I woke up to news that northern California had been rocked by a large earthquake (6.0 on the Richter scale) overnight. Scary stuff! I wondered if I'd feel any aftershocks today.
Reno is a very quiet place at 8am, I guess they're not morning people here. I left my hosts and headed down to the river where I joined a nice path that led out of the city. It was a cold start to the day, but soon began to warm up with the sun out. The bike path made a very nice change from the interstate roads.
The path eventually turned into quieter roads up to Verdi, where I crossed the California state line, my last state! This put me at the bottom of a steep climb up 'Dog Valley'. Unfortunately, the road became rough gravel for about 7 miles and I had to get off and walk up the steeper parts.
The climb was long and tough, some sections were just about rideable, but it was slow and careful work. Halfway up I met a man called John towing his caravan up the mountain. He took my picture and I gave him the details of my justgiving page. He offered me a lift, but I declined, got to do this on my own!
Eventually the climb flattened and I was able to ride the last section of the climb and the gravel descent. This gave way to a gloriously smooth tarmac road and I was able to regain some time. The gravel walk had destroyed my cleats, so any small movement would unclip them, but the air smelt of pine trees and I could put down some good speed.
After descending a fair way and riding around a few of the beautiful big lakes in the region, I reached Truckee, a mid sized tourist town. From there I followed the route around 'Donner lake' and started to climb again up to a very picturesque summit just over 7100ft at 'Donner Pass'. I smiled when I reached the top because I knew this would be my last 7000ft summit of the trip. It was all downhill from here!
Along the route I saw a lot of other cyclists and became slightly envious of all the riders coming down off the hill as I was climbing it. But soon it was my turn, and the descent went on for the next few hours! Eventually the country road finished and I had to ride about 16 miles on the interstate again. This was fast as it was mostly downhill, but quite scary as there was a lot more traffic than the interstate of Nevada and it was travelling a lot quicker. I finally left it.though and followed the much more scenic roads through the small towns to Colfax.
My hosts for the night, Doug and Beth, live up in the forest on the side of a large hill, so it was an extra couple of miles to reach theirs. They were very lovely though, and welcomed me into their home. I'm staying in their guest house for the night, which I'm told is well bear-proofed! Doug cooked a fantastic chicken meal for me and we sat outside watching the sunset and chatting. A very relaxing way to end a fairly tough day of riding!
Miles today: 98.0
Total miles: 3109.1
Reno is a very quiet place at 8am, I guess they're not morning people here. I left my hosts and headed down to the river where I joined a nice path that led out of the city. It was a cold start to the day, but soon began to warm up with the sun out. The bike path made a very nice change from the interstate roads.
The path eventually turned into quieter roads up to Verdi, where I crossed the California state line, my last state! This put me at the bottom of a steep climb up 'Dog Valley'. Unfortunately, the road became rough gravel for about 7 miles and I had to get off and walk up the steeper parts.
The climb was long and tough, some sections were just about rideable, but it was slow and careful work. Halfway up I met a man called John towing his caravan up the mountain. He took my picture and I gave him the details of my justgiving page. He offered me a lift, but I declined, got to do this on my own!
Eventually the climb flattened and I was able to ride the last section of the climb and the gravel descent. This gave way to a gloriously smooth tarmac road and I was able to regain some time. The gravel walk had destroyed my cleats, so any small movement would unclip them, but the air smelt of pine trees and I could put down some good speed.
After descending a fair way and riding around a few of the beautiful big lakes in the region, I reached Truckee, a mid sized tourist town. From there I followed the route around 'Donner lake' and started to climb again up to a very picturesque summit just over 7100ft at 'Donner Pass'. I smiled when I reached the top because I knew this would be my last 7000ft summit of the trip. It was all downhill from here!
Along the route I saw a lot of other cyclists and became slightly envious of all the riders coming down off the hill as I was climbing it. But soon it was my turn, and the descent went on for the next few hours! Eventually the country road finished and I had to ride about 16 miles on the interstate again. This was fast as it was mostly downhill, but quite scary as there was a lot more traffic than the interstate of Nevada and it was travelling a lot quicker. I finally left it.though and followed the much more scenic roads through the small towns to Colfax.
My hosts for the night, Doug and Beth, live up in the forest on the side of a large hill, so it was an extra couple of miles to reach theirs. They were very lovely though, and welcomed me into their home. I'm staying in their guest house for the night, which I'm told is well bear-proofed! Doug cooked a fantastic chicken meal for me and we sat outside watching the sunset and chatting. A very relaxing way to end a fairly tough day of riding!
Miles today: 98.0
Total miles: 3109.1
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