TWO DAYS IN NEVADA

Well we have started our Nevada portion of the trip. The first day was from Cedarville, CA to Gerlach Nevada. I had no idea how beautiful and varied this day would be. We started out with a very flat ride out of Cedarville full of pastures, cows and crops in a beautiful valley with mountain ranges on both sides of us. Gradually the pastures gave way to sagebrush. A deer stood on the side of the road and watched us go by--cottentail rabbits and tiny little critters we do not know what they are.
As the sage brush intensified so did the climbing as we climbed through canyons amazing in their beauty. The road surface was smooth and clean and there was virtually no traffic. Coming out of one of the canyons ahead appeared a lake so blue in color I thought it might be a mirage--but it was real.
After the last descent out of the canyons--then into the real dessert with a blistering head wind. A very hard day--but one of the most beautiful days I have ever spent on a bike. We arrived in Gerlach--if you ever go there--try to avoid staying at the Hotel. After 84 miles in 95+ degree weather they had no warm water to shower with.

The next day was Gerlach to Fernley--wow what a change--the headwind picked up almost immediately--and the desert was beautiful in it's own way--but not nearly as spectacular as the day before--so we all soon grew tired of the constant headwind and scenery. Just as we all thought nothing would strike us--we climbed a pass and saw Pyramid Lake--Wow!!! Stunning in its blue. We decided that riding to Nixon (Piute tribe) and driving in to Fernley would be the best idea--turns out we were right--soon the wind was steady around 20mph and gusting to 35 with lots of traffic and no shoulders.

Now with a rest day here are my details for the prior days. The temperatures are the lowest and highest that I recorded while actually riding.

8/2--Bullards State Park to Powers--32 miles, 500 feet of climbing, low temp-71, high temp-82.
8/3--To Glendale--72M, 5646 climbing, 55-90 degrees, X Coast Range
8/4--To Eagle Point--58M, 2913 climbing, 75-98 degrees.
8/5--To Rocky Point--41M, 4137 climbing, 72-84 degrees, X Cascades
8/6--To Junipers--70M, 1889 climbing, 51-84 degrees.
8/7--To Goose Lake--26M, 200 climbing, 70-91 degrees.
8/8--To Cedarville, CA--51M, 2536 climbing, 50-85 degrees, X Cedar Pass 6300
8/9--To Gerlach, NV--84M, 3940 climbing, 60-95 degrees.
8/10-To Fernley--61M, 2286 climbing, 64-98 degrees.