Mile 529.18 - And the hills say slow down

Day 7 started cool and fair. I ate a cold breakfast, not wanting to take the the time to futz with the camp stove. I did my morning maintenance check of the bike, then loaded up to go. The road was still sloping downwards when I started, and the first several miles I kept a good pace. After about half an hour I came across a curiosity, a large tree (which there are not a lot of around there) covered with hundreds of pairs of shoes. Perhaps if I was carrying an extra pair, I would have tossed it up into the tree too. I got a couple pictures and carried on.

Highway 50 dances around a couple spurs of mountains. After a while, the road took s big swing to the north. The road looked like it was flat and straight and continued a few miles until it turned around the end of the mountain. But as I continued, my speed was steadily dropping. For what seemed like an hour, I was chugging along at 8 mph on a seemingly flat road. I was wondering what was wrong. I checked the air pressure in the tires, I stretched my legs some more but when I got back on the bike, I still couldn't get much above 8 mph. At last I looked back at the road behind me and realized that I had been steadily climbing for the past SIX MILES. No wonder it took an hour. I finally turned a corner and saw a sign announcing that I was crossing New Pass at 6600'. I started the morning at 4300' and dropped some in the first miles. So over a straight six mile long incline, I rose at least 2300', probably more.

A couple other things I should mention. It was 25 degrees out when I started, and even with my baselayer, a jersey, the fleece, and my windbreaker I was still cold well into the afternoon. Also, for most of the day, whenever I seemed to get a decline in the road, the wind would pick up to slow me down. It was my least comfortable day of riding so far.

Also, while presently there's a whole lot of nothing here, back in the 1860's, this was a bustling corridor. Silver was discovered in Austin and shortly thereafter in more hills around. The route that is now 50 was the major east-west passage through the state, boasted several pony express stops, a telegraph line, and stage coach stations. But, with the completion of the transcontinental railroad to the north and the pinching out of the silver and copper claims, the area faded out quickly. I do appreciate the number of historical markers showing former sites of once booming mining towns.

Anyway, after 39:54:54 of riding, I hit mile 500 for the trip. Woo. Only ~3100 left to go.

From there I came to another 4 mile climb to the Mt. Airy Pass at 6675'. I dropped into the next valley, breaking 30 mph for the first time today. I could see the climb into Austin on the other end of the valley. Here again, the distance was deceptive. It looked like maybe 8 miles across, and going 15 mph, I'd be there in half an hour. Then, after a couple miles, the wind slowed me down to 12mph, so I'd be in town in about half an hour. Then the third long, grinding ascent started. I was now going 6 mph, and the town seemed to be about 4 miles away. After half an hour of climbing, the town didn't seem to get any closer. After another 45 minutes, I passed the sign welcoming me to Austin and telling me I was back above 6600'.

I had wanted to get further, but considering the cold, the wind and the climbs, I found a room and called it a day. And I think that's going to be the road the rest of the way across. Hopefully by tomorrow night, I can break through to Utah.

Day 7, Camp #2 (Fenced-In Pile of Dirt, NV) to Austin, NV.
72.88 miles today, 529.18 total. 6:27:10 riding time today, bringing me up to 39:48:01 altogether. My top speed today was a deceptive 34.0mph, but I was only over 20mph for maybe two miles.