Last Night in Utah

Today we rode from Park City to Duchesne, Utah. The first 50 miles were all wooded and mountainous with large climb taking us up over 8000 feet. The second half was more like a desert, similar to what we encountered in Nevada. The cool part was in the middle were the two parts transitioned - there the south-facing side of the mountains was desert while the north side was forested. We decided the must be due to the shade on the north side.

Once in Duchesne the chamber of commerce arranged for several members to take us boating and tubing on Starvation Lake, a man-made lake made by damming the Strawberry and Duchesne Rivers. It was really cool to see a lake in the middle of a rocky desert. Later in the evening the Lions Club made dinner for us, which was great because they made barbecue pork with scalloped potatoes.

Tomorrow we ride about 95-100 miles to Dinosaur, Colorado.

Salt Lake City and Park City

Friday we rode 77 miles to Payson, which is on the southern outskirts of Salt Lake City. The ride was nice with one or two passes. In Payson we had the evening to ourselves and went first to a pizza place called Fat Jack's then the little bar in town.

The following day we rode into Salt Lake City. The ride was beautiful because we rode along the western shore of Utah Lake with snow covered mountains in the background. In the city we were sponsored for lunch by the Saturn dealership downtown. Then in the afternoon we went to a friendship visit at the Raging Rapids, which was fun. In the evening we went to get some food at Chili's then went to downtown to see The Hangover (my second time). The area by the theater and the arena where the Jazz play seemed like a really cool area.

The next day we had a day off from cycling and went to a friendship visit at the National Abilities Center in Park City. The NAC is a great place for people with disabilities with an equestrian center, ropes course, climbing wall, ski facilities, hand-pedal bikes, and the world's first adaptive bobsled team just to name a few. They also serve as the training base for several Para-Olympic athletes. The day we were there they were hosting a camp for kids with visual impairments. I had dinner with a cool kid named Paul who told me about go ball, a Para-Olympic sport. Afterwards we got to clomb the climbing wall but had to do so with a "disability." I chose to be blindfolded to simulate blindness. It was surprisingly nerve-racking and hard but was able to complete it with a little help from my partner on the ground.

Monday we rode from Salt Lake City to Park City. It was only 25 miles but was challenging because it was nearly all uphill. Plus we had to ride on the freeway for 8 miles on what is purportedly the steepest interstate in America.

From Park City we drove back to Salt Lake City for a friendship visit with a camp for people with disabilities. I struck up a conversation with a guy named Don who had severe cerebral palsy. It was often really hard to understand what he was saying but he was cool and seemed genuinely excited that we were there to hang out with them.

Baker, NV and entering Utah

Yesterday we rode about 61 miles to Baker, Nevada. The terrain was identical to the prior days with a couple mountain passes separated by desert. We got in early enough to tour Lehman Cave at Great Basin National Park, which was very cool. Then the superintendent and some of the park employees hosted dinner for us. Later we went to a little cafe/bar for a beer or two that was very cool, especially considering Baker's population of 65.

Today we were supposed to ride 97 miles to Delta, Utah but were shortened due to weather. We rode about 67 miles including through two passes, the second of which was beautiful because we descended down through a cool canyon with mountains rising on both sides. After leaving the canyon the road continued downhill through the most barren land I've seen yet. Nevertheless we found some serious tailwinds and a long straight section where I hit 49 mph going downhill. The wind was so strong we were cruising on the flats at 35 and climbing at 25 mph. But the winds turned into a sandstorm and we racked the bikes the last 30 miles because of the high winds and poor visibility. We're in Delta, Utah and had milkshakes sponsored by a local restaurant and dinner from the local Lions Club. It's cool to get into another state although so far the terrain isn't much more exciting than Nevada, but we'll be in Salt Lake City soon and have a day off, which I'm really looking forward to.

Eureka and Ely

Yesterday we rode to Eureka, Nevada. There were a couple mountain passes with rolling hills on between. And not much to look at other than shrubs. In Eureka we had cheeseburgers and milkshakes from DJ's Diner, the chocolate and peanut butter milkshake was awesome. For dinner the Lions Club made spaghetti for us and had my favorite cake for dessert- spice cake with clove icing. Also I was talking to one of the Lions who is the Eureka County assessor. He told me the population of the town is about 500 and the county is 1500 and county encompasses 4200 square miles. 84% of the land is owned by the federal government, but the county includes parts of one of the largest gold mines in North America.

Today we rode on to Ely, NV, which was about 80 miles through similar terrain. There were four passes and some serious headwinds the whole way. Tonight the local high school student council served us a good dinner and stayed around to chat and shoot hoops afterward.

Tomorrow we ride to Baker, NV. Population 65. So I'm not optimistic about cell service to upgrade this blog tomorrow.

Joining the Century Club

We rode from Fallon to Austin, Nevada today. It was definitely one of the hardest rides of my life - I'd put it the same league as climbing Kirkwood. We covered 113 miles in over eight hours. But what made it really challenging was that we rode through three or four mountain passes climbing about 2700 feet in elevation with the largest climb starting at mile 104 and getting progressively steeper all the way to the end.

Afterwards we were fortune to receive dinner from Beta Sigma Phi, a ladies' service fraternity. They made Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy. Plus they had brownies and strawberry shortcake with real, homemade whipped cream. Delicious.

Fallon - Home of Top Gun

Today we left Carson City and rode about 62 miles to Fallon, NV, which is the home of the Navy's Top Gun academy (it moved from Miramar where it was located when the movie was made). The ride through the desert and rather uneventful. But it was the first time I've been in the desert, so that was kind of cool.

For dinner we went to a dance hosted by Fallon Industries, which runs thrift stores to raise money to support people with disabilities and employs people with disabilities at their stores. It was a lot of fun and the pulled pork for dinner that was great.

Tomorrow we have our first century ride so I'm definitely turning in early tonight.

Carson City

We left Markleeville, CA two days ago and a short, easy ride to the capital of Nevada, Carson City. Carson City strikes me as a weird town. It's basically a small town in the middle of nowhere but it's the capital. Plus there are casinos on every corner and you can play video poker anywhere including gas stations and the laundry mat.

Upon arrival we had lunch and a visit at the Boys and Girls Club to teach the kids about people with disabilities via a puppet show. After a little free time we had dinner provided by the Rotary Club. After dinner a bunch of us went to see The Hangover, which was hilarious.

Today we had a day off the bike and went to the children's museum to put on the puppet show again. Since then we've had a little down time to run errands and do laundry.

We leave Carson City tomorrow and I'm ready to get moving again.

Kirkwood

After Jackson we rode through the Sierras to Markleeville, CA via the Carson Pass. The ride is commonly known as Kirkwood for a ski resort between the Carson Spur and the Carson Pass.

Jackson is at an elevation of 1500 feet and you start by climbing to about 8000 feet over the first 48 miles. From there is a small descent of ~750 feet before climbing back to the Carson Spur at 7990 feet. From there you descend about 1000 feet before climbing up to the Carson Pass at an elevation of 8574 feet at mile 65

After the pass the next 14 miles are downhill with some serious white-knuckle sections. Such as a crazy switchback with nothing beyond the guardrail but a lake that's probably 1000 feet down.

The last two miles are almost all uphill again to finish the day at an elevation around 6500 feet. Once we arrived the Jackson Lions Club was so kind to grill dinner for us.

The views were drop dead gorgeous and at over 9 hours it was perhaps the most physically taxing day of my life. But it was an awesome day that I'll never forget.

Jackson

Sorry I've been slow in updating this but I was having trouble with my phone and was out of range for a while.

After Sacramento we rode to Jackson, CA. Unfortunately for a couple reasons outside my control I was racked and only rode about 30 miles.

In Jackson we had a friendship visit at the Arc who were super excited for us to arrive. Later that night we had dinner hosted by the local Lions club. After dinner we went back to lodging to prepare for the epic ride over Kirkwood, which deserves its own post.

Napa and Sacramento

Yesterday was our first day on the bike and we rode from San Fran to Napa starting by riding over the Golden Gate Bridge. We then rode through the northen suburbs again befor hitting a very rural area where we encountered some challenging hills and headwinds. It was to date my longest ride at 69 miles and my most difficult but it was nice to complete it.

Afterward we had a friendship visit with the local challenge baseball league to celebrate the end of their season.

Today we rode to Sacramento. We started off in the mountains with some decent size climbs and descents. Then after about mile 30 it really flattened out. We arrived in Sacramento and had lunch on the river before riding up to the capitol. After we cleaned up and our first hour of free time since Thursday, which was nice to catch our breath. Right now we're on our way to a friendship visit and dinner.

Days 3 and 4 in San Fran

Yesterday morning we had meetings all morning, but then went to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch where I had grilled Mali. After lunch we had a few more meetings then were free most of the evening. I went with a group of guys to watch game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. Univ of San Fran is a little weird because it really doesn't have in the way of a college feel, like no real bars nearby to catch the game so we ended up walking a way. But at least the food was good where we ate.

Today we went to a park by the Golden Gate Bridge for some group riding exercises. Then from there we left for a short ~18 practice ride through Sausalito, Belvedere, and Tiburon, which was an awesome ride. Sausalito has a cool little downtown by the bay and the roads were beautiful. There were lots of winding, wooded areas with lots of elevation changes resulting in breathtaking views of the bay, the bridge, and the skyline.

After the practice ride we drove to the kick-off dinner at the PiKapp house at Berkeley. The house was cool and for dinner we had tacos with grilled steak and chicken, which was delicious. All in all it was a great day. But I'm excited to finally get on the road tomorrow.

Arrival and first day in San Francisco

I got into San Fran yesterday evening and got our lodging around 6. We're staying in a dorm at Univ of San Francisco. We just had an introductory meeting and then dinner before I assembled my bike and called it quits.

Today we started with a skills assessment to determine bike control among other things. Then we went to the Golden Gate Bridge to take a team picture. The bridge was stunning both in size and beauty.

After a quick lunch we went to the Janet Pomeroy Center for our first friendship visit. We played basketball with the folks there, which was awesome. Plus an impromptu dance broke out at halftime. Then afterwards we participated in their singing and acting class, it was hilarious. Then while waiting for dinner we were regaled with more songs from one of their folks. In all it was an amazing experience.

Also two minor items : first I've been having trouble unloading photos to Flickr, but may have fixed it today; and second I realized I had turned off comments on this blog but will change that going forward.

Boston, Bloomington, & Ohio

Catching up, I was in Boston visiting my sister last week. Chris who did JOH a few years ago was also there. We only got in one ride and it wasn't real long but the scenery was beautiful. We started in Harvard Square and rode around Harvard's campus. We then rode along the Charles River down to MIT. The view from the river was beautiful because it was about 72 degrees with no clouds so we had a great view of the city. Then we crossed over the river and rode back along to Harvard.

Then Tuesday night I got back into Bloomington. On Wednesday I rode about 35 miles by the Monroe Reservoir, including another good hill down Hardin Ridge. Then Thrsday I rode about 20 miles around Bloomington because I had to head out to Dayton to visit family here.

My family lives in a small town called Germantown thats about 30 minutes southwest of Dayton proper. Friday I went for a shorter ~20 mile ride out by the Germantown Dam and started working on picking up a water bottle while still riding the bike, which is tougher than it sounds. Saturday I rode about 35 miles around Germantown, out to the Dam including a nice long hill there, back into town, to the Dam again, over to Farmersville, then back into town. And then worked on picking up the water bottle again, which I think I have more or less down.

Sunday was a pretty easy training day, but enjoyable nonetheless. First, my dad and I went for a ride out to the Dam and back of about 10.5 miles. Then we came back to the house and picked up Diana and Stacy (my step-mom and sister, respectively). Then the four of us rode down to a bike path parallel to the river here in town. It was a nice leisurely ride of about 6.5 miles. Not my most challenging ride, but certainly one of the best. That was probably also my last training ride before I leave for San Francisco on Wednesday.