Embracing Nevada

Today we biked from Eureka, Nevada to Ely, Nevada. It was our longest day so far, distance-wise, and up there among the most climbing. Even still, I felt strong rolling into Ely.

I started this morning with my first flat. Mike pumps up my tires every day (lovely man that he is) and he suspected I had a slow leak in the front tube. My rear tire would lose between 5 and 10 pounds of pressure each day and my front was losing between 30 and 50. This morning it was really low so we just swapped the tube. The hypothesis is that there was a problem with the stem in the old tube. It was a bit crooked.

Our ride had two smaller climbs and then two longer climbs, and then we should have rolled into Ely on a 15 mile descent, but we had a headwind and had to pedal. Even more! After 60 miles! On a downhill!

Cycling through downtown Ely on the main street (route 50) was nice. It felt very old-timey. If it weren’t for all the strip bars, casinos, and 24/7 massage parlors, it would have felt downright wholesome.

Once we checked in to the AirBnB, Mike and I walked to a local sports store to buy more tubes and waterproof cycling gloves. The sports store was heavily geared towards hunting. They sold LOTS of guns and camo. I almost had to buy camo cycling gloves. The deer would never see me coming! They also sold a t-shirt that said “vegetarians, my food poops on your food”. It’s funny, because eating plants is silly.

We went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in a casino. Then we played a few games in the casino. We bet $10 and left with $40, so not too bad!

Highlights

• Felt very strong after a long ride with lots of climbing
• Ended the day with margaritas and winning money at the casino
• We expected to be rained on again. The forecast called for scattered storms the whole day, but we missed all the rain.

Lowlights

• Flat tire was a bummer, but I’m glad we noticed before we left camp.

Julie’s food

• Breakfast: oatmeal, bread, coffee
• First Snack: Clif bar, bread
• Lunch: peanut butter banana sandwich, crackers and hummus
• Second Snack: Clif bar
• Dinner: bean burrito. It was literally a tortilla with only beans in it, with more beans on the side, and rice on the side. So. Many. Beans.

Stats

• Total distance: 75.91 miles
• Elevation gain: 4,152 feet
• Weather: cloudy, high of 70 degrees Fahrenheit