Saturday, July 3, 2010

It's been too long since an update!!!

First off, we'd like to apologize for not having updated our blog for a long time. We've been arriving at our destinations around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, and most of the libraries (which we're relying on to update our blog) close earlier than that.


FALLON TO AUSTIN, 116 MILES IN A NIGHT (AND DAY)
In Fallon, we took a rest day, because we knew that we'd be too tired to ride 116 miles through the desert. Since we were spending the night at the Super 8 Motel, which is connected to the Bonanza Casino, we had a few complimentary drinks (The Coast to Coast team suggests White Russians as our choice casino beverage) and gambled a little bit.

The next night, we got up at midnight, and left towards Austin at 1 AM. About 20 miles into the ride, there were these salt flats, and we decided to do something in memory of Lea Economos.



Watching the sunrise in the desert may be the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen. It was a little forboding though, because I knew that it would only mean that it would only get hotter as the day progressed.



About 50 miles into our ride, there was one stop in Middlegate, NV. The population sign had a crossed out 18, which was replaced with the new population, 17. It had a great little diner where we had breakfast and prepared for the last bit of our ride.





We're not quite sure why this tree has lots of shoes in it. But it does.




We made it to Austin!



In Austin, we were resting in a convenience store, when we met a biker from Austin, TX. He was a student of the University of Texas, and a group of 50 of them every year bike from Austin, TX to Alaska to raise money for a cancer foundation. (Kind of a weird coincidence that we met the Austin, TX kids in Austin, NV). Check out their website and cause at www.texas4000.org.
We didn't have a place to stay, but the Texas 4000 for Cancer riders let us camp with them at the Austin Baptist Church. They were incredibly nice people, and it's awesome meeting such a large group of people who are riding for a great cause.
AUSTIN TO EUREKA
In the morning, the Texas 4000 bikers have a ritual where they go around the circle and say their inspiration for the day. They let us join, and considering how difficult some of these journeys get, it really helped motivate us for the upcoming day.

The ride from Austin to Eureka wasn't as bad as our previous 100+ day. Right before we entered Eureka, the Devil's Gate was a pretty cool rock formation.


In Eureka, we stopped by at the Emergency Medical Services building, and talked to the Mike. He's the only paid emergency medical person in the county (I talked to him being concerned about what happens to people in the event of an emergency, and he said that there are lots of volunteers to cover different areas). We didn't have a place to shower, so Mike let us into the brand new Eureka fire department to take a shower. However, while we were taking a shower, he was called for an emergency, and all of us had to run out with our stuff.



A nice lady named Debbie in Austin contacted her friends Christine and Lloyd in Eureka. They contacted the county and let us stay in the park in Eureka (and made sure that the sprinklers would not go off on us!). It was a pretty Edenic campground for the night.



EUREKA TO ELY
Route 50 is known as the Loneliest Road in America, and we have to say that it lives up to its reputation. Word on the street is that there's some "Death Ride" that some crazy bikers take through Route 50 in one day.



Ely was the first major town (and the main criteria for being a major town in our eyes is "Does it have a McDonalds? And it did!) that we saw in a while. We stayed in a little Motel.



ELY TO BAKER
Ely to Baker was a nice ride because we rode around the perimeter of Great Basin National Park. We didn't have time to stop by and check it out, but it looked absolutely beautiful from the distance.



In Baker, we stayed at a campground which had showers and laundry, so that was a huge plus. We also stopped by at the Lectrolux Cafe (see the picture below). It's a really cool, artsy, New-York-trendy-meets-small-town-Nevada cafe. Last year, the Coast to Coast riders were caught in a rainstorm and slept on the gift shop floor of the Lectrolux.




BAKER, NV TO MILFORD UTAH
About 10 miles after leaving Baker, we finally saw a sign for Utah!!! We find the "life elevated" slogan to be uplifting, but considering that last year's riders were telling us that riding through the hills of Utah is really difficult, we find the double entendre of "life elevated" to be a little scary. Arturo took the "life elevated" saying a little too seriously.


I really appreciated this prankster's work. There are a lot of cattle-crossing signs in Nevada and Utah, and for a good 20 miles, someone decided to put the cows on skateboards.



On the way to Milford, there was dust cloud that we saw from 10 miles down the road. It looked really scary, and we wrapped our noses and mouths with shirts so that we wouldn't breathe in any dust. I was really scared, but it didn't end up being that bad. I just wish that we saw some cows on skateboards.


The scenery in Utah is pretty spectacular. I'm a big fan.



In Milford, the Oak Tree in was nice enough to donate two double bed rooms to us! The manager who worked there was incredibly nice, and even told us about the hot tub (which we made good use of). Utah has been pretty windy for us (and the wind blows westward against us), so it felt great to have our own double beds for ourselves.


MILFORD TO CEDAR CITY, UTAH
We love Penny's Diner in Milford, Utah! They have great food, and we really enjoy their retro aesthetic. The Oak Tree Inn even gave us free breakfast at this diner, which gave us enough energy for a pretty rough day ahead of us.



Heading out of Milford.


Our ride was only 56 miles. We've done more than that before, so none of us were worried about getting to our destination. However, there were 45 MPH winds blowing against us, and when we got to Cedar City people told us "You didn't hear about the wind warnings today?" That was the first time that I had to actively pedal going downhill, and it was a brutal day on our knees.

But we eventually made it to Cedar City! It was difficult to get a hotel to stay at because there's a big Shakespeare Festival in town, but we called the First Baptist Church, and the reverend Scott let us stay in our own building for the night. We can't thank him enough for the generosity.



REST DAY IN CEDAR CITY!!!!
We're taking a day off in Cedar City, since we have a big climb to Cedar Breaks tomorrow. We're probably going to check out the Shakespeare Festival (they have an octagonal Elizabethan theatre, which is insane!), but most importantly, take a good day of rest.

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