Sparks to Lovelock

Temperature was about 60 this morning at 7:20 AM departure. No need for jackets, long finger gloves, or the Thermal jerseys that we’ve been wearing the last couple of days.

Today’s ride was not up to the level of scenery or challenges we’ve had the last two days. We left Sparks NV and after couple of miles we got on interstate 80. That’s right, we actually rode 60 some miles on the interstate today. We were not excited about the idea. It was not so bad since it had a very wide and quite smooth shoulder for us to ride on. Traffic was fairly heavy with many tractor trailers flying by at 70 mph. Some of these rigs had three trailers attached. I hadn’t seen that before. When they went by we got a big wind suction that allowed us to pick up a couple miles per hour for a short time.

The wind was favorable in the beginning allowing Rich and I to cover the first 20 miles in one hour. That included a couple of miles of slower travel until we got on I 80. Later we had strong gusty wind on our left side that was challenging, then later dreaded headwind. I guess it all averages out pretty well I average slightly over 17 mph for the 91 miles. After the first SAG stop at 32 miles I rode by myself for most the next 35 miles of Interstate. As I rode many thoughts flew through my mind, I though about the early settlers of this country who traveled this route by horse and wagon and the many who lost their life heading West. I also thought of my family that I will not see until July 22.

The scenery is desert with gray mountains and very little vegetation. Someone said the mountains appear naked. It does present a certain beauty but It is not a place I would want to live. It’s called the 40 miles desert.

An Interesting event happened today at the first SAG stop. Kip and Carol, a nice couple from Florida are on the trip. They don’t always ride the same pace so occasionally are not together on the route. I was standing next to the SAG trailer and I heard Carol calling Kip on her cell phone. She had a worried tone to her voice. “Kip are you okay! Where are you?” I heard him answer, “I’m fine, I’m at the SAG stop”. Neither of them realized that they were standing about 40 feet away from each other with a small tree blocking their view. A number of other riders observed this. It was good for a big laugh!

One of the riders at the SAG stop today was asked the typical question, “where are you going?” He answered “New Hampshire” The questioner responded with an interesting reply, “I guess it will be dark by the time you get there”, I had a good laugh on that one.

Martin is a rider from Germany. I got a picture of him with me today. He had a cool shirt on. In case you can't make it out, It's graphic of a gas pump spout, and it says "Gas Sucks".

At dinner tonight I sat across from Steve from Australia. He works for a charity in Australia related to cardiac research and plans to meet with some contacts as he crosses the US to promote his cause. Incidentaly there is another Steve from Australia on the trip. He is from Tasmania and carries a picture of the Tasmanian devel in his wallet.

Ron Corio from RABA posted a comment asking about how I was able to update the blog each day. All hotels so far have had wireless internet access. Occasionally it is only accessible from the hotel lobby. Tonight there are about 6 people in the lobby working on blogs. I guess we are a geeky bunch.