Well I was completely wrong to say that I was done with this trip.
While I was boxing up my stuff at Adam's Bike Shop a gentleman by the name of Clarence Whetten walked and began to order some funny stuff for a BikeE. Now being a the proud owner of a BikeE AT I had to ask what he was planning to do with it. We got to talking and it turned out he had two NXs (Bike's take on a road bike) and wanted to together a second set of wheels for one of the bikes so he could put fat tires on it and take it in the dirt on a trip he was going to be talking.
I started telling him about my trip from Reno. He'd been toying with doing one of the group rides across Nevada so he was pretty interested in the route I'd taken. When I got to the part about how I was scouting for the NBG it was all Mr. Whetten needed to hear, he mentioned that he was familiar with the group and had even tentatively volunteered to help map a route through Utah. Mr. Adams had been having some trouble with the clutch in his Jeep and was trying to get a hold of his wife to use her car to get me up to Salt Lake City. Clarance stepped up and said "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of him." And take care of me he did what I'd written off as a dead day turned into one of the best of the trip.
He'd ridden over so he went home to grab his pickup which gave me time to go buy a bag from the thrift store across the street. We packed my stuff in the back of his pickup and then said good by to Reed and I got a couple of pictures. We headed a couple of blocks to his house and got out his BikeEs and we took off on the route that the NBG riders this summer will be taking out of the city.
We headed out on some side streets until we got to the rails to trails path that makes a good start up ??? (I'll have to ask the name) canyon. It's a trail that any city would be proud to have, it winds along a creek and up to some beautiful waterfalls. We hoped on the highway so I could get a feel for the lower section. We took a couple of pictures and started back. Along the ride we had a couple of really interesting conversations on about biking, touring, even ultra-light weight backpacking. When he told me he'd only been ridding one year I about fell of the bike. This guy knew his stuff, he'd scouted routes between SLC and Provo/Orem, scouted a route out of the Provo Orem area and said he'd look at my routes into town and modify them to be more bike friendly. What we both sort of marveled at was the large element of chance that played a part in our introduction.
I told him the story of finding Martin in Santa Cruz on my first ride. I'd lost the piece of paper with his last name and had no idea how I was going to get a hold of him once I got to Santa Cruz. On a fluke I stopped at this little place ten miles or so outside of town to get coffee and a bagel. I grab a copy of the local free weekly newspaper thing and who's got an article on page 5? Martin Krieg. So now I've got his full name so I ride on down into the city. I cruse in and see a little of the downtown and beach front. I stop at a 7-11 to call him and find a Martin Krieg in the phone book well it turned out to be a different one but he had the number for the right one (Martin you better be in the phone book this year or I'm sure next year he's going to get an unlisted number and neither of you will be reachable ;). I called him up and he asked where I was, turns out I'd ridden right by where he was living and talking to him from two blocks away.
We went back to his house got a bite to eat and I met his wife and some of their nine children. His son John has already done a TransAm with the American Heart or Lung Association I forget which.. He reminded me a lot of my brother, a real smart kid, the type that'll end up doing what ever he wants.
He wasn't done yet, we got back in the pickup and went back up the canyon and took the highway through the town of Hever, he took me up to the summit so I could get a look at the rest of the road. The shoulder is non-existent in parts but it's either two lane or there are turn outs so it's ride able. We saw a couple of local cyclists going up and if they'll ride it I'd fell safe riding it. He took me into Salt Lake along the other possible route, through Park City, which is mostly Interstate and had some nasty hills. After my 80 miles on I-80 I'll stay away from the Interstate and on the smaller highways like the first route he showed me.
We even stopped into the SLC REI, that was a sight. The cycling department would have taken up half of the Reno store. The reason we'd stopped in was because they actually had a BikeE FX (their mountain bike) we wanted to checkout.
He dropped me off a the train station at about 7:30pm and my train wasn't until 1:10am, the station didn't open till 10:00pm. I ended up meeting this guy named Daniel who'd been working at one of the ski resorts and was waiting for the train home to Chicago. His train didn't leave till 4:30am and he'd been there since 4pm so he'd been gotten really board. We sat around talking till 10 when we were able to check our bags then went over to a Mexican restaurant and got something to eat. I had a great time talking with him.
I can safely say now that the train ride was uneventful, it was actually in early. I'm actually on the train in Sparks waiting to for the scheduled departure time. Barring the freak train derailment I can say I'm home safely.
It's been a wonderful trip for me I hope reading about it has at least been tolerable,
andrew
Well I'm here. After a pretty short day of riding I'm in Provo, it's just south of Orem. I stopped by Reed Adam's Bike Shop so I'd know where it was. After riding around for an hour or so I found a cheap motel where I was kept awake by the sound of running water and then by the sounds of... well lets just say it was the sound of the neighbors bed hitting the wall. Let me reiterate it was a cheap motel. I talked to Reed Adams and I'm on track to get the bike boxed up and a ride to the train station.
So it looks like this trip is done, the train ride should be fun but knowing Amtrak, not timely.
Thanks for reading,
andrew
I decided to make one of those little spontaneous (someone run spell check on that for me) changes that make life fun. After a wonderful breakfast at Della's Cafe (I'd recommend stopping there whenever you're on I-80) I got to talking with the waitress about how I could get off the Interstate and she recommended a very scenic route. Since my train doesn't leave till 1am Tuesday morning and since my real destination is Orem, UT (the location of Adam's Cycles who's owner, Adam Reed, has graciously offered to help get my bike boxed up for the train ride home) it sounded like just what William Heatmoon (author of Blue Highways) would do.
I went down through Skull Valley home of the Goshute (spelling again) Tribe who are trying to get the national short term radioactive waste storage facility placed on their Reservation. To be fair the tribe has few choices, to the east a plant operates 24hours a day burning chemical weapons and to the west is a all military training (bombing) lands. Understandably the waste site isn't sitting to well with the rest of Utah, which has produced none of the waste yet will have it for 10-40 years. Somebody high up got the Dept. Of Transportation to put up a no nuke waste past this point sign down the road from the interstate exit, someone else showed their dislike for the sign by removing most of it with a shot gun.
I stopped in at the Willow Springs Lodge for a drink and found a group of the nicest people in the state. It's a bar and hotel that's run by a couple, she also works at Della's Cafe, and he work knows more about the Lincoln Highway than any one person should. One question about it had him bringing out maps and books. I'd never realized what an accomplishment it was started in1913 finished in 1930, you could drive from Times Square New York City to San Francisco. Most of it was paved but there was little of the cut and fill land flattening they do today. I'd enjoy that style of auto travel where there's still some adventure left in it.
Well Willow Springs was about half way up Johnson Pass which was the first thing I've been up this trip that's even been comparable in Grade to Yuba pass, or maybe this is the first tough pass I've hit this trip and Yuba was the tough one last time. I'm not sure but some where before the pass I realized that I loved climbing hills and hated the wind. Going up a hill you know that if you put a certain amount of energy into going up it you'll get all back (minus interest for friction) on the other side. Wind has no top it's the wild card that one day will help you and the next slow you to a crawl. I suppose some day in a flash of enlightenment I'll come to a Zen-ish understanding/appreciation for the wind, I hope it comes soon.
andrew
Well as I write this I sit in a tent listening to the rain and traffic on I-80 half way to SLC. Yesterdays tailwind turned into this mornings side wind and in the afternoon the full on headwind. Going up some of the hills i was trying every trick I could think of to keep from thinking about how far I had to go, I counted pedal strokes, then counted backwards, then even numbers, then odd. I finally started trying to guess how many it would take to get to a certain rock or bush. It's been one of those days that make every day after it look good by comparison. I found myself playing the Pollyanna game (reference to a Disney film who's main character's main line is "lets look on the bright side of things...") I haven't had a flat tire yet, at least my bike was only blown over by the wind once, at least it isn't raining, I could be walking... I could also be in a heated car (as you can see it's hard to be too positive in the face of gusting winds).
Actually I was very happy I decided to camp when I did because it started raining shortly after. I made 60 or so miles which is better than I was expecting but less that I would of liked.
Morning update, I rained all night but I stayed dry and today looks to be a gorgeous day.
andrew
Dear Wind Gods,
Thank you very much for the 20mph tail wind today. It was nice. I liked that I made it to Wendover. 120 miles is a good day. I'm going to shave my head and study your enigmatic ways. Hopefully you'll favor me again. I've got to go to sleep now, thanks again.
andrew
Well I am totally annoyed my Palm just decided to reset on me. I'd recommend against buying a IIIc it's been unstable from the get-go the only good thing is I know that the program I bought to backup my data works The long and short of it is that I've lost the emails I had on here but the addresses are okay. On to the news...
My leg has been bothering me since yesterday. Most of my aches and pains have come and gone, this one just hasn't gotten around to going. It slowed me down I didn't make my mileage today only about 50 mi, I was having to rest to frequently and then when I saw Ely coming up I decided to call it a day. I needed to charge up my battery powered devices so I decided to stay at the KOA campground. I'd seen one of their signs out side of town and because of the directions thought it'd be close. Wrong, it's about 3 miles from down town. I go in to pay and it's $17 after tax. For a couple of bucks more I could have gotten a hotel room and been in town. If I wasn't exhausted I would have done just that, but the thought of going another three miles didn't sound good. So here I am poorer but (hopefully by tomorrow) well rested.
andrew
[This was written on the 4th day, it starts out discussing the afternoon of the third day 3]
Well with 7.5 liters of water and a full stomach I set off from Austin. A meal you didn't have to cook yourself does a lot for your sense of well being. I felt a lot more confident with the extra water the 70 mi to Eureka doesn't seem so intimidating when I know I won't have to worry about filling up.
The grade up to Austin Pass was pretty grueling but not super long, definitely better than the climb to the Yuba Pass. The other two passes were nothing just long light grades. I camped in this beautiful valley and got some great pictures of the sunset.
I'm going to start of the reflective part of the email now.
In an earlier email I mentioned Sand Mountain, now for those of you who haven't seen it before as the name implies it's a mountain of sand. The really crazy part is that Sand Mt. has crossed the highway and proceeded to work itself up into the hills on the edge of the valley. (Warning inside joke:) You don't need Martin to point out that with patience you can move mountains.
Yesterday in Austin I met this fellow named Larry Edwards by total chance, the only reason I paid him any attention was he was trying to order something without meat. I figured I'd save myself some trouble and eavesdrop. When he was done ordering I struck up a conversation and we ended up eating together. This is really just a long windup to recount the best advice I remember my dad giving me "Just go ahead and talk to them you'll probably never see them again anyway".
Well the funny thing is you often see those people again. The gentleman I had lunch with in Austin the day before (or 2 they're all blurring together) drove by as I was setting up camp tonite. He'd recognized me and stopped to say hello.
What I really like about solo cycling is it teaches me patience. Most of the time you can blame your delays on others. Well I can wish myself to SLC all I want but till I put foot to pedal I'm not getting any closer. The other thing that's nice is you have nothing to do but think, pedal and think. Some thing small will set of a cascade of memories, the smell of suntan lotion took me back to the trip to Mt. Whitney a couple of years ago. The sun goes behind a cloud and suddenly it reminds me of Friday nights in high school spent standing in grocery store parking lots. I think about friends I've had, mistakes I've made, things that should have been said. Figure out how to make Futurama funny... it involves killing off most of the current characters and replacing them with some kids and a space dog they'll paint some psychedelic stuff on the space ship re-christen it the Magic Mystery Ship. They'll fly around with no purpose other than to solve mysteries that really just climax with the bad guys being cornered and un-masked in front of the local law enforcement.
This should have signaled the end of the reflective part of the email.
Let me just say that Austin was under whelming but I'm in love with Eureka. The passes and valleys surrounding it are wonderful. The down town was compact and just looked like the kind of place I'd like to live (it would be a crappy place to be a kid, I thought Reno had nothing to do). Maybe I'll get a summer home there. The only problem would be getting bandwidth I'd have a better chance of getting a snow-cone in hell than getting anything faster than a 56k modem out here.
Got a shower at the RV park it'd been almost 200 miles and I was ready. 3 dollars has rarely been as well spent. The people who ran the R.V. park were super cool I spent about 30 min talking to them.
I got a slow start but eventually I cleared Pinto Pass, it was needless to say all down hill from there.
andrew
I probably won't get to send this till tomorrow so I hope nobody worries. Look at a map of Nevada... most likely it doesn't show anything between Fallon and Austin... well that's because there isn't anything. I was starting to get worried about water as I passed Sand Mountain. I started trying to decide if i could make it to Austin, i got out the map and started adding the miles. Didn't look good, i see this town a little off the highway a mile or so and decide to stop in there. While there I met some recumbent riders from Fallon who'd passed me (in a car) earlier in the day on their way to climb a mountain. They'd stopped for a beer before they went home. We got to talking about bikes and they offered to buy me a beer, i didn't need any more help getting dehydrated so I got an iced tea. They recommended taking 722 into Austin so decided to give it a shot.
It's the old 50 that's minimally maintained but there's less cars and more scenery, both of which are fine with me. It was gorgeous I got held up waiting for some cowboys herding a couple hundred cattle across the highway, saw some gorgeous country and cleared two passes (7450 ft and 6200ish). I've been making my mileage goal of 75mi a day so i should still make my train back. I'm eating lunch in Austin now so I've still got a big pass left today and 3 or 4 before I hit Ely. I'm going to get another water container and head out. Don't expect any thing tomorrow.
andrew
ps. this pocket mailer has been giving me some trouble so if you send me mail i might not get it right away.
pss. This state has a great climate burns you all day then freezes you at night.
I got started around 11, a lot later in the day than I would have liked, and headed for Carson City.