day 6: sparks to lovelock

Stories from Lovelock
Taking an ice bath is part of my daily post-ride routine now. Not my favorite 15 minutes of the day, but boy does it pay off in spades. When my friend Rose (ironman and fleet footed marathoner) first described the ice bath routine after her hard runs I thought she was crazy. Then when I was telling my friend Tim (who helped me train for this ride at his multisport center) about my fear of just being exhausted after 10 days with no rest he suggested giving it a try. Basically what you do is immerse your lower body in cold water for around 15 minutes. It pushes the swelling out of your legs and it's amazing how much better they feel.

In other towns the cold water in the hotel pool has sufficed. So I bring all this up because the pool routine changed dramatically in Lovelock. First, this town has one stoplight. Our hotel is also a casino, as most things in Nevada appear to be casinos. Even the gas stations have slot machines. So when I get into the hotel I see the speedy crowd sitting on the raised stairway in the shade having a beer. Normally we sit by the pool. I join them and then they say go check out the pool ... I head in there and open the door and am hit with heat, chemicals and cigarettes. A note on the door warns that "some colored hair and our pool chemicals don't mix - proceed with caution". I stick my head in and there are about 8 older ladies floating on floaty things. Apparently the hotel pool is also a community pool where they hold water aerobics classes. They welcome me in (all the men had been kicked out earlier)- and let me know the water is quite warm and comfy. So while bobbing in the pool with the Lovelock ladies would have been interesting, I go get a trashcan full of ice and fill up the tub for my ice bath.

Tonight we had dinner at the Cowpoke cafe. It was fabulous --all homemade family style. Our Brit asked if he would get to poke a cow there. They were psyched to have us ... Even took photos.

I think Nevada will be a string of little towns like this. Not much to look at but a lot underneath the run down buildings.

The ride today was beautiful. We were riding through the Great Basin and salt flats. Big expanses of flat earth - much coated by salt that was white and reflecting light. Mountains rose in the background. We even passed some wetlands. I could swear I saw a pelican ...

It was 90 miles today - and relatively flat compared to the last few days. I made good time averaging almost 18 mph. It was the type of territory that you would drive through as fast as possible but when you slow down its really beautiful.

day 5: Truckee to Sparks NV

65 miles

It was freezing this morning - low 30s. Time to break out the winter riding pants, jacket, long fingered gloves, shoe booties and complain a tad.

But it was beautiful and the light was white and the air was clear and pure. We headed south towards Lake Tahoe and got on a great bike trail that followed the Truckee river. I've ridden this route several times before with TNT, but we had to share the trail with a few thousand other cyclists and try not to run over each other. This time it was empty. The river is so clear you can see the fish. Their was mist rising off the river, and it was beautiful.

On the way out of Truckee I met a guy named Butch cruising along on his bike with a trailer, a rear rack and 2 front paniers. He estimated it weighed about 60 or 70 pounds. So apparently he biked the exact same route yesterday we did - same climbing - with and extra 70 pounds. Pretty amazing ... No support, nothing. Rode with him a bit. He was going on to Carson City. Just to keep things in perspective ...

I think Lake Tahoe is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Blue water and mountains and trees ... We biked around the north end to Incline Village and then headed north hover Rose Mountain. Hit a bakery in Kings Beach before we started the climb and. Had doughnut the size of my head (yum). The lake is high - at 6200 feet. The top of the summit is 8900 feet. It was an 8+ mile climb ... We climbed up through the forest to sub-alpine thinning trees and finally to alpine meadows and snow fields. It was freezing up there and even got a few snow flakes. This was one of the few rides where the descent was longer than the climb. 16 + miles of descent and ended up outside of Reno at around 4500 feet.

It was amazing how the landscape changed on the other side - the desert came immediately. Bare sand, sage brush ... It looks a lot like Eastern Washington. Reno and Sparks are like one big strip mall with casinos.

This was a great day - lots of poking around and picture taking. Tomorrow will be completely different - desert and highway.

Day 4: Auburn to Truckee

Today's ride was incredible. 72 miles and over 8000 feet of climbing. It was 55 miles up hill. That's a lot. But it went great. Beautiful day. Gorgeous country side.

We started out at 5:15 AM loading luggage and then off to Dennys for the Grand Slam ... Great pre-ride food. I'm becoming partial to eggs and pancakes - stay away from the pig. Then road out and started climbing within 5 miles. We were in rolling hills through woodland - parts were pretty steep 10+% grade but most were gradual climbs of around 6% grades. Tree lined roads reminded me of some of Washingtons big trees, huge ferns and wildflowers.

We wound through woods for the first 30 miles and then got on Interstate 80 East. Now riding your bike on the interstate is clearly not ideal. But it was the only route. We were on it for around 18 miles. You don't realize how loud cars and trucks are till they are whizzing by you at 80mph. Feel pretty vulnerable out there. Lots of incentive to climb (cause it was all uphill) as fast as possible.

We had a little excitement, and had to get off the highway and re-group due to construction. The Forman walked us through the site, but it took almost an hour to get enough riders collected there to be sent through. Then more interstate. I amused myself by making a movie which I'll attempt to post on what it's like to be an idiot and ride your bike on the interstate.

Now there is not much to look at on the interstate other than glimpses of whatever views are peeking through and observe the garbage and debris. What I want to know is what's up with all the plastic bottle full of pee by the side of the road. WHO DOES THAT?! Nasty. If you do it - quit!

So we survived teh interstate and headed up for the best part of the day. The last climb was up Donner Pass Road, and it wound through beautiful woods and lakes and near sub alpine forests and wildflowers all the way to the top of the pass 7200 feet. Gorgeous. Heaven. Worth the climbing. Spectacular views, and just a great feeling to have accomplished that climb and be rewarded with that beauty.

Then the Decent. Even better views of Donner Lake, the valley and the snowcapped mountains. And going down is fun. Especially going down steep curvy mountain passes (in a safe and controlled manner of course).

A long 12 miles to the hotel by the lake and through old town Truckee. One thing is with the riding you are tired and may or may not have energy to be a tourist ... cest la vie.

Tomorrow we go around the top end of Lake Tahoe - familiar territory - and over Rose Pass (not Spooner) to Sparks Nevada.

Day 3: Sacramento to Auburn ... And Congratulations and THANK YOU TNT

First - a quick Congratulations and Thank you to all my friends with Team in Training. They just completed a fund raising ride around Lake Tahoe on Sunday and raised thousands of dollars for Leukemia research. As many of you know, I trained with them when I first started distance riding in 2005, and Tahoe was my first Century. Tomorrow I'll be thinking of them as we go into Truckee - part of the Tahoe Century course - and then around the north part of the lake the day after. They were so great in answering all my dumb questions and encouraging me. And they continue to offer that opportunity to others every year. TNT changes lives ... Really. So big congratulations to all the first time TNTers, and a thank you to everyone from that program I've ridden with over the last few years and let me ride with them again this year to help train.

Today was another beautiful day. The ride was fairly short - around 50 miles. This is probably good because tomorrow will be a beast of a ride ... 70+ miles and over 8000 feet of climbing. Everyone is a little freaked out about it - especially the Floridians who don't have anything but overpasses to train on. For perspective, it will be the equivalent of a 55 mile hill. Ok but more on that tomorrow ...

Today the first 30 miles were on a great bike trail that hugged the American River between Sacramento and Folsom Dam/Lake/Prison. Trail was in great shape ... If only the Burke was so well maintained (hint if any of my city of Seattle employee friends are reading ...). It meandered by the river and then started to roll as we entered the foothills. Lovely country. We stopped by Folsom lake with the prison in the background ... I wanted to hear some Johnny Cash - got to get him on my blackberry ...

The ride into Auburn was basically one long climb ... A wake up climb for tomorrow. We were entering the foothills of the Sierras. We followed a highway that was dotted by McMansions, horses and dog breeding farms, subdivided 3 acre lots ... You know the type of place. When you are climbing long distances you are moving pretty slowly so there is lots of time to observe what's around you. I thought it was hysterical and pretty indicative that the most common road debris were golf balls - counted at least 5.

Auburn is a really great little town. Tons of history. The first gold in CA that kicked off the Gold Rush was discovered 20 miles from there. It was the first capital of the state, the railway came through there and claims the oldest post office in the West. Very cute with old buildings still intact. We had lunch at a little place and chatted a while with the owner who came over after we told her we were doing the xcountry ride. Turns out she (Alex) runs a lot of endurance events in town - including a killer bike ride in September. Auburncentury.com or wildestride.com. They rival RAMROD in length/elevation -if anyone's interested. She offered to find housing with locals ... I guess Auburn is know for it's endurance events. One of the premier ultra marathons - 100 miles from Tahoe to Auburn - is in June. They apparently have the hardest half iron man in the country. Anyway ... If anyone's interested I would be up for having a little vacation/biking/hiking time down here - it's gorgeous.

Then we wandered up to the old capital and found a county history museum in the basement. Interesting arrest warrants, the women's jail, actual gold in it's unrefined form that was found in the area and other stuff. And funnily there was a couple with the last name of Pate who have an amazing Indian basket artifact collection - they were doctors and took goods in the place of payment and were big advocates for Native Americans at the time. Distant relatives ? Gotta research it ...

OK - we're riding out at 5:15 tomorrow ... Going to be a long day

San Fran to Vallejo to Sacramento (with candy heaven added bonus)

Day 1 - San Fran to Vallejo

75 miles

During orientation, they made the point that this ride was called the Cross Country Challenge, not the Cross Country Easy.

Day 1 was fabulous. But definitely through in many things challenging about cycling into the first day.

We started in Burlingame and rode into San Fran to the beach just south of Golden Gate Park. Madronas all along the route. Gorgeous sand beach with the coast snaking off into hills to the north. We picked up our bikes and hauled them 1/4 mile to the ocean and dunked the wheel in the pacific. Photo. Haul the bike back. Then ride north through the city - fabulous and quiet at 8 am on Sunday morning, and to Golden Gate Park and over the GG Bridge. That was a blast. Photo. Then north and East through Saucilito (photo photo) and hugged the bay inland. We hit the burbs where we counted 5 plastic surgery offices in about a mile. Considered getting a little "work" done so you could all tell me how this ride took off 10 years. Then outside of the Bay metro area and into farmland. Past San Quentin Prison ... Dang that is one huge compound of badness. Complete with big vultures hanging around outside. And then a fast ride with a great tail wind down a highway into Vallejo.

This was challenging because it took forever. Lots of climbing, regrouping, photos, etc. Tons of foot down for the first 50 miles. My average speed was 11 mph ... That's a long day. Everyone is nervous, and it was when you could really tell who had basic bike skills. Navigating was very time consuming and took a committee and an occasional Garman. There were 2 crashes - one sadly that ended with a cyclist dislocating his clavical and being sent home. Both were due to inattention ... A good reminder about how important it is to err on the side of caution on a ride this long (the odds start to be stacked against you I think with multiple days so control the risks you can).

Day 2 Vallejo to Sacramento

75 miles

Today was comparatively easy. It started with some climbing -including a couple of nasty steep hills a few hundred yards from the hotel. Warm up hills. Then we dropped into a valley with gorgeous fields and mountains in the distance. Perfect weather.

Some of us took a detour to tour the Jelly Belly Factory. That was a blast. Did you know it takes 7 to 21 days to make a Jelly Bean. Or that you can mix a chocolate with a cherry jelly bean and have a recipe. for chocolate covered cherries? Very fun stop. Then pedaled on through farmland till we went right through the UC Davis Campus. Then a stop at the In and Out Burger for what many swear to be the best fast food burger ever. Then smoked back in with another nice tail wind. Decent pace on this ride - 16.5 mph average. Fun and pretty low key. Beautiful country. Gorgeous sunny weather. Fresh local strawberries at the SAG stop. A quick swim in the river before dinner.

the lowdown

Well, my clever idea of blogging via blackberry has had its challenges. But I'm back ...

We all arrived at the lovely Holiday Inn Express in Burlingame, just outside San Fran on Saturday. Lots of organizing and orienting.

There are 23 riders total. Only 4 of us are women, which really surprises me. Cycling still is about 2/3 men to women, but this is pretty low proportionately. But the good news is with so few women I paid for a three to a room and got upgraded to two and it's pretty amazing to see the men lined up for the restroom while the women just breeze on in. So that's good.

We have to ride leaders who deal with logistics, hotels, solving problems, etc. A wonderful bike mechanic who is also a professional bike racer and pretty interesting to talk to. My room mate is on staff and she is helping run the SAG (support van), etc. She's a former participant who has a real job doing IT. And one of the directors 20 year old son who is the gopher and bag loader. And I think along for the ride. All are nice and very capable and fun.
We are staying in hotels - Holiday Inn and Best Western types. Food is all about quantity and variety - not necessarily fine dining. And that makes sense, too given the quantities we are already putting down.

Folks are getting to know each other and naturally grouping together for rides by speed and ability. It's interesting to watch it happen. There a some guys who are bent to get in first, and a group that's already named itself the "stops a lot" group. I'm in the middle ... We can ride hard but take detours and photo and milk shake breaks.

The group is settling in. Trying to remember names. I keep getting confused with the other youngish woman :) and I can't keep all the white haired guys straight yet. But as I get to know them individually it helps. Most are pretty interesting
And have a story to tell. Most are going all the way across. We have 2 leaving in Salt Lake and are picking up more along the way. Around 40 riders total.

The routes have been beautiful so far - I don't know how they have strung together this crazy rides of bike paths,, highways, abandoned roads and country roads. Our first cue sheet was 8 pages long. I'm really happy with what were seeing and riding so far ... It holds we'll be in for a great trip.