Day 62

7/16/16 Kirkwood, CA to Folsom, CA, about 84 miles.  Woke up this morning in the Sierra Nevada, a beautiful place to wake up, with a huge descent ahead of me.  I had spent most of Kansas and eastern Colorado climbing up to over 4,000 feet of elevation, and the day prior climbing another 4,000 feet to over 8,000 feet of elevation, only to lose almost all of it and return to near sea level in a single descent from the Sierra Nevada.  Then, about two miles into my ride, my rear derailleur cable snapped.  This means that my rear gear was forced into the highest gear, rendering my bike basically useless.  I was fortunate to have bought spare cables back in Damascus, VA on someone's advice, but I had never replaced a cable before.  I spent the next hour and a half trying to figure out how to switch a cable by trying new things and unscrewing all kinds of parts, as lack of cell service in the mountains removed the lifeline of phoning a friend or using Google.  Finally I figured out how to replace the cable, and it worked!  My bike was rideable once again.  I continued my way down the mountain, flying past breathtaking vistas on my way into California's San Joaquin Valley.  Finally, at about 70 miles into my ride, just outside of a town called El Dorado Hills a suburb of Sacramento, I ran into a wonderful strip mall with a Peet's coffee shop.  I had an excellent iced latte there and celebrated the success of making it to the urban parts of California.  I continued on down beautiful roads towards Folsom, where I'm being hosted by a family, the mom and dad having ridden across the country back in 1994.