2014_07_19

1 Getting an early start.	2 11AM and already we are seeking shade at every opportunity.	3 90+ in the shade, they say.	4 Out on the pavement, the bike says more.	5 Lunch. Not pictured -- air conditioning in the restaurant.	6 Adam got a shrimp salad kind of thing. Braver than I am.
7 103 is about the upper limit of "this isn't TOO bad."	8 4.3 gallons for 187 miles = 43 mpg. Not bad for a big bike.	9 We were hoping that as we got into the hills (Mariposa here) it would cool down, but the heat was not giving up that easily.	10 Mammoth Mountain Inn at last. This is the bar and grill. Kind of quiet and closed before 9. Must be more of a winter season thing.	11 The mountain. The lift stopped running at 6:30, right after we pulled in.	12 The main hotel. We were next door. Not a bad old place.
13 Rib eye was tasty. Onion rings were pretty good. Baked potato was curiously bad.	14 Adam seemed happy with his burger.	15 Hey look, the washcloths are in the shape of an eleph... oh, yeah, the shape of a mammoth.	16 Caffeinated and ready to go at 8AM on Sunday morning. Only one problem.	17 May not look like it, but that tire is quite flat.	18 See that silver dot around mid-tire? That's a problem.
19 Mountain biking keeps the resort open in the summer, so it stands to reason there should be a mountain bike shop on the premises, with pumps. They let us borrow this deal and we made it the 5 miles down the road into town.	20 The Chevron station mini mart was already open at 8. And they had what we needed. Pretty lucky.	21 Problem solved for six bucks.	22 Even the service bay was open so we were able to borrow a tool.	23 Nasty little shard of something. Finger for scale.	24 Once the foreign object was removed, the tire was well and truly flat.
25 Both of us wondered at this point why the original equipment tool kits no longer contain even a cheap pair of pliers.	26 Plugged, with excess trimmed. Does your neighborhood gas station have an air compressor that works, and is free? If you move to Mammoth Lakes, it does.	27 This place sold Adam a pump in case we needed to add air to the tire out where well appointed Chevron stations are few and far between.	28 They also rent heck off downhill bikes.	29 Checking out a vista on the Sonora Pass road.	30 Lunch near Pinecrest. This was the day's special. It was a little dry. Pretty generous portion of the pulled pork though. I couldn't finish it.
31 We'll leave the name of the restuarant as an excercise for the reader.	32 105 and up is a bit beyond "this isn't so bad." We spent a couple hours each day in these conditions and my two goals were to hydrate enough to keep sweating, and to keep moving so the sweat could evaporate. That worked out pretty well.	33 Once we were close to completing the loop on day two, we were riding roads we'd ridden in the other direction the day before and the bravery level went up a bit. Not bad chicken strips for a big bike.	34 Another shot from this same point for the collection.	35 Full gear in triple digit temps requires neckwear that can be soaked in water for evaporative cooling.	36 Many lightning induced fires lately in Yosemite.
37 Hydro power dam.	38 Mono Lake overlook. First time we'll be hitting an interstate on the trip so far. 20 miles to Mammoth where we've got some hotel rooms.	39 Scenic overlook off of Sonora Pass (Hwy 108).