Week 29

Date
July 24, 2016

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 29

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
It was a beautiful day and the lake was packed. There was a bit of a traffic jam out by Sand Harbor. That's good though. I'm glad to see people out there enjoying nature in their own way. I ride, but other people hike, swim, kayak, paddle board, or just relax.

There were 3 climbs today: Geiger, Mt. Rose, and Gold Hill. I almost talked myself into doing the Truck Route instead of Gold Hill, but today I was able to resist the urge to take the easy way out.

Behind the bathroom in Virginia City

Week 28

Date
July 17, 2016

Distance
101 miles

Strava Link
Week 28

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
This is my standard windy day route. Just like Week 23, I had pretty good timing today. I didn't notice that it was getting windy until a few miles before the turnaround point.

This week was flat tire week. I had a flat on Tuesday, which was a front flat on the Kingsbury descent. Front flats on descents always get the heart pumping. This morning when I went out to grab my bike that same stupid tire was flat again. Both were caused by thorns. The tire is a Michelin Pro 3 that I've had for a long time. It's very prone to flats and I end up getting frustrated with it and throwing it in a drawer. Months later I'll wear out a tire and decide to test my luck again. I should just throw it away once and for all. I didn't bother fixing the flat. I just grabbed the front wheel from a different bike.

I went for the flat tire hat trick in Minden. This time it was on the rear. I didn't get to see what I hit, but I heard a pop and lost pressure immediately. It left a decent hole in my tire- about as big as holes get without needing a boot. They say things come in 3s, so that must mean I'm done with flats for a while.

Week 27

Date
July 6, 2016

Distance
105 miles

Strava Link
Week 27

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
3 climbs today: Geiger, 6 Mile, and Spooner. The wind picked up in the afternoon, which I definitely felt on Spooner.

Construction for the new freeway through Carson City

It's July now, which means that the year is halfway over. Seems like a good time to assess how things are going so far. Here were my goals in January:

• One century per week
• Century in 5 new states
• One international century
• 12,000 miles
• One Everest

I'm doing pretty well except for the second one. I'm on pace for a century per week and 12,000 miles (~6,300 miles as of the end of June). I already did my international century (Tenerife) and an Everest (Under the Freeway Climb). That's a solid 6 months.

I'm falling short on the 5 new states goal. I haven't done a single one. I had a week off earlier this year and instead of going to new states I did some riding in eastern NV, southern UT, and western AZ. One the one hand, that may have been my one big chance to rack up lots of new states this year and I let it slip by. On the other hand, I got to ride in some areas that I've never ridden in before, and that's one of the main reasons I want to do all 50 states in the first place. I may not reach my goal, but at least I had fun.

Week 26

Date
June 28, 2016

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 26

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
I've been falling behind on my posts lately. Sorry about that. This week I had a meeting in Minden on Monday, so I left my car in Gardnerville on Monday night, rode home, then rode back to Gardnerville to pick it up on Tuesday. As you can see, I took the scenic route.

Lake Tahoe

It was a beautiful, sunny day out there. It was nice and warm and you could feel the cool breeze coming off of the lake. Finishing in Gardnerville was a nice change from what I'm used to. I was able to do Mt. Rose and Luther Pass without doing an 8-hour day. It's funny how one little change can make an entire ride seem so different.

Speaking of change, there is a lot of change in my future and you may see a lot more of Minden here on CPW in the future. Enjoy your summer and stay safe out there.

Week 25

Date
June 20, 2016

Distance
100 miles

Strava Link
Week 25

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
I had to drive out to Las Vegas for a meeting, so I stopped in Tonopah to ride out to Belmont, a ghost town northeast of there. It was nice and warm with almost no traffic at all. I even saw some wildlife along the way.

Wildlife Crossing

After I got back from Belmont I went back and rode through Tonopah a little bit. This brought back some memories from Petoji. I went from Yosemite to Tonopah on Day 3 and Tonopah to Rachel on Day 4. In general I have a terrible memory, but I remember a lot from those two days. I still remember being dead tired and riding past seemingly every hotel in town until finally getting to my hotel (Best Western). I still remember walking down to the Subway for dinner because I didn't even feel like riding 2 more miles that night. I also remember leaving Tonopah that morning and for whatever reason I can still picture making that left turn onto 95. I remember expecting an easy ride that day, but I was dead wrong and learned an important message about riding across the country: There's no such thing as an easy day.

Anyway, enough about memory lane. The day after this ride I did the Lee Canyon climb. It's a tough one: 17.1 miles at 6%. The obvious comparison it Mt. Rose, which is 16.5 miles at 5%. Obviously, Lee Canyon is longer and steeper, which makes it more difficult. But those numbers alone don't tell the full story.

The thing about Lee Canyon is that it is just relentless. Mt. Rose has a few downhill sections sprinkled in along the way, but not Lee Canyon. It didn't let up until about mile 13 or so. The lower portion is long, straight, and exposed to the elements. I kept seeing what looked like the crest of a hill ahead of me. I'd be looking ahead and the road would disappear into the sky. Surely that means there's a downhill section ahead. Not so. The one little downhill comes around mile 13 and the good news is that as you get to the 156/158 junction the grade eases off quite a bit. The ski area looks like a fun spot, even in the summer. I'd like to go back and hike around a little.

The Red Rock loop gets all the attention, but if you're ever in Las Vegas on two wheels you should definitely check out Lee Canyon as well.