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.