Baker, NV to Ely, NV
Is it really August! Crazy that I'm literally only 16 days away from being back at school. Though, as Dan Marotti so eloquently expressed, given that each bike and build day is so chock full of stuff it actually counts for 4-5 days itself, meaning there's really a whole month left.
Could feel within the first mile that today would be good. I was going on an incredible seven hours of sleep and my legs felt great, as in the pedals actually turned when i pushed down. Am so glad that things are turning around and that I've been so happy lately. I mean life in my view is really just a connected, alternating series of happy and sad moments, and i suppose its up to us which ones we choose to focus on. This trip has definitely had some of the lowest lows and highest highs of my life and its interesting how the two have gone together. Of course the latter moments are the ones that really stick best with me.
A little less desolation today but still the same basin-mountain pattern with one nice climb in the middle of the day. Climbs are still tough but its cool that we're at the point where we can be like "oh whatever, its just another 5 mile 6% climb" which probably would sound crazy to me a few months ago.
Also cool i think is how the extreme desolation of Nevada is really bringing the group together just as the rockies and all of our other challenges have. Today was the official start of the Nevada Regatta which has been wonderfully masterminded by our own Paige and Ryan Farr. Basically its a humble attempt at us keeping our sanity by keeping us busy with silly challenges.The four teams are the Titanic, USS Enterprise, Santa Maria, and of course the best, the Black Pearl. Today they introduced a few challenging(read: ridiculous) trivia questions about Nevada which you basically can't answer without asking locals and getting funny looks. Even more daunting however is the outstanding Scavenger hunt with about 40 or so challenges ranging from riding a mile on a rumble strip to locating and carrying a bottle of urine to getting a kiss from a local. Yea, it gets boring out here. It's not called the loneliest road for nothing. So far the intensity of the competition has been almost scary. I checked off the riding hands free for a mile and also snapped a picture of a dead coyote. I'm mildly excited to win eternal glory but mostly happily amused by the whole endeavour. That basically means I'm not as willing to ride 10 miles in my lowest gear or urinate while riding my bike or eat bread with chamois butter as some braver souls are.
Its awesome though and so cool to see the group having so much fun with something so ridiculous. Super props to Paige and Ryan.
Today Carlie and I pulled yet another Subway donation as well as $20 from a supermarket which bought 15 loaves of bread which was super cool. Got in pretty early and could relax and take my time. Feels great.
Arg, avast, I be called to walk the plank for a meeting of the Black Pearl, Farewell for now Mateys
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