Day 16: Austin to Eureka, NV (September 14)

Not much there...

Today was perhaps the hardest day so far. It had all my nemesis: hills, wind, distance, rain, and general soreness. Right out of the RV park the hill started. It was a little over 1000 feet, a nice two mile descent, followed by another 600 foot climb. Later there was another 600 foot climb and just for good measure there was a 600 foot climb into Eureka. The long 50 miles in between the descent off the summits out of Austin and climbing into Eureka was long. It was punctuated by headwinds and thunderstorms with driving rain. Luckily the rain only lasted for about an hour. While doing the third climb of the day, I was thinking, “Some people go out and ride up hills for fun.” Considering my focus on moving up hill it took me a few minutes to realize the irony, and think, “Yeah, that would be me. That is what I am doing now. Fun.”

Road work train...tears it up and spits it back down to a new road

Sometimes the scenery can make me remember why I am doing this. The basins and mountains can be beautiful. The scale and desolation is great. Another exciting thing of the day was going through a repaving group today. It was quite a set-up with multiple semis, asphalt diggers, asphalt chewers, and repavers all hooked together. The train of vehicles was at least a football field long. After making it finally to Eureka, I met up with Jian at Uncommon Grounds — a coffee/smoothie cafe. I had a candy cane blizzard. Pretty good. The when it closed we moved next door to La Fiesta. I inhaled three enchiladas. After staying on a bit to recharge batteries, we camped in the public park a few hundred feet from La Fiesta. Tired. But glad to have made it.

Start: Austin, NV
End: Eureka, NV
Today’s mileage: 72.9 miles
Total miles so far: 583 miles
Average speed: 10.7 mph
Max speed: 40 mph
Travel time: (07:30 to 16:45) 9.25 hours
Total travel time: 82.75 hours
Weather: mostly cloudy, 45-75 F, strong winds, isolated thundershowers

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