Posted by: Arin
The real riding began about 5-6 miles from camp. We didn't realize it at the time but we were in for 10 straight miles of climbing up to Union Pass. That was grueling to say the least; temperatures were at 90+ and empty water jugs littered the side of the road, relics of trucks broken down from too much strain. We had to stop part of the way up to refill our water bottles from the bags in our panniers, and when we finally made it to top, another break to eat and rest.
After a quick descent, we entered Golden Valley. A segment of ride that looked unassuming turned out to be anything but. We were battered by crosswinds and found ourselves using close to the same gear that we had on the climb. Lucky for us in the middle of the valley was a shady oasis: Sonic Burger. We sat in the shade there for over an hour and enjoyed a Polynesian punch slushie (the first thing I have ever consumed from Sonic). We couldn't stay forever though, so we continued into the wind and up another mountain, which lead to Coyote Pass. Here you can see the view from Coyote Pass back through Golden Valley and towards Union Pass.
From there it was a smooth few miles into Kingman, where we headed to Safeway to grab some food. Once we got there, however, we found out there was a skatepark a couple blocks away and decided to go there first and see if we could meet any people who could help us out in finding a place to sleep. A few hours at the park yielded us nothing but some info on a tunnel nearby. We went back to Safeway to get some ingredients to make sandwiches for dinner and headed to the tunnel to eat and sleep.
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