California Day 8 - Lancaster to the Tejon Ranch Outlet Mall

 Decisions were made today. There is a clear path forward.

The issue here is there is a heat wave where the temperatures are in the mid-90s in the afternoon. And there are giant mountains between Lancaster and the Pacific Ocean. What to do.

One thing that was settled is I have to go over Tejon Pass. Elevation is 4200 feet, which is about 2500 feet higher than Lancaster.

By leaving at first light, when it was nice and cool out, this objective was met by 1:00 PM. Temperatures were still in the 80s.

And it was a great ride up to the pass. Because poppies. Not because of this giant oak tree growing in the desert.

We must not allow ugly cell towers, only ugly transmission line towers. And ridiculous fake trees.

But the poppies are a big deal. There is an entire giant preserve devoted to poppies.

The fields of poppies in the preserve are kinda underwhelming, though.

Examination of poppies growing next to the road reveals that they are not awake yet.

But give it a few hours, and WOW.

There are so many poppies everywhere, not just in the preserve.

And there are more than poppies. Check out this lupine.

The desert roadside is so beautiful.

It was like this for most of the morning-long climb. There was a stretch on "The 138" for a few miles, though, which is a two lane road with not much shoulder and lots of semi trucks. And I passed over the California Aqueduct from time to time.

Anyway, back to the top of Tejon Pass. After cresting the top, I pulled off a couple miles later to ponder my options while getting lunch at a Subway in a gas station.

One option would be to ride 10 more miles and up another 1000 feet to a nice motel in a scenic mountain town, which would set me up for another 4000 feet of fairly steep climbing tomorrow. 

Or, I could have a nice 17 mile downhill coast to a cheap motel next to an outlet mall, which would leave me with 2500 feet of moderate climb tomorrow. 

I think I'll choose the option where I get to coast the rest of the day, and I save 2500 feet of climbing.

There is only one catch.

Do you see a "no bikes" sign? I don't see a "no bikes" sign.

And the cop who stopped to talk to me while I was taking this picture confirmed that, believe it or not, riding on the shoulder of I-5 here is legal. I think he was just checking to make sure I don't have a mental illness.

What's great is because the hill is so steep, trucks have to stay in the truck lane and can only go 35 MPH. This is actually considerably safer than the much longer stretch I rode on The 138 this morning where there is no shoulder, it's all uphill, and most of the semi trucks passed me without slowing down.

That white thing off in the distance is the outlet mall next to my cheap motel. There are also distribution centers for Ikea and Dollar General down there.

What's great is this picture includes two different runaway truck ramps.

I dropped 3000 feet in elevation in that final 17 mile glorious payback. And at the lower altitude, it was hot hot hot. Good thing I didn't have to do any pedaling.

Yes, it is hot out and it was a long day.

But my room is surprisingly nice for a Microtel Inn, and they have free breakfast tomorrow.

There is a place called the Black Bear Diner next door. The menu has solid comfort food, and they have beer. So I went over there for dinner. The place is half empty, and there are a bunch of people waiting in the lobby.

me: "Can I sit at the counter?"
Hostess: "No. There are two big parties, they just put their order in, and the kitchen is backed up."
me: "But if I sit at the counter, I could have a beer while I wait."
Hostess: "I can put your name on the list. The wait is 15 to 20 minutes."
me: "Thank you, I'll get dinner elsewhere."

She shouldn't try such crap when her diner is next door to a truck stop with a Popeyes.

Here is the Strava track for today: https://www.strava.com/activities/17784688906