May 23, 2005
Day 6: Merced River to Yosemite Valley
Boy, was I moving slow along the Merced River this morning! Seems that I don't have that "oomph" anymore. What's more - I didn't get into Yosemite National Park until after noon because they wouldn't let me through a construction zone.
I was furious and I almost got arrested! A cashier in Mariposa had told me that there was a lot of construction on the entrance road, so I stopped in at the ranger station at El Portal to ask if bikes could get through. The ranger said that there was no problem. The next stretch was a 1000-foot climb to the entrance station at Arch Rock and nobody there said anything, either. After climbing another 500 feet, I came upon the flagger - who informed me that bicycles were prohibited. When I asked to have my bike put in the pilot car, he informed me that liability issues prevented them carrying cyclists.
That did it! I love how Yosemite Park officials always cry about being overrun with cars; yet, they make no provisions for cyclists in their road planning. Smacks of hypocrisy and incompetence combined. The flagger said that I could try to catch a ride from a vehicle in line, but I insisted that the park service must provide me reasonable accommodation. After a long wait and no ranger, I said that I was just going to ride on through. At that point, I was told that a ranger would come and arrest me. My response was brutally sarcastic, "It seems that there hasn't been a ranger to shuttle me for more than an hour, but you can get one to arrest me immediately!"
Over the radio, the ranger demanded that I ride back down to the entrance station. I gave the seasonal rangers at the gate a hefty piece of my mind. Yes, I was livid - but not only did they NOT apologize, they threatened me with arrest, as well. And when the ranger finally did come, it was the same guy who I had encountered at the ranger station that morning. He said that he didn't remember talking to me. Even then, I had to wait another half-hour until an employee was heading into the valley.
When I finally got into Yosemite Valley, I went straight to park headquarters. The head ranger had already heard that I was coming and was very courteous. He apologized and said that no one had considered cyclists in the plan to rebuild the entrance road. What's more, as I was being shuttled through, it was obvious that cyclists could have navigated the construction zone with ease.
So I arrived in the park totally pissed off. Yes, the falls were spectacular. Given the near-record winter snowfall, they were crashing down the cliffs with an unbelievable force. The Merced River had flooded the valley the week before and was still lapping at the piers of the footbridge. I found a high bank where I had a late lunch and then headed off to the hiker/biker campground.
Despite all the beauty, it was hard to unwind. There had always been cyclists at the campground on previous tours, but not surprisingly, there were none this year. Another cyclist would have really helped.
Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 290 miles (467 km)
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