Day 10 - Blazing Saddles - 107 miles
Note: I recently read Cold Comfort Farm, where the author set off what she thought were particularly good sections of writing between sets of ***. I’ll try this literary technique for a while.
Well, there was no post on day 10. Not because I’m exhausted, but because the Rainbow Hotel and Casino has no wireless service. This is the third “hotel and casino” we’ve stayed at. It will be our third buffet. They probably lose money on 40 cyclists who’ve been riding all day; we eat a lot. **To step into our room at the Rainbow is to step back in time. A black velour “chair rail” (or perhaps extended headboard) wraps around the room. The furniture could be described as “retro” or as very well maintained “old.” It’s probably the later. Every surface is covered in jade metallic formica, accented with black plastic trim and 1957 Chevy chrome handles. The ceiling to floor mirrored-wall is wasted on Jay and me.** (Jay normally bunks in a triple. When there is a triple, Gerard bunks with me. When the hotel doesn’t have a triple, Jay gets bumped to me and Gerard sleeps in the van.) The Bonneville salt flats can be seen from my window and extend as far as the eye can see, which, considering the flatness of the terrain is very far. Gerard offered to lead a tour ride to the flats, 10 miles out, 10 back. There were no takers…**The hotel’s casino was mirrored (on the ceilings) reflecting wildly-colored neon lights in an artificial rain forest-themed disorienting cavern with no clear access to light or the outside world. The casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City are the epitome of understated elegance by comparison.**
Today’s ride was incredible. Where to start? First there was the navigation. Remember the first day in San Francisco where the cue sheet had 63 turns and was four pages long? Today’s cue sheet boiled down to: Go out of the hotel, turn right, get on I-80E. Ride 100 miles. Get off I-80. Ride to the hotel. Not even I could get lost. Then there was the riding. You know the song, “Ride like the wind”? We rode with the wind! My average speed for 107 miles was a blazing 17.8 mph. The actual riding time for the 100 miles was 5.5 hours. (This broke my previous best of 16.4 mph and 6 h riding time.) With stops to eat and pee, the total ride time was six hours and forty five minutes (from 6:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) It was another day of stunning scenery. **In the morning, there were dark clouds punctuated by fingers of light that splashed onto the mountains in a hundred colors of green.** It looked like one of the inspirational posters they have at the Hallmark Store. Then it was onto I-80 and **the same desert-lined mountains guarding the stark barrenness of the dried up range. Then up over a pass and it was like that moment in the Wizard of Oz when every thing turns from black and white to color. Everything was green. The mountains were multicolor green, depending on how the sun penetrated the clouds. The prairie was green, with brush that would tickle a steer’s belly.** Instead of lines of mountains, we were surrounded by mountains, albeit at a distance. Off in the far distance to the left and in the far distance to the right were more mountains. We were in a green bowl that was at least 50 miles in diameter. After riding another forty five minutes or so, we crested another mountain, and were back in black-and-white.
Random stuff: Our highest elevation today was 7,000 feet. You can feel the temperature drop by 10 - 15 degrees as you ascend the mountain. We are in the Pequop Mountians, just short of Utah, but into mountain time. There was another DIW beside the side of the road, sleeping with his arms wrapped around a Winchester 435. I did not stop to wake him.
There are some pretty long stretches of riding two abreast (not in a rotating double pace line.) There are long conversations about religion, spirituality, kids, spouses, divorces, careers, hopes for the future, failures and successes. You get to know people pretty well on a ride like this. Surprisingly, the conversation is never about bikes, previous rides, or riding technique.
The folks at McDonalds found it odd to be selling so many lunch sandwiches at 9:22 a.m. on a “to go” basis to people who put them in rear pockets of funny shirts. It was the only real food available on the 107 mile stretch. We bought it there and ate it in a rest area a few hours later.
There is such a thing as “too much wind.” On our final descent to the Rainbow, the wind swept down off the mountain and almost blew us off our bikes. I leaned into the wind at a 20 degree angle. Then a truck would roar by, block the wind, and I had to pull up very fast. The riding is what we would call “squarely”. Ketti (the woman from Holland) was blown over and required a few stitches but is otherwise ok.
I was just kidding about the DIW.
Note: I recently read Cold Comfort Farm, where the author set off what she thought were particularly good sections of writing between sets of ***. I’ll try this literary technique for a while.
Well, there was no post on day 10. Not because I’m exhausted, but because the Rainbow Hotel and Casino has no wireless service. This is the third “hotel and casino” we’ve stayed at. It will be our third buffet. They probably lose money on 40 cyclists who’ve been riding all day; we eat a lot. **To step into our room at the Rainbow is to step back in time. A black velour “chair rail” (or perhaps extended headboard) wraps around the room. The furniture could be described as “retro” or as very well maintained “old.” It’s probably the later. Every surface is covered in jade metallic formica, accented with black plastic trim and 1957 Chevy chrome handles. The ceiling to floor mirrored-wall is wasted on Jay and me.** (Jay normally bunks in a triple. When there is a triple, Gerard bunks with me. When the hotel doesn’t have a triple, Jay gets bumped to me and Gerard sleeps in the van.) The Bonneville salt flats can be seen from my window and extend as far as the eye can see, which, considering the flatness of the terrain is very far. Gerard offered to lead a tour ride to the flats, 10 miles out, 10 back. There were no takers…**The hotel’s casino was mirrored (on the ceilings) reflecting wildly-colored neon lights in an artificial rain forest-themed disorienting cavern with no clear access to light or the outside world. The casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City are the epitome of understated elegance by comparison.**
Today’s ride was incredible. Where to start? First there was the navigation. Remember the first day in San Francisco where the cue sheet had 63 turns and was four pages long? Today’s cue sheet boiled down to: Go out of the hotel, turn right, get on I-80E. Ride 100 miles. Get off I-80. Ride to the hotel. Not even I could get lost. Then there was the riding. You know the song, “Ride like the wind”? We rode with the wind! My average speed for 107 miles was a blazing 17.8 mph. The actual riding time for the 100 miles was 5.5 hours. (This broke my previous best of 16.4 mph and 6 h riding time.) With stops to eat and pee, the total ride time was six hours and forty five minutes (from 6:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) It was another day of stunning scenery. **In the morning, there were dark clouds punctuated by fingers of light that splashed onto the mountains in a hundred colors of green.** It looked like one of the inspirational posters they have at the Hallmark Store. Then it was onto I-80 and **the same desert-lined mountains guarding the stark barrenness of the dried up range. Then up over a pass and it was like that moment in the Wizard of Oz when every thing turns from black and white to color. Everything was green. The mountains were multicolor green, depending on how the sun penetrated the clouds. The prairie was green, with brush that would tickle a steer’s belly.** Instead of lines of mountains, we were surrounded by mountains, albeit at a distance. Off in the far distance to the left and in the far distance to the right were more mountains. We were in a green bowl that was at least 50 miles in diameter. After riding another forty five minutes or so, we crested another mountain, and were back in black-and-white.
Random stuff: Our highest elevation today was 7,000 feet. You can feel the temperature drop by 10 - 15 degrees as you ascend the mountain. We are in the Pequop Mountians, just short of Utah, but into mountain time. There was another DIW beside the side of the road, sleeping with his arms wrapped around a Winchester 435. I did not stop to wake him.
There are some pretty long stretches of riding two abreast (not in a rotating double pace line.) There are long conversations about religion, spirituality, kids, spouses, divorces, careers, hopes for the future, failures and successes. You get to know people pretty well on a ride like this. Surprisingly, the conversation is never about bikes, previous rides, or riding technique.
The folks at McDonalds found it odd to be selling so many lunch sandwiches at 9:22 a.m. on a “to go” basis to people who put them in rear pockets of funny shirts. It was the only real food available on the 107 mile stretch. We bought it there and ate it in a rest area a few hours later.
There is such a thing as “too much wind.” On our final descent to the Rainbow, the wind swept down off the mountain and almost blew us off our bikes. I leaned into the wind at a 20 degree angle. Then a truck would roar by, block the wind, and I had to pull up very fast. The riding is what we would call “squarely”. Ketti (the woman from Holland) was blown over and required a few stitches but is otherwise ok.
I was just kidding about the DIW.
2 comments:
I'm amazed that you can even buy lunches at McDonald's that early. My local one won't sell them before 11:00am. I tried once at 10:57 and they told me to drive around and come back after 11:00. I'm enjoying your descriptions of the countryside. I can hardly wait for you to get to CO where there are spectacular sights.
Hey, bro, the comment about McD's was mine. I just want to let you know that I'm not going to show Mom the picture of your room! I doubt she looks at your blog. I'm just giving the folks pictures of you.
Bob
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