Cows and aliens

The first day on my bike is over and I'm a little exhausted, but also absolutely content. I think it was the longest ride of the tour distance-wise (about 400 km or 280 freedom units) and we reached Bishop at around 6 pm. At the beginning I felt a little insecure on that heavy machine, but with every mile I gained confidence. In the end at Gilbert Pass and Westgard Pass, where we were confronted with our first "real" sharp bends, the Road King and I turned out to be a perfect match. I would never have thought how far you can lean into a curve without scratching the footrests. Ok, to be honest I leaned a bit too far in one of the bends....... Phew, that sound... At least I wasn't the only one who tested the flexibility of the footrests that day. ;-)

But not only was the ride itself more than enjoyable, also the locations where we stopped were incredible! First of all, we halted at the Alien Travel Center in Amargosa Valley, Nevada. Being right at the Area 51

was really exciting and of course we took some silly alien-style photos before continuing our journey.

The most interesting part of today's ride definitely was the Gilbert/Westgard Pass. I just can't believe how stunningly beautiful the landscape is, the sudden change from desert to an ancient forest as you climb up the mountain... it's incredible! Almost as incredible as the sudden change from a free road to a road blocked by fifty or more cows right after coming down Gilbert Pass. ;-) They were too cute and made way for our group immediately. I guess, we were just too loud for them. :-)

Tomorrow we're visiting our first National Park - Yosemite! - and I still need to realize that this is all not just a dream...