Biketodetroit

What made me think that, in a place where it is 60 miles between water sources, I could update my blog from a cell phone? Please be patient, dear readers, while I grapple with the frustrations of getting my tired butt on my bike every morning while also attempting to be totally connected.

We are in Eureka NV tonight after two days of very hard travel through the desert, carrying all our water for each day. Wednesday morning we left Middlegate Station for Austin, 64 miles away. The day before we had gotten Steve to drive us to Austin with a load of gear. We had figured out that carrying more than 10 pounds of water each on top of all our gear would be very difficult. So we culled out everything we thought we would not need for the day and brought it to the motel in Austin. The innkeeper thought it strange to have us arrive with a large garbage bag, and ask him to keep it for us, so that we could drive back to Middlegate and then ride our bikes back to Austin. But he did, and when we arrived in Austin after a fast ride with plenty to drink, the garbage bag was in our room.

Well, one success breeds expectation. Bill and David started thinking, why should we carry all this stuff the next day to Eureka. We didn't have Steve to drive us, but surely someone would be happy to carry a garbage bag of bike gear to Eureka. We asked around town without success. (Town is too kind a word; Austin is a decrepit silver mining town which had a brief hayday from 1865 to 1880 and has been in decline ever since. It exists today only because it is the only place for 50 miles in any direction that you can get gas or water.) Anyway, at dinner that night at the Toiyabe Cafe, Bill told the waitress our story, but she was no help. As we walked back to our motel after dinner a large truck pulled alongside, and the driver asked if we were the cyclists who wanted something delivered to Eureka. He had overheard in the cafe, and he was driving to Denver that night. Turns out he is a retired logistics engineer from the Bay Area. His lifelong training obviously triggered an appreciation of our plight. Two hours later, our gear was at the motel in Eureka awaiting our arrival. Thanks, Bob.

Today we carried about 5 litres of water/gatoraid each, to make the 70 miles to Eureka. To say there is nothing out there is not sufficient. There is nothing. The road. The sun. Not even a fence post to lean a bike against. When you stop, you just stand at the side of the road in the blazing sun. So the dillemna; if you keep going you are in pain -- but if you stop there is nothing to do but wonder why you are doing this.

And then the wind. The wind is supposed to blow from the west. We understand that is not a guaranty, but really... We climbed about 900 feet very steeply out of Austin after breakfast this morning without difficulty. At the top I said that most of our experiences on the trip so far had turned out to be less difficult than I feared. David, who is reading the Iliad on the trip, said that was a dangerous thing to say, as the gods can overreact to mortal pride. We turned into the long downhill, and for the rest of the day the wind was in our face. Now, there is nothing in biking so demoralizing than a strong headwind. Rain is not half as bad. (I'll update that comment after our first rain.) It took us 8 1/4 hours to make the 70 miles, and we are beat.

No pictures tonight because my phone has vaporized the last 4 posts with photos I have sent, after loving writing. David has a real camera, and is a real photographer. He is taking pictures and soon we will get organized and post a set.

Thanks to all of you who have been sending encouragement. I get your comments on my cell phone, and we all enjoy reading them. We appreciate your support, and it adds to our day. Keep it up.

It is Day 5 and we are on schedule in Middlegate Station, NV. This is a desert outpost on the Pony Express Trail. There is nothing else between Fallon, 48 miles west, where we spent last night, and Austin, 64 miles ahead. Since we can't make 112 miles with desert heat and mountains, we are here for the night.Middlegate Station is run by some very nice people who did not get the word that the Pony Express has shut down. It looks like a western set, but is very real. None of can describe it well, but it is the real deal. They have beer, hamburgers, DSL, and wi-fi, although the latter doesn't seem to work. Nor, quite frequently, does the electricity. We are having a fine time and looking forward to the hot beef sandwich special for dinner, with mashed potatoes and gravy.

I had a picture for this, but until then, here is the story. Brother Steve is our Hero. Steve has been supporting us since Davis. Steve fills our water bottles. Steve drives ahead of us on the road and makes sure we have food and drink. He gives us appropriate encouragement without unwanted chatter. He carries our bags in the car so that we have a chance of getting over these mountains; he makes sure that we are hydrated so that we won't bonk in the desert. He finds a motel at the end of the day, and has beer and chips ready when we arrive.

Steve is an ultra runner, and he understands support. When you drive across Nevada at 12 miles an hour, it leaves time available. So Steve has been driving ahead to the top of the next pass, running down to meet us, and then running to the top with us. Today, approaching a pass in the middle of nowhere, Steve on foot and I on bike were neck and neck, though he was threatening to pull ahead. A lone truck came over the crest from the other direction, and I thought the driver must be wondering what this sport is called.

Steve leaves us after today to return to work, and we are soberly reflecting on how much he has meant to the successful start of this trip. We could not have gotten this far without him. Tomorrow we face 64 miles of desert, ending in by far the steepest climb we have faced so far. Now we are on our own, and have to carry not only our bags, but 4 to 5 litres of water each to get through the empty desert. We think we are ready. Thanks, Steve.

I wrote and sent a post with picture, but in the strange world of blogging connectivity, it went into the vapor, at least for now. So here is a quick update. It is Day 5 and we are on schedule in Middlegate Station, NV. This is a desert outpost on the Pony Express Trail. There is nothing else between Fallon, 48 miles west, where we spent last night, and Austin, 64 miles ahead. Since we can't make 112 miles with desert heat and mountains, we are here for the night.

Middlegate Station is run by some very nice people who did not get the word that the Pony Express has shut down. It looks like a western set, but is very real. None of can describe it well, but it is the real deal. They have beer, hamburgers, DSL, and wi-fi, although the latter doesn't seem to work. Nor, quite frequently, does the electricity. We are having a fine time and looking forward to the hot beef sandwich special for dinner, with mashed potatoes and gravy.

Day 3 was a big success. From Pollock Pines we climbed more than 4500 feet to cross the Sierra Nevada at Carson Pass. The photo is at the start of our climb up the Mormon Emigrant Trail. It was Sunday and we were accompanied by a large group of serious cyclists from Sacramento who went up and down while we went up. After the summit we had a 30 mile downhill to Minden through the beautiful Carson river valley. Each day we have had a beautiful road.
I am learning something about this blog. First, it takes me a long time to type this report on my phone. Second, taking pictures with the phone is not the same as with a camera. We have a large collection of bad pictures. Third is that connection is not dependable. Finally, I get prettytired and don't really want to do anything else. I will try to give regular reports of where we are, but the stirring narrative will wait for a real keyboard.

Had a great first day to Sacramento. Posted the Departure picture while on the ferry to Vallejo. Riding from Vallejo was rolling, along the Bay, past the Mothball Fleet, then after Red Rock, north of I-80 on Pleasants Valley Road and north to Winters. Orchards, ranches, and quiet so different from the interstate we are used to. Brother Steve joined us just before Davis and took our panniers (saddlebags) so that the riding became much easier. Arrived in Sacramento about 5pm, at the home of Mark Merin and wife Kathleen. Mark and I started out as lawyers together 35 years ago in San Francisco. Their home is in the center of Sacramento, and they treated us to excellent food, fine wine, and stimulating conversation. They have set a high standard for our evenings to come.

We rode 30 miles before breakfast this am and now having breakfast in Folsom with our hosts from last night.

We're off. Here we are about to board the ferry from San Francisco to Vallejo, with the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island in the background. Two of our supporters came out to see us off: Josh and Max. They would be in the picture but they were camera shy. Josh is starting kindergarten at Claire Lilienthall next week, and Frank is his teacher. Frank was there when Greg and Max started in 1984. Josh and Max were doing laps around the Ferry Building, but they declined the invitation to accompany us to Detroit.

Bill Poceta. Jeff Shopoff. and David Sklar trying on our Toyota team jerseys whilst debating one of David's formulas.

Thanks to brother Tom Shopoff for arranging the jerseys; Tom is involved in the marketing of Toyota trucks produced at their new plant in San Antonio, Texas. Our team is going to carry the Toyota brand to the center of the Heartland.

David Sklar and I met more than 20 years ago, when his son Max and my son Greg were in kindergarden at Claire Lilienthal school in San Francisco. Over the years we have done many morning rides together, and David has done some long rides with Bill Poceta and me.

Among his skills, David is a mathematition. Here is the cover of a text book he recently wrote. While he rides, David often works on math problems. When he does it out loud, it can be unsettling.

Here is a list of our projected stopping places, at least as far as we have planned. Many of them are well off the major highways, so they are not easy to find on a map.

DATE
25-Aug Sacramento
26 Pollock Pines
27 Carson City, NV
28 Fallon
29 Middlegate
30 Austin
31 Eureka
1- Sept Ely
2 Baker
3 Milford, UT
4 Cedar City
5 Rest Day
6 Tropic
7 Boulder Town
8 Hanksville
9 Hite - Lake Powell
10 Blandings
11 Dolores, CO
12 Telluride
13 Rest Day
14 Cimmaron
15 Sargents
16 Westcliffe
17 Pueblo
18 Haswell, KS
19 Tribune
20 Ness City
21 Larned
22 Buhler
23 Eureka
24 Girard
25 Ash Grove, MO
26 Hartville
27 Eminence
28 Farmington
29 Murphysboro, IL

My brother-in-law Bill Poceta is a glass artist. Here is an example of his work. You can see much more at www.pocetaglassgallery.com.

Bill's glass studio is in the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit, and his home is in Dearborn, Michigan, which is our destination for this trip.

There is hope.

This is your host trying to figure out how to post a photo from his phone. Plan ahead on orientation.

We start from San Francisco on Friday, August 25, 2006. (I figured out how to take a photo from the net. I need to learn how to use my own camera before we start.)
My companions are my brother-in-law Bill Poceta, from Dearborn, Michigan, and David Sklar from San Francisco. We have all ridden together over the years, but this will be by far our longest trip.