Day 14: Nevada City CA to Mariposa CA

Nevada City CA to Mariposa CA - 200 miles

Second to last day on the road - a light day tooling down Hwy 49 following the gold rush trail thru Northern California. 

While washing our bikes the night before, we met a great grandmother with was with her extended family that has been doing family reunions in Nevada City for years. She was our biggest fans for riding, and loved our bikes. After a few conversations, she asked "I hope you are ok with me asking, but are you two doctors or nurses ?" As a tech dork, this was a big compliment for me. Kate also worked in technology (at UCSF). We did find that the 3 of us all had something in common - health care. Great Grandma is a retired therapist (...but I cannot remember which kind - speech perhaps). 

One of the wonderful parts of these rides is the amazing people we meet from all parts of the world.

We started the day with a wonderful breakfast at Three Forks (both dinner last night and breakfast were just amazing), and then hopped on 49 south.

We had to deal with a lot of strip malls and rush hour traffic all the way thru to the other side of Folsom. But once we got out into the country, 49 was one sweeper after another. I posted a video "montage" of 49 below.

State Route 49 is a north–south state highway in California that passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush and it is known as the Golden Chain Highway. The highway's creation was lobbied by the Mother Lode Highway Association, a group of locals and historians seeking a single highway to connect many relevant locations along the Gold Rush to honor the 49ers. 

One of the towns we passed thru was Jackson, which has a very quaint downtown. We needed a break from the heat (it would hit 104 degrees), so we got off the bikes....and found the ice cream shop ! Kate got a vanilla milkshake and my Espresso Chip was outstanding:

This shop also had HUNDREDS of puzzles for sale.

The National Hotel in Jackson. 

In 1849, at the dawn of the California Gold Rush, two Pennsylvania natives, Ellis Evans and D.C. White, with a fortune they amassed manufacturing cotton gins in Louisiana, made their way to California, where they built a general store at the south end of Main Street, on Jackson Creek. Three years later, that store became The Louisiana Hotel and Store. After a fire in 1862, Evans and White rebuilt and expanded, calling their new establishment the National Hotel.

Almost all of the buildings in Jackson have plaques describing their history - I foiund Ernesto Gallo's birthplace !

The last 20 miles of Hwy 49 coming into Mariposa cross a pass, with severe drops off the road way and no guardrails. Here is a satellite view of this hot mess:

Many of you know I have a pretty significant fear of heights, which I take medication for which brings my "fear" back in line with what a normal person would experience. But the meds don't work if I don't take them an hour before I get myself in this kind of situation. And I did not take my meds prior to heading out on 49. So that last 20 miles involved a lot of panic and I was exhausted when we got to the hotel:

After we cleaned up, we headed to a local hangout called the Hideaway. It was a basement bar with dollar bills tacked to every available surface ! The beer was cold and the bar fare hit the spot. Notice the boulder wall on the left - this building has been around for a LONG time:

Part of the Hideaway ceiling:

And now for some videos....

El Dorado Hills Road - a fun connector to 49 (1:46):

Hwy 49 compilation - note Don Pedro Lake a the beginning and the Hydro Power plant at the end (1:12):

Kate doing some kind of motorcycle interpretive dance on Hwy 49 (1:08)

Finally, the beginning of the climb up and over the pass on 49; I was still OK here - about a mile up the road, and another 1k ft in elevation, I started falling apart (1:13):

Our route for the day; tomorrow we head back to home & reality.