Day 73: Side Questing to the Extreme

Placerville, CA to Sacramento, CA

54.2mi, 1508 ft

The Spokies awoke one by one in what started off as a slow, bum morning in a church in Placerville, unaware of what the day ahead had in store. Previously someone had made plans to do a scavanger hunt one of these days and Ruth had now convinced Greta that today was the day. So, after calls home, breakfast and packing, we lingered a bit longer in the lot by the church, while Greta flushed out the hunt. Once Greta was done with her scoreboard, we split off in teams for the competitive spirit and after some brief scheming set off. 54.2 miles with very little climbing created the perfect atmosphere for a unserious day full of side quests.

I was teamed up with Ruth and Joseph. Our plan was to hit a CVS in Skinners to get hair dye and enact a break-up, then go to rest stop 1 to jump in a lake, maybe find a secluded area for skinny dipping and choreograph a dance. Then find a car wash, hopefully neighbouring a gas station to wash our bikes and get that winning scratch-off. Finally, get some ice cream with sun glasses upside down, introducing yourself as Latvian and grabbing the ice cream by the scoop. For on the way tasks we could do the secret handshake, stranger selfies and other bits. At the end of the day we would run the last 0.5 miles. Writing this all down, it sounds like way too much, but at the time it seemed completely doable. Our cycling days were always long, so what’s a little side quest here and there?

Well, we ended up arriving to our first rest stop 19.4 miles out a whooping 5 hours later. But, Ruth and Ishaq met a bunch of strangers and took selfies with them. My team (the best team) staged a couple’s fight in a CVS, got some merch from a dollar store and acquired an additional team member – Tian. The other team (the second best team) had gotten some ice cream and probably went on some other side quests I have not been briefed about. Anyway, at the first rest stop – a cafe, where the lovely barista filled all of our bottles with ice water – Greta instated a time limit for the next stretch. That’s really when the day picked up pace. It was time to pedal and be efficient about completing our tasks. 

We schemed some more, performed a choerographed dance, Joseph chugged half a gallon of oat milk, Charles downed three cans of Sprite and we struggled to land a bottle flip while cycling. Then we set off to find a place to swim. But on our way we first ran into a car wash and a gas station, so that was nice. Eventually we made it to a park, where we found a nice swimming spot, jumped in the lake and went skinning dipping. Then we pedaled off in a hurry to make it to our second (and final) rest stop in time.

Despite the high pedalling output to keep on schedule, the ride was very enjoyable. The warm weather had stopped bothering me after the swim and snacks from the car kept me fueled. I honestly am not quite sure anymore what tasks we tried to do afterwards, or what the other team was up to. It was a day overflowing with events, a whirlwind that made us forget time, blew us up in the air to land someplace else with a different agenda. Everyone was in high spirits when we finally arrived in Sacramento to our hosts Ray and Judy.

After showers we rewinded with pasta dinner, completed with tomato sauce and vegetables grown in the yard. The hunt dominated the dinner table discussion, everyone was excited to share their adventures. Judy and Ray’s home was stunning, which I will be able to confirm the next morning, when it was light outside again. An absolutely soul-filling experience – a day to fly through and an evening to feel grounded again.

Afterwards, I basically crashed into the bed, but some Spokies stayed up and discussed next day’s plan’s. But more about that in the next blog which Charles will be writing up soon!