Day 59 to Lovelock, Nevada. 76 miles.
A relatively long day was firstly brightened up by a suprise truck-stop 30 miles in and some of the largest breakfasts so far ("Why is the weight not falling off?") and then by an afternoon dip in a clear cool lake where the locals were wowed by Martin's stand in boxer/swim-shorts. He's definitely not one to leave anything to the imagination.
Day 58 to Winnemucca, Nevada. 56 miles.
Imagine someone holding an industrial hair-dryer on hot in your face and then trying to cycle into that in 100 degrees heat. Annoying. Fortunately we stumbled across a nice motel with a pool and a dinner which served outrageously big portions of baby-back-ribs (you don't need a complementary portion of spaghetti with the ribs and chips... obscene).
Day 57 to Battle Mountain, Nevada. 76 miles.
Long road, stinking hot, lots of dirty meat based food, standard day.
Day 56 to Elko, Nevada. 50 miles.
After hitting the snooze button too many times we had an unplanned lie in. Fortunately it was only a 50 mile day so we were only in the saddle for three hours. i'm starting to curse my decision to buy hat red spandex bib. Every time I need I pee I have to get practically naked by the roadside and every time Dan takes a picture. You'd think it would stop being funny... he doesn't think so.
Day 55 to Wells, Nevada. 61 miles.
Shorter day in terms of mileage today but two dirty great hills which we timed to climb at midday... idiots. Half of Well's (where we stayed in the evening) had been destroyed by an earthquake a few months ago. After Joe was ripped-off paying $20 for a bag of sodas in the local mini-mart and we were forced to have a Burger King for dinner we decided the scenic tour of the town probably wasn't neccesary. It would be fair to say that in terms of appearance towns in Nevada aren't he most quaint or charming.
Day 54 to Wendover, Utah. 102 miles.
Up early for the standard motel 'complementary continental breakfast' of an instant coffee, stale sweet muffin and bowl of corn puff cereal, we hit the road by 7.30. It was a good thing too as it was hitting 90F by 9am. Fortunately I had smeared myself in factor 60 (yes you can buy it and no it doesn't rub in) not to mention that stylish doo-rag to keep the sun off my long head. Dan and Joe have got pretty to used to the sun and have the most outrageous T-shirt/shorts/gloves tan lines.
Today's trip was along the salt planes so thank goodness was completely flat. The scenery was stunning even if the road was dead straight for 80 miles and luckily there's a big hard shoulder so we could ride side by side and have a chat. I didn't once have to reach for the ipod for an uplifting hit of High School Musical which was a good sign. We got to Wendover by 4 so had plenty of time to watch rubbish TV in our motel and snack heavily.
Day 53 to Lake Point, Utah. 27 miles.
My bike arrived by lunchtime (after Delta had shipped it to another city in Utah). So after screwing it all back together and stopping off at a bike shop to stock up on spare inner tubes, we started as a threesome in ernest. We got nearly 100 yards before stopping for an all you can eat Lebanese buffet lunch... start as you mean to go on. After having braved the lentil and onion based meze (brave being the right term for Joe who has been a touch more regular than he'd hoped.) we joined the interstate which was to be our home for the next 500 miles. 27 miles later having been laughed at constantly for my ridiculous 'don't leave much to the imagination' cycling shorts and a bright orange doo-rag we arrived at Lake Point. It turns out the name was deceiving as at no point could you see the Lake from our soulless truck-stop motel. Still some undercooked chicken wings from a restaurant with less atmosphere than a derelict Harvester soon lifted the mood and we headed to bed ready for a big day tomorrow.
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3 comments:
I don't know what to say really.
Three minutes
to the biggest battle of our professional lives
all comes down to today.
Either
we heal
as a team
or we are going to crumble.
Inch by inch
play by play
till we're finished.
We are in hell right now, gentlemen
believe me
and
we can stay here
and get the shit kicked out of us
or
we can fight our way
back into the light.
We can climb out of hell.
One inch, at a time.
Now I can't do it for you.
I'm too old.
I look around and I see these young faces
and I think
I mean
I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make.
I uh....
I pissed away all my money
believe it or not.
I chased off
anyone who has ever loved me.
And lately,
I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror.
You know when you get old in life
things get taken from you.
That's, that's part of life.
But,
you only learn that when you start losing stuff.
You find out that life is just a game of inches.
So is football.
Because in either game
life or football
the margin for error is so small.
I mean
one half step too late or to early
you don't quite make it.
One half second too slow or too fast
and you don't quite catch it.
The inches we need are everywhere around us.
They are in ever break of the game
every minute, every second.
On this team, we fight for that inch
On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us
to pieces for that inch.
We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch.
Cause we know
when we add up all those inches
that's going to make the fucking difference
between WINNING and LOSING
between LIVING and DYING.
I'll tell you this
in any fight
it is the guy who is willing to die
who is going to win that inch.
And I know
if I am going to have any life anymore
it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch
because that is what LIVING is.
The six inches in front of your face.
Now I can't make you do it.
You gotta look at the guy next to you.
Look into his eyes.
Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you.
You are going to see a guy
who will sacrifice himself for this team
because he knows when it comes down to it,
you are gonna do the same thing for him.
That's a team, gentlemen
and either we heal now, as a team,
or we will die as individuals.
That's football guys.
That's all it is.
Now, whattaya gonna do?
Keep going boys.......
Will
Hey chaps,
you really are almost there, not that i doubted it for a second, but still, bloomin well done!!
Now, i can't be as poetic as the comment above, but thought i'd try a little ryhme to lift your spirits, if needed, if not, just to laugh at me and realise why i work in a law firm......
There once were three boys from the UK,
who thought they'd cycle across the US of A,
they had a great cause,
and advertised with much force,
then packed up and went on their way.
Two of these good lads started first,
and cycled some miles with great thirst,
they tried to eat more patties,
than would instil pride in real fatties,
and never once appeared to get deterred.
Then those two boys became three,
and oh my, that outfit is just obscene,
they continued on their journey,
raising a fantastic amount of murney, (!)
and I hope they are filled with glee!!
That took far longer than I shall ever admit!
Keep going lads, not too far now til you can return to the end of a good british summer :-)
Lisa (BLM)
Oi brother,
What has happened to the updates???
Have you finished yet?
Are you too busy having fun to write on your blog?
I hope you are all well and hopefully you are having some relaxation, maybe you are off catching some waves, I hope so.
Lots of love
Han
xxx
(Dan's Han)
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