It was one of those odd days where we had to pack the van before eating breakfast. For some reason the change in routine seems to throw me off. I was just feeling tired and a bit out of it but after some french toast and oj, we hopped on our bikes again and headed out. We spent about 7 miles on a frontage road before merging onto our favorite freeway - I-80! Food and rest stops were pretty sparse today so we took advantage of them whenever they popped up. After about 40 miles we came to Wells and stopped in at McDonalds for a snack and drink. I visited with a few people there who were amazed at how far we'd come and then aghast at how far we still had to go. :) Yes, we are a bit crazy! Our major climb for the day was through the Pequop mountains. It was about 12 miles of steady climbing. Through Nevada, the stretches are so long. You look ahead forever and the road just keeps going on. You ride to the horizon and it's all stretched out again. It's hard to tell how far away things are. It's generally farther than you think. As we came up one hill, I asked Fiona how far she thought it was to the top of the hill we were climbing. She guessed 2.5 miles so I went with 3 miles. By the time we'd got to that point, we could see we still had a fair bit to go before cresting out on top. We did get a few good downhills in though and coming down Pequop was quite fun. About 15 miles after the summit, Fiona got her first flat. I found the wire that caused the puncture while she was messing with the tubes. It was about 4 millimeters long. Tricky little thing! We were lead to believe - or we deluded ourselves - that the last 30 miles into Wendover were all downhill. Au contraire. As we started up what must surely be the last climb, I told Fiona that it had to be less than 7 miles long because we were running out of mileage to get to the hotel and I knew we had a downhill stretch before the motel. But it continued to climb and curve and I started wondering... Then we did finally come out on top and Wendover and the Utah salt flats stretched out before us - yahoo! We then had a great downhill into town and to our lodging. We stayed at the Rainbow which is a huge casino and motel. Of course the front desk is situated so you have to wind through everything to make it back to the rooms. I got to do that once with my bike and then again with my luggage. All we wanted was a shower and FOOD! Even more than a milkshake. I had three plates at the buffet. Then to bed! We lost an hour due to the time change and we had to be up early to start our trek to Salt Lake City.
We actually made the marquee at the High Desert Inn in Elko!
Another beautiful morning!
Snow on the mountains! Also the desert looks amazingly green!
Nutella on a golden Oreo. I've eaten more Oreos in the past week than I've eaten in two years.
85 miles from Elko, 15 miles from the pass - Pequop? - which you can see way back there. Still 22 miles from Wendover.
That's where Fiona got her first flat of the trip. Or puncture. Whatever.
I'm sure throughout history there have been people who were very happy to encounter Wendover. I think I rank among the top ten. This was a very welcome sight! Utah here we come!
Winding my way through a dark and gaudy casino was quite a contrast to where we spent the day. The cool was welcome however!
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