Davis, CA to Fallon, NV

Hi – this is Ken here. I am posting the Days 2 – 5, i.e. Davis to Fallon, blog for the Biers-Ariel family. They wrote this on 12 June in Fallon, NV. What follow are their exact words. My comments are exclusively in parentheses…. you might want to read this fast... before they edit it all away...

(This is Yonah writing.) Today is the third day of our ride and our last night in California. Tomorrow we’re going to go over the Sierras at Carson Pass and into Nevada. Today was a short (remember, these are “hoss” riders, what they call ”short” would put most of us in the hospital – ken ) day, about 40 miles, but we gained over 6,000 feet of elevation. Mark and Sharon really helped out, not only did they carry the vast majority of our gear, but they also helped give us directions. My dad said that we would be fine (Yeah, right, Matt – ken) without their guidance, and he’s probably right, but I’m still not sure. Now that they are gone, I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Ken has been riding with us for the past two days and has created the pancreas joke. My mom was talking about metabolizing our muscles while Solomon was running around a couple of days ago when Ken commented, “Well, Solly, you better slow down. You just digested your pancreas. “ Now all of us are talking about how we wish we had our pancreases or how we are going to eat a Clif Bar to save our pancreases. Or how that chocolate bar sure tasted better than my pancrease, etc. It’ll be sad when Ken leaves and we have to start recycling old pancreas jokes.
This was Yonah speaking.

(This is from Matt, as he downs an ice cold Sierra Nevada ale – sort of ironic in that he just spent 2 days kicking the Sierra Nevada’s butt by crossing it – ken.) Fallon, Nevada. 300 miles from San Francisco. We’re feeling really good and strong. One mile short of the Carson Pass, a truck pulled over and asked us if we were the family traveling from Davis. The weight of the bikes and panniers are extreme. I didn’t think we could make it over the mountains, but Yonah is so strong and Solomon is giving his all when we need it.
It’s an awesome trip so far. We wish you could all be here.

This just in from Djina:
Just a quickie from Fallon. Betty has come to take Ken home and we are all so sad to see him go (No, no! I didn’t add that, Djina really typed it.. – ken) . I tried to cheer Solomon up by saying “I see a hot fudge sundae in you future when we get to Fallon” and he looked sad and said “yeah, but that is where Ken leaves”.
We are all still going strong. Yonah is becoming an animal on the bike (Now THAT’S an understatement! Yonah powers along, easily keeping or setting the pace, despite the daily additions to the load he is carrying. By the end of the trip, he’ll be carrying all the gear AND pulling Djina’s trailer – ken.). They both love writing in their journals in the evening. I have been using the Solar charger to keep Solly’s ipod in action so my cell phone is out of juice. (Wise woman, that Djina – given the choice of keeping an iPod or a cell phone alive, she had made the right choice – ken).
We have been swimming in rivers and reservoirs so no smelly jokes (While the former part of that is true, the latter is debatable; when I got home and opened my trailer, the stench startled the family but let’s not let on about that – ken.). Going over the Sierras was so incredibly beautiful..like a dream…my work this whole trip is to “stand and be astonished”. (- before you get all misty eyed about the literary prowess of the Biers- Ariel family, you should know that Djina stole that line from a Mary Oliver poem – ken).
I only have 5 more min. of writing so just the highlights. Well, that’s it, times up. More later. I’ll just say that the first day kicked all our butts and we were never so happy to see anyone as when Mark Schwartz showed up with the van on our arrival to Placerville and spirited us away to the camp site where Sharon was waiting, looking like one of the Supremes (more like a back-up singer for Ray Charles or a front woman for Devo but let’s not split hairs – ken), cooking a gourmet meal on a one burner Coleman stove (Two burner Djina.. – ken). Eli and Ari were also part of the Amazing Sag From Heaven (they cannot say enough about the amazing job that Mark, Sharon, Eli and Ari did – the campsite was all set to go and the dinner and breakfast was as righteous as Sharon’s outfit… - ken).
Ok, I’m getting yelled (no one was paying attention to Djina, let alone raising their voice, she just wants to stop and eat, that’s all – ken) at now so I’ll write more later.
Love,
Djina