Day 5 - Truckee to Sparks

We started with a chill in the air in Truckee, cycled along the Truckee River to get to Tahoe City and then on to Kings Beach. Beautiful, beautiful country! We crossed our first state line!!!! We are now in Nevada. Climbed to the top of Mt. Rose. I alternated between my lowest gear and my second to lowest gear. 8 miles of unrelenting climbing. But it's all part of the package and there were some amazing views! I couldn't speed up the mountain but I could get to the top. About 3 miles from the summit, a woman on the opposite side of the road who was out taking photos yelled over to me. "You're tough! You've got this! You're amazing and you're almost to the top!" How fun to find a cheerleader along the way!

When I made it to the top, it was snowing! Fun times! We were at almost 9000 ft elevation. I did have a jacket and gloves on but hadn't resumed my leg warmers. I jumped in the van to warm up a bit and had a big grin on my face. "Wonderful day for a ride, what?" Fiona was amazed that I "didn't have my legs on". Hey, I've had worse training rides than this! Everyone kind of rolled their eyes at the crazy woman from Colorado. :)

After a bit of a rest, we continued on. 16 miles of descent! What every cyclist dreams of, right? Except that it's snowing and the road is all wet and it really was pretty cold. I put my leg warmers back on before we started back down. Before long my teeth were actually chattering but I knew the way to get warmer was to get down. I stopped a couple of times to shake out my hands - from holding the brakes in a death grip - and loosen my shoulders and arms. After a while the snow changed back to rain and I was just soaked. What I could see was pretty but I just wanted to get warm. Couldn't feel my feet anymore. I may have yelled inarticulate things into the wind a couple of times.

I eventually made it down and it was marginally warmer but the rain continued. I was hoping I would make it to the hotel before my cue sheet disintegrated since it wasn't in a plastic bag. With about 4 miles left, the rain abated and I was able to find the turns and make it in safely.

What a ride, what a day! All just part of the package and those experiences are just all part of the trip. I am glad I had a warm dry room waiting for me in a motel instead of a tent. :)

Super tired tonight! Tomorrow is a 92 mile ride to Lovelock, most of it on I-80, some on frontage roads. Although the distance is long, the climbing is pretty minimal so should be relatively easy. (?)

Truckee River on the way to Tahoe City. We were on a nice bike trail at this point. Very pretty! We also encountered a deer leg that had been mauled lying across the path. I can't find anyone that stopped to take a picture.

Descending to Lake Tahoe

Cool informational display at a park

Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe

Nevada State Line! We promptly entered a casino - to use the restroom. :)

One of the overlooks on the way up Mt. Rose

The summit! You can't see the snow that is falling.

We were feeling like we needed a snack before dinner so we shared an order of super nachos at the Super Burrito next door to the hotel.