Lakeview to Alturas

After a great night in Lakeview, we got on our way to our next destination of Alturas. Everyone was excited to know that we were entering our final state of California, with a border crossing being early on in the day. From the start of the day, I felt tired as I was not in a great biking condition for the day. Not sure why exactly but I managed to be biking alone for the first 20 miles before the border crossing, and I just could not pick up a good pace.

So on my way I went with a bad mood as I saw smoke coming towards us from California due to forest fires. I talked to some locals on my way who were annoyed by the under funding of the forest service who they felt let fire s go uncontrolled. In their opinion, if we know that the wood will be burnt in these fires why don’t’ we use it for practical reasons instead like paper. It was still a sore topic of how all the logging and paper mills were taken down due to federal regulations. Back in the day, these locals told me that every one in town would go up to the mountains to put out fires. They would not stand for this letting of fires naturally burn. Interesting opinion, I know that statistics show the benefits of forest fires for the trees.

As we made our way to the border, we all waited to get a great group shot of everyone. At this location was a great antique shop that was just bundles of stuff for people to look at and buy. I am snot sure what will happen to all of that stuff when the nice owner finally passes, I was just amazed of how much stuff there was, it was crazy!

After this pit stop, the day was pretty simple through a random lunch spot where we just relaxed while looking at open lands. After lunch, we had a very fun up and down battle that was filled with wind. We were all a little tired and it was difficult to concentrate to completely on biking. The main highlight of the rest of our ride was the railroad tracks following us along a downhill. It randomly had three railroad carts that were lying on its side next to railroad track. It was clear that a long time there was a derailment that never got fully cleaned up. I am sure no trains have used this railroad in years due to the mills or mines closing down, but those will always remind us of its past.

The town of Alturas is a simple small town in Northern California that is just an extension of what we found in Oregon. The people were real nice as they offered us a high school for lodging, provided a great picnic dinner and we talked to many locals. We had an awesome pick up football game in the back, and I did not offer anything much other than entertainment to my team. It was a quality time, but we all went to sleep as we had a long day ahead of us.