Day 1 – I was at my Grandma’s in Fallon yesterday so I didn’t have access to write Day 1 notes. Over 130 miles with over 8 hours of riding. A VERY long day on the bike. We started at the arch in downtown Reno, went over to Virginia City and up and over Geiger Pass. Wow, what a climb! The good thing about it is that it was early in the ride, so it wasn’t too bad. You just have to pace yourself and go with what you can do. When we arrived in Fallon for lunch, a family (relatives of Jeff) made us one of the best lunches I have EVER had. A cooler full of Gatorade, BBQ chicken, a salad with everything in it from their garden. It was a good break. From then on, it was out to the shoe tree, about 60 miles east of Fallon. This landmark is a large cottonwood tree that people have placed thousands (and I’m not exaggerating) of shoes into the tree. After a climb outside of Fallon at sand mountain, we hit one of the worst head winds I have ever experienced. And to have that the last 20 miles of the ride, after 110 miles was very tough. There were parts we were going 7-8mph. But make it we did. A woman from Coleman’s work, MaryAnn came out and rode the entire 135 miles and spent a lot of time in the front. What a trooper! And to Larry, whom I will call “the machine”, because the guy just doesn’t stop. He stays up front more than anyone else (because we all need him to be up front!). And to Jeff, the non-stop guy, and to Mike and his son Taylor. They are out here for the cause and have rode both days. I am very proud of them! Taylor is 16 years old. Tell me how many 16-year-olds out there would do this sort of thing.

Day 2 – It was harder to get up out of bed this morning. We rode out from Fallon at the shoe tree and started, with a fierce head wind to start the day. East winds are rare in Northern Nevada, but I guess not rare enough. It looked to be a long, LONG day starting out. We had to go another 130 miles to Eureka and we couldn’t be dilly-dallying all day with going 9mph! The wind finally subsided some and was able to get back on pace. We had 5 major climbs (remember, Nevada is the most mountainous state in the U.S.) and you really have to pace yourself to get through them. Also, Northern Nevada has got to be some of the most wide open spaces out there ANYWHERE in the U.S. Some of these valleys are so large, that on a bike, it can take hours to cross them. In a car going 80mph, it’s not so bad. So, you can imagine how long it can take on a bike. We had lunch in Austin (a historic mining town) and then onto 3 big climbs after lunch into Eureka. We struggled a bit with some head winds, but Larry (again) was out there in front for the last 40 miles except for some minor rests in between. What can you say about the guy! With 20 miles remaining, we had another water and food stop and a strong rainstorm came in just after that (you could see the line in the road where the storm was and stopped) and was glad that I had all of my rain and cold weather gear brought with me. Even still, I still got wet and a bit cold. It was raining so hard that water was standing on the road! It wasn’t much fun to end the day after already ridden 110 miles and over 7 hours of being on the bike. With 4 miles from Eureka, Larry got a flat tire and by the time we got it fixed, we were both shivering and rigormortis having set in. It was hard to ride that last 4 miles into Eureka (still in the rain!).

A few thoughts about this ride aside from details. 1. You can’t do this along. Everyone has pulled their weight and helps where they can. 2. In the rainstorm, I had stopped longer than others to put on more gear and the group left without me. Larry had stopped to pick me up and help me bring in and when I thanked him for helping me at a time I really needed someone’s help, he said “I wouldn’t have done it any other way”. And that’s the way it is. In life, when we need help, there are those to help us out. I hope to remember this to accept help when I need it. 3. Enjoy the ride. Why do anything if you can’t enjoy it?  I would be lying to you if the entire day was enjoyable, but I immensely enjoyed seeing historic Austin and Eureka and seeing the vast open spaces of Northern Nevada. With all the rain they have had this June, it is very green out here. I have heard birds throughout the day and have enjoyed hearing my favorite bird call, the Western Meadowlark. From a car, these are things that you don’t experience.  4.  Don’t listen to the naysayers.  Some people can say that this ride is nearly impossible.  But, there is a goal that needs to be accomplished and rain, head-winds, steep climbs, cannot get in the way of this.  For those that get cancer, is there a button that they get to push to have it be eradicated?  Well, neither does this ride!

I will write more tomorrow. Thanks for everyone’s support. Tricia and the kids, there is no cell phone reception in Eureka, but will call tomorrow. I miss you!

don.