The temperature was a cool 60 degrees with beautiful blue sky and warmed throughout the day to upper 70’s.
Initially the pace line was effective. As we caught up to other smaller groups they joined in eventually we had about 15 riders cooperating in a double pace line. We rode the first 22 miles on a secondary road before our route sheet took us back to I-80. At this point the pace line fell apart because of the amount of debris on the shoulder. We also had rumble strips about every 75 feet which are not fun. Since we had a light breakfast this morning the SAG stop food table was supplied with additional items. I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and had a banana, Fritos and water.
Immediately after the SAG stop we started a long climb of about 12 miles up to Immigrant pass. I rode alone during this climb and could see riders on the route ahead some of which I caught up to and passed. When I reached the summit I was quite hot and stopped to take off my jacket apply sunscreen to my arms and of course take a photo of some of the riders who had collected at the summit sign. The summit was 6000 ft.
This was followed by another screaming downhill of close to 10 miles, and arrival at the final SAG stop of the day at 49 miles. They had some interesting new food choices at the SAG stop. Fresh cherries and wafer sugar cookies. They try to mix up the food options so we won’t get burned out on the same items. Yesterday they had fig newtons. I love fig newtons!
The final leg of the route was to take old route 40 to nowhere. Well it would be nowhere if you were in a car. This allowed us to bypass a I-80 tunnel which we would not have been able to ride through. Old route 40 goes around the mountain and dead ends at I-80 after the tunnel. I don't know this for sure, but I suspect Route 40 was the first highway west in this area and that I-80 made it obsolete.
It was a scenic ride through a canyon along a pretty river, and I finally saw some beef cattle on this route. They were hanging out at the edge of the river. Some were in the water.
When we reached the end of 40 we had to lift our bikes over Jersey road barriers that keep cars from going any further. We had to wait for traffic to clear on I-80 before crossing the West bounds lanes then the East bound lanes to get to the East bound shoulder. Sounds a little scary but we got a good traffic pause and safely crossed I-80 to proceed on our way East. From this point on we had a good tailwind and 4 riders including me averaged more than 20 mph for he final 10 miles of I-80 for the day.
We arrived and checked into the hotel at 1:00 PM.
4 comments:
You mention riding with the paceline quite a bit. Is this a race for first dibs at the laundry facilities?
Wow, I can't believe how much you are riding on the interstates out there! I guess the drivers aren't quite as crazy as those around here, eh? :)
ay. The two photos along Route 40 were interesting. The one with the road, river and mountains make it look like a scenic and traffic-free ride. Tonight there were 15-20 people at the Tuesday Hanover Courthouse ride. The heat was stifling and the air was not the best for deep breathing. //Ron
JIM,
We have used a paceline to reduce the negative effect of the headwinds that we've experienecd. Today we used a paceline with 3 riders to maximize effect of the tail wind, and maybe to get to the laundry first :) There is a competitive fire raging with some of the riders, not me of course.
Please send me the lyrics of the song you sang each morning. Thanks
Kristy,
Yes a lot of riding on I-80. As long as we are not near large cities the traffic is pretty light. Good to hear from you!
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