65 miles in 6.33 hours – Max Speed 29mph
I got up at 7, and headed back into the building at Middlegate after doing the morning things (brushing teeth and stuff) that I do. I had a good breakfast, filled up my water bottles, and headed out towards the great nothing. Oops, I mean Austin.
Historical Marker
The ruins that the sign spoke of.
Nevada
Nevada
I reckon that I'm climbing.
Well, aren't I clever? Looks like I was right.
Note: these didn’t last – the wind does really strange things as you go through passes as I would learn
Why would you go up a pass and not shoot the sign at the end?
Historical Sign
Hah. I found this on my camera. I don't have a mirror and my eye was hurting so I used my camera to take a closer look because I can zoom in on pictures after I take them. You can also see why when people ask me for eye color (at the DMV for example) I just sort of stand there confused - green, gray, blue, and hazel are all ok answers. I usually say blue but I think gray is probably the most accurate.
Nevada
Anyway, this ride was one that I knew would be tough, as I had 2000 feet to gain over the day. This was also the first real day where the mountains of Nevada started. I chugged through the mountains and was doing pretty well until around mile 60.
Then the climb up Austin Mountain began. I bonked. It took me forever to go the last five miles into town.
Made it!!
Historical Marker
And yet the climb has just begun. Note that I stayed at the bottom of town, closer to 6400 feet.
I finally made it and checked into a cheap motel. I grabbed dinner at a place called the International, which is a famous old restaurant. While I was waiting for my food I met two more cyclists who were filling up their water bottles. After dinner I talked to them for a while outside. They were heading on, and I wished them luck and said that maybe I would see them tomorrow. I went back to the room and got to sleep.
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