Woke up in Battle Mountain and the place was buzzing, there was a dog barking and a train was trundling slowly through the town. After a good breakfast in a casino our group of 4 met up and was ready to leave before 8.00am. We weren't quite last this time, there were two people behind us. We left town via Mule Shoe Road for 21 miles on another sunny morning that was warmer than previous days. We passed other groups of riders and then caught one of the support crew, Christine, who is from Canada and a very strong rider. She joined our group and soon we had put her on the front to tow us along, no shame, though we all took turns. The Nevada scenery didn't change much though when we got close to the Humbolt River there was more greenery and it almost looked pretty. Going under the Interstate via a short tunnel we disturbed hundreds of swifts (or similar) who had nests in the roof and thay were swooping all around us like a scene from a Hithcock film. Back on the Interstate we climbed up the Emmigrant Pass and then flew down the other side. I managed to get up to 46mph and could have gone faster, but caught up with another rider and there was not enough room on the shoulder to overtake safely. There was another climb up to 6000' and from there a great view of the snowcapped mountains in Utah, we are running out of Nevada. Running into Elko was easy and we arrived at the town early so stopped at a Dairy Queen for a milk shake, it was very hot by now. Elko has a great deal more about it than Battle Mountain (not tricky). It was once voted the best small town in the US and is the home of the annual cowboy poetry festival, unfortunately we are going to miss that. Bing Crosby and James Stewart had big ranches in the area in their hay-day and some of the richest gold mines in the US are in the area.
Strangely the hotel was a casino and we had to go for dinner in a sister property, a casino. It is like a geriatric ward has released its inmates into the place and given them all $10 to play with. Not to worry, most of them will soon be recaptured. The buzz today at dinner was the impending 'century ride' tommorrow. Lets hope the wind is in the right direction or it could be a long day. If you want further information go to the America by Bicycle website, at the bottom of the home page is a selection called 'ride journals' (or diaries), click on that and then go to Cross Country Challenge 2008. The support staff are keeping the journal and it is fairly up to date and contains photos.
Today's distance was 73.4 miles.
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1 comment:
Joy and I are at your house, full of chilli and some wine. Really overwhelmed by the photos and the extent of Diane's new wardrobe.. You'll be amazed.
Seriously, it's great that you are having such a wonderful time 'though it sounds jolly hard work to me! What an experience. love Odette x
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