

I started with a nice leisurely ride across town. I then turned south and began a 16 mile climb of around 5,000 elevation gain. I stopped at a visitors center before leaving town and met quite a few people who were interested in my trip. It was quite encouraging. I actually used to live in the same town as one of them, here in LA. Their reactions to the road ahead as well as all the wonderful signs -- steep grades and sharp curves ahead - turn off a/c to avoid overheating -- made me wary of the road ahead. Especially after all my climbing the last few days. Turns out my rest day helped a little.

I began the climb from the visitor center and kept a pretty steady pace. There was a Vista about 8 miles up and I stopped to see what I had accomplished so far. (picture soon) I ended up meeting some people from Lincoln, ne. Small world. I then continued on and came to a construction zone.

It was down to one lane for tarring so I was able to ride pretty much all through it in my own lane. This became necessary towards the end of the section. The winds had slowly been picking up and now they were to where they blew me all over the road. I eventually had to walk for safety sake. At one point I was riding and the wind started blowing me backwards while I was still pedaling. I got off and held the brakes and leaned over while standing still to let it pass and it nearly blew my sunglasses off. Once it let up I stored my sunglasses and walked for quite a while. I tried to hitchike but no one had the right vehicle or would stop at the time. I pushed a bit farther and got to a forest service campground. I decided i would stay here for everyone's sake and hopefully have less troubles with the wind tomorrow.