Eureka to Ely NV, 82 miles, 4511 ft of climbing

Day 13, May 25: The three Hs

I have long said that the three banes of a cyclist's existence are the "three Hs" - Hills, Heat and Headwinds. Today we had two of the three; only heat was absent.

We knew it would be a long day so we got an early start, rolling out of the hotel at 6 am. We had breakfast at the Pony Express Cafe, just on the edge of town on our way out. We rolled from there around 7 am.

I packed about 1-1/2 gallons of water on the bike today and drank half of it. On a hot day I'm not sure 1-1/2 gallons would have been enough.

We had strong gusty cross winds the first half of the ride today. One disadvantage of the "Da Brim" that I use on my helmet is the "Flying nun effect". In a strong crosswind it tends to tilt the helmet way over on the side of your head unless you have the chin strap really tight.

At least I got to add 4 summits to my collection.

In the afternoon, whenever the route turned south or south-east, those cross winds became strong headwinds. Descending the last summit we were averaging maybe 12 mph. We stopped in Ely at a supermarket to do some speed shopping for dinner (deli sandwiches, potato salad, chips) and rolled into camp about 7:30 pm. A 13.5-hour day.

We're staying at a KOA a couple miles out of town. I'll have to retrace those miles tomorrow morning to retrieve my general-delivery parcel at the post office.



Ely to near Baker NV, 66 miles, 3097 ft of climbing

Day 14, May 26: Meeting a nomad

Kate made oatmeal for breakfast and I bought a Klondike bar at the KOA store to add some calories,

I thought I'd have some time to kill before going to the post office when it opens at 10 am, but I didn't actually roll out of camp until a little after 10. Kate and Jim left a little earlier, and with the time commuting to town to collect the general-delivery package they had about an hour head start on me.

Not far from town I saw evidence that the desert is not completely dry. I think it must be Comins Lake.

We had two challenging climbs today.

There is a bar part way down the descent off Connors Pass. I stopped but the lady said they had no food until 4 pm. So I stopped by the side of the road near the bottom to have my normal lunch of PB&J sandwiches. There was a windmill farm nearby.

And from the same spot you could see the road ascending up toward Sacramento Pass, the smaller of the two ascents today.

Not long after I started the climb to Sacramento Pass, I spied a guy sitting by the side of the road with a backpack on the ground and several other packs scattered around him. Just sitting out in the middle of the desert, miles from nowhere. I stopped to ask if he was OK and he said he was fine. I asked if he had enough water and he said he thought so, so I gave him what was left in one of my 1.5 liter bottles, perhaps 10 oz or so. I poured it into his bottle, which had even less water, perhaps 8 oz. I asked him if that was all the water he had and he said "Oh no, I've got another 16 ounces."

He asked if I had passed a town that starts with an "M" and I said no, I came all the way from Ely. The only services in that direction is a bar, quite a few miles back and up a hill. That information didn't seem to bother him. When I asked if he was hitch hiking, he said no, he was hiking. He generally does 15-16 miles per day and started in South Carolina!

I repeatedly asked if he needed more water but he declined. I guess if he has hiked all the way from SC, he must know what he's doing.

Kate and Jim want to visit Great Basin National Park tomorrow and the included Lehman Caves. However rain is possible. So we decided to spend two nights in the Border Inn, on Hwy 50 right where it passes into Utah. We'll ride our unloaded bikes to the park tomorrow.

In the hotel room tonight I examined the old Coleman stove that Sue sent me and that I picked up at the post office this morning. All the pieces seem to be present and the instructions are printed on the side. I'll have to test it soon.



Layover day near Baker NV, 27 miles, 1841 ft of climbing

Day 15, May 27: Great Basin National Park

Last night Jim tried to reserve a tour of Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park, but this is Memorial Day weekend and the tours have been booked up for months. We decided to ride up there anyway just on the chance that there was a cancellation. No such luck.

On the way up the hill to the park we were passed by several local cyclists who use it as a training ride. It is about the same feet of climb (1500) as the road I live on in Santa Rosa, which is also used as a training ride by local cyclists.

This is looking down from the parking lot:

We had a nice lunch in the visitors center and took a short hike on the trail behind it. Then we rode back down the hill. We stopped at a little market in Baker to buy some supplies.

We got back to the hotel just as the first raindrops started coming down.

We'll be in Utah tomorrow so we took the obligatory "Welcome to Utah" photo today.

The National Weather Service is predicting a 70% chance of rain tomorrow. It's raining as I type this about 6 pm.

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Last updated May 26, 2018