I woke up excited for the second day of my biking trip, because I would get to do three things that I really had been thinking would be so cool? I loaded up my panniers with my stuff and clipped into the pedals and start my second day riding on the most gorgeous day out of Fallon. So far, I have been blessed with the best weather, no clouds, comfortable temperatures, and very little wind, and the forecast calls for more of the same all the way to the Utah border on Thursday. One of the three things I was really hoping to experience today is seeing the Navy "Top Gun" pilots flying in and out of Fallon Navy airstation? The complex is just outside of town, and I was hoping that they would be doing some training flights so I could get my very own air show this morning? My excitement began to wain as I got further away from Fallon and no sight of the "fly boys". Just as I was about to give up hope of seeing any planes, I heard the whine of a jet engine and I about fell off Lourdes (my bike's named after my wife and daughter) trying to retrieve my cell phone camera. As the F-18's lifted off from the airstrip I took a video. My day was starting out well.
The second thing that I really looked forward to day was ahead about 10 miles (20 miles from Fallon). I rode along at a pretty good pace (18 mph), and came to the area that I wanted to make a montage. There's rocks that over the years have been placed in the sand along both sides of the highway, spelling out names, dates, and such. I have been thinking that would it be fun to spend a moment spelling out a note for my wife? What would I write? I looked for the very best spot to align my rocks, and stopped the bike along the side of the road and began my work. I used the rocks from a neighbor's plot (sorry Jim loves Lisa, but I was in a hurry), and this is what I came up:
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| My dedicated monument to my wife, but I figure anyone passing by will enjoy? |
The third thing that I was interested in seeing today was the "New Shoe Tree". For all the highway 50 new bees, this is a large Oak tree in the middle of Nevada that for years people have been throwing shoe into it's branches. Over the last twenty years or so, this tree has really been accumulating footwear (hundreds of pairs, if not a thousand) before someone thought it would be funny to cut the tree down, which is exactly what happened a few years back (maybe they saw a pair of Nikes that they just had to have?). The last year or so; a new shoe tree, "Shoe Tree II" has been sprouting shoes of all types. I crested Sandhill pass around noontime and as I began my decent to middlegate I could see the new shoe tree, and there in its shade was my friend Steve and my red Prius wait I could only assume for me? Lunch was waiting for me, and I was really glad to see Steve, because I was starting to realize that these next four days without support would have killed me.
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| "Shoe Tree II, meeting Steve for a little lunch at about mile 50. |
The morning's ride was very enjoyable, but I was about to find out that the rest of the day was going to be tough. At lunch Steve and I consulted on the best route to get to Austin? You can follow the old highway 722 over the mountain pass or keep going on 50 around the mountains. we surmised that both ways were about the same distance, but that the 722 route had a lot more elevation to it, so follow the path around the mountains was the choice. The next 50 miles tested my will, made me ask "why, and really got me thinking could this ride get any harder? The afternoon produced a wind (they're always into your face on a bike), and the road just seemed to continue on forever? The next time I looked, which seemed like forever, I was still 45 miles away from Austin. Was I going backwards? The miles weren't passing very quickly at all, and with everyone that pass I wondered whether or not I might make it? After being on my Lourdes for 8.5 hours I coasted down the last pass and into the valley that ends in Austin. Just as the slope of the valley went from DOWNHILL to UPHILL I collapsed onto the sandy should of the road, not far from where the last of the days cars and trucks were whizzing by at 75 mph. But I didn't care, I actual thought that if just one truck could run me over, maybe I would be saved from another day of biking like today?
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| Here I lay at the end of day 2, 100+miles. Right after this photo was taken, Steve had to load me into the car and drive me the last 10 miles to Austin |
Tonight was going to be a night of reflection. How would my body respond to today's abuse? Could I put another long day tomorrow getting to the next stop, Eureka (this ride would normally be 70 miles, but because I had to go back in the morning to where I had finish day 2, I would need to do 80)? The shower that night, I decided has never felt so good, and as I got into bed, I could hear that demon whispering, "tomorrows a new day, you haven't gotten rid of me yet".
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