Up Up and Away (July 10)

Up, Up and Away!!! Day 4 of riding. Today was a beast of a climb. We went up around 7000' in just about 35 miles. There were a few brief downhill moments but they were not long lived. Today we climbed over Carson Pass at around 8500'. It is the only large pass we will have to negotiate until Colorado and I am thankful for that. Pushing nearly 250lbs I am not built for climbing but with the right gearing it is possible in less than graceful fashion.

After a great night of rest at the casino campground we drove about an hour up to the point we left of from the day before. The elevation change was clear as we slept at about 1500' and would start our climb at about 4700'. There was a triple threat with the ride today being that the temps in the morning were near freezing at the top of the mountain, there was a number of nasty black clouds floating around and I was feeling the elevations. Last year when climbing mountains in Colorado I saw and felt first hand how fast weather can change at the top and had we not been wanting to get to Carson City today and more importantly if Rebecca had not been willing to be our shadow up the mountain we would have passed on the accent. Luckly we have the best SAG team around (Rebecca, Charlotte and Graham) and they were able to check in on us every few miles supplying water, fuel and the occasional rest room in the RV.

It took five hours of punishment to get to the top and as we approached the summit the clouds and fog got thicker, the temps dropped, it started raining and the road way deteriorated to chip seal asphalt and grooved pavement. It would have been easy to stop, but we knew we were only a few miles from the top. We made it sore, tired and cold but it was amazing!

The first few miles of decent were at a near 10 percent grade and the pavement was grooved. We determined that it was not safe to ride and Rebecca gave us a ride down to the better pavement. From there we enjoyed about 15 miles of 30-45 mph beautiful downhill with gentle curving roads and great pavement. The only issue was a stiff cross wind and increasing traffic. Once we reached the bottom we had about 20 miles of near flat riding to finish the ride into Carson City. We had a powerful 15-20 mph tailwind and it felt like we had put up the sail.

The traffic was difficult when we reached Carson City and the locals had no tolerance for cyclists being on their six lane road. But with Applebee's in sight we pushed on to dinner.

All told it was about an 80 mile day. It was too much but it felt great to make it through it. The rest day tomorrow is going to feel great and we have some decidedly flat riding afterwards!

We arrived tonight at Amanda's house in Virginia City after dark which was not ideal, but we made the most of it and parked our camper in her very rural cul-de-sac.  Now a very necessary day of rest!