Day 8: Winnemucca to Battle Mountain -- Shake, Rattle and keep rolling;

Miles: 58; riding time: 3:41 avg speed: 15.9 ; max speed: 36; total trip miles: 572 ; weather: clouds, rain late in ride, 70's; Alt change: 1600' climb and then back down to 4500' Pictures are here.

So00000 nice not to have to load by 6:00 am which allowed some time to finish picture loading as well as spending some time reading. As the saying goes, 7 days without reading makes one weak and I have definitely been feeling the need for spiritual sustenance. Psalm 14, Proberbs 14 and John 11 where Jesus proclaims that He is the resurrection and the life! How bold but yet profound!

Breakfast was at the motel with McD optional. The HS state rodeo finals were being held in town this weekend so some opted to watch that before heading on today's shorter than normal day. I left with Zero, Jack and Roger after leisurely breakfast and soon Roger and I cruised aong on I80 with a good tail wind hearing Rogers story. He worked was an IBM sales guy and account rep, 10 years of which was in Columbus prior to relocating to Pittsburgh. Since he reitred from IBM, he lost 40 lbs, rides much more and is involved in both his kids lives including biking with his daughter. That is one of the neat things on this ride -- you get to hear so many folks' stories along the way.

About 27 miles in, our friend I80 turned a cold stoney shoulder. Orange barrels moved traffic onto a fresh left lane of deep black asphalt but the right lane and all of the berm had been scraped up leaving a hard gravel-like riding surface to ride on. Teeth start chattering, hands start tingling, the derriare loses feeling (which is not always bad, mind you) the shoulders begin to tense up and you start looking for any smooth spots. I tend to be a bit of a gravel hound in moderation so this was all part of the variety package we bought into. Some riders opted for the high risk-medium reward equation by riding in the far left lane with the single lane traffic between them and the barrels. I thought about that briefly and decided against it.

But the wide open western skies with tall clouds in all shapes and shades of gray over very rugged dark, barren mountains gave us lots to take our minds off any mild discomfort on the bikes. I absolutely love this landscape where you can see the length of a multi-mile train strung across the flatland. Where you can see half a dozen rain showers across the 10's of square miles open to you. Where there's sage brush covering all the lowlands with a blanket of green. Where the only signs of habitation are old dusty trailers, beaten down looking houses and an occasional wester town with wide streets, a dusty baseball field, midly neglected buildings and lots of pick up trucks.

Shortly before the last SAG stop the now brand new and very smooth pavement resumed but lest we get too used to I80's charms, the rains came, the wind shifted into our faces, the intermitent concrete rumble strips resurfaced and we had to work to put the last 15 miles behind us.

Once at the Comfort Inn, what is fast becoming ritual, began. Clean up the bike to get off the sand and dirt, wipe down the chain and roll it up to the room. Help unload the baggage from the trailer when Sean rolls in and pick up the green suitcase and computer case, negotiate with Zero for room side and then head for the shower. Go grab a quick sandwich at Mama's Pizza next door and find someone to split a load of wash to catch up on clean riding gear. Grab the camera and start uploading pictures, edit them and load them up to the google website. Make a phone call and its wrench time. I pulled off the Look pedals because my big toe is giving me problems in those shoes and the right clasp is not working as it should. Hoping the SPD's will solve both problems. Oil the chain.

Right after wrench time is route rap -- 70 some miles with one little climb gets us to Elko. Then the walk to dinner for
some great mexican in a little place a lot like Talita's used to be. Back to the motel to write up the blog before the highlight of my day -- calling Marcia!

And then all over again tomorrow to see what the Lord has in store for us then. I LOVE it.