Day #93: Baker to Ely (36 miles)
- chrisbentley349
- Jul 17
- 2 min read
Today's ride was medium length, around 64 miles, and it included two large climbs over mountain passes. I had a good attitude on the first climb even though it was about 7 miles long and took me almost two hours... I joked there would be no sneak attacks by surprise mountains. And then I had a glorious descent that went on for miles and miles and kept doing down into the valley deeper and deeper...
Once I was on the vally floor, however, the temperature started rising to the mid 90's Fahrenheit, and the headwind started blowing in the 10-15 mph range. I started feeling sluggish and that every mile was an ordeal. I actually layed my bike down on the ground and took a nap next to it for a while, until a woman in a truck asked if I was ok, and did I have enough water. I said I was ok, and they left, but I wished I'd asked for a ride. I rode anouther 3-4 miles until I got to a restaurant at the foot of the last mountain pass. I was planning to refuel there and stock back up on cold liquids, but the restraurant was closed... I sat on their porch while two dogs barked at me from inside. I was within 28 miles of Ely, but I felt I just couldn't do another big climb, so I hitch-hiked for the second time in two days... and had a really lovely conversation with a woman who was hauling a bunch of her yard furniture up to a new house her family is moving to.
To be honest, I was starting to feel a little scared of Nevada... the combination of near 100 degree temperatures, strong winds, mountains everywhere and the long distances between towns, with no food or gas in between had me not being sure how to ride the next few days. I felt like I was not eating enough carbohydrates, and not bringing enough food for lunches. I had been riding non-stop for 11 days since Yellowstone, so I decided to take a rest day in Ely and hunker down and strategize how to handle the next few days riding... stay tuned :-)
Stats: 36 miles, started at 7:30am, ended at 2:30pm, 6 hours of actual riding (you can see when I'm hitch-hiking, because the speed shoots up to 60 mph :-)
Damn that sounds hot... Well I'm rooting for you out there. I know you'll figure something out with everything in your arsenal :) the fellowship must have its trials and tribulations in some form...
Chris, wow—what a tough day! Two mountain climbs, heat, wind, and even barking porch dogs... you definitely earned that rest day. 😄 Nevada sounds serious, but we're glad you're listening to your body and staying smart. And hey, 60 mph hitch-hiking miles totally count in our book! Alex and I are cheering you on—can’t wait to see what comes next after a good rest. 🚴🚴🚴
A very tough day. It looks like the day-night temperature differences is extreme in that area, you may only get a few not-so-hot hours each day during the summer time. it might be a bit easier if split one day distance into two days ride? Like today, from A to B is 64 miles, the middle point is C, the first day ride from A to C for 32 miles, hitch-hike the rest 32 miles to B, next day ride from B to C 32 miles then hitch-hike back to B, so that’s 64 miles done. The positive part of wasting a day: you’ll have more opportunities sitting in a truck discuss the meaning of life (a.k.a. double cheeseburger) with…