Reno Day 3: Hot and Nasty

Today's ride started much like the rest of the week -- cool for the first hour or so, then the furnace started. I couldn't drink enough water. Every time we stopped, I  filled my water bottle and within 30 mins I had drained it dry.

The temperatures soared to around 105°, with very little wind but the occasional gust. Overall, it was a hot, nasty, and tedious ride. Until we found the weather front about an hour out of Ely, NV. The cloud cover that accompanied the front cooled the ride considerably.

We watched the clouds, heard the thunder, and barely beat the rain drops to our KOA Kamping Kabin. We barely had enough time to get our gear off the bikes before drops fell. We waited out the little rain that fell, and hopped back on the bikes to go to the Hotel Nevada in downtown Ely for food and a little gambling.

Reno Day 2: The Heat is On

We started the day with a terrific breakfast at a little place in downtown Craig called the Cool Water Grille. The breakfast was fabulous. And as much as I hate to say it, was much better than Vern's yesterday.

After filling our bellies and then our gas tanks, we hit the rowdy road, once again riding west. The weather was cool but not cold, a perfect morning ride. A few hours later, all that changed.

The temperatures soared to the upper 90s and cool morning air was a thing of the past. At one of our gas stops, we found the Bedrock Depot and sat in the air conditioning eating ice cream.

As the day progressed,  so did the temperatures. At one point, somewhere in Utah, we passed at time & temperature sign that read 100°. Yikes, that's hot. But as is usual in the afternoon, less than an hour later we had to pull off the side of the road to put on our rain gear. It was a welcome change from the heat, but the rain slowed us down.

We turned south onto Hwy 189 in Heber City and rode through Provo Canyon. What an awesome ride! I highly recommend it if you are ever in the area.

As usual, a 5-hour car trip took this intrepid group more than 8 hours. But we are in this for the journey, not the destination.

We reached our hotel around 6:30-ish, and settled in for the night. Tomorrow we ride from Provo, UT, to Ely, NV. Wednesday we tackle the Loneliest Highway. We're looking forward to it.

Reno Day 1: On the Road Again

Lin, Donna, and I left for Lake Tahoe/Reno today.

We left early (by our standards) and started the trip with our usual visit to Vern's Place in LaPorte. With a solid breakfast under our belts, we took off up the Poudre Canyon for the first leg of the journey. We want to give a big shoutout to Angel and Shiela for escorting us to the Mishiwaka.

The ride up the Poudre Canyon was phenominal. The temperatures were just about perfect, and the traffic going up the canyon was almost non-existant. Traffic coming down the canyon was a whole 'nuther story. About an hour later, we stopped to say hi to Connie at Archer's Poudre River Resort and let go of the coffee we'd had with breakfast. Then it was over Cameron Pass and the long ride to US Hwy 40 West and our first stop in Craig, CO.

Riding through the winding canyon and in the meandering stream in high mountain valley west of Cameron Pass, I begin to feel a calm that I hadn't felt in months. Wind screaming past my ears, gritty air hitting my face, a twitch of the hips one way and then the other to negotiate a curve, invoke a feeling of flying.

By this time, the sky was clouding up and the temperatures were getting a bit schitzophrenic. We added jacket liners then a dozen miles later took them off, only to stop again before Rabbit Ears Pass to add a layer. By the time we reached Steamboat Springs, it had warmed up significantly, so we stopped to gear down (again) and grab a bite to eat before continuing on to our KOA Kamping Kabin in Craig.

Now, I had some cool pictures ready to upload with this post, but for some reason this app (I'm using my tablet, we tried to save room and weight and not bring a laptop) has a problem uploading saved files and it won't let me select any pictures from my gallery. So, pictures to follow.