I was up early and on the road for 6.30. It was a beautiful morning. Ely sits at 6,435ft and it was cool enough in the shade. Ely was a busy little town in a beautiful location, nestled at the base of the Egan range. Today would bring 4 mountain passes on the 78 mile stretch to Eureka.
The first 15 miles were a relatively gentle climb up to Robinson pass at 7,539ft. After crossing the next valley I stopped to eat a bite before starting up the next set of hills. 10 minutes later as I rolled the bike back on to the road I saw that the rear tyre had puncured. I was disgusted. I replaced the tube with a self sealing tube I'd bought in Delta. I inflated it as much as possible but the hand pump couldn't inflate the tyre to the pressure I wanted. This meant the tyre when loaded would be softer and sluggish on the road. I was getting frustrated with punctures. This was the 5th flat in 5 days, all to tyres I'd bought over here. The front tyre after clocking up over 3,000 miles is still going strong.
The next bad humoured 15 miles brought me to a valley where there was a long stretch of roadworks taking place. A new surface was being laid so the road across the length of the valley was covered in a layer of loose gravel. I'm paranoid now about getting punctures so you can imagine how delighted I was to be in this valley. Cycling on this surface was a slow trudge. So it was almost a relief to start climbing up the next hills. At least the road surface was decent again.
Through the last 25 miles to Eureka I became more and more frustrated. My legs felt heavy. I was tired and fed up. A slow trudge across a wind-swept valley was followed by a climb into the last set of hills leading to Eureka but this developed into a race against some thunderstorms which were coming up behind me. Then, at the base of a sharp climb up to Pinto summit, the last pass of the day, the rear tyre went flat again. In a foul humour I got the tyre inflated but, trying to bring up a decent pressure in the tyre the pump broke. Ironically, instead of going absolutely bananas I accepted this little mishap with a certain benign resignation. As thunder rattled and a light shower of rain began to fall I walked the bike up the slope for a mile or two. From Pinto summit I fre-wheeled down to Eureka where I quickly got a room in a motel which didn't have air-conditioning. But I was assured the room didn't need it and the lady was right, it didn't. I hated the road today. For the first time I really did feel fed up.
Nevada is proving to be tough. The landscape is nice but very repetitive. Its becoming a bit like Pennsylvania but without the novelty of the Amish. The punctures more than irk me now. Even the pumps are breaking on me. Searching through Eureka for a shop that could sell me a bicycle pump didn't hold out much promise. The town is small, oddly attractive, with a small scattering of shops. The only real hope for a pump lay with the local hardware store but it was now closed until 9am tomorrow morning. I had a sleep-in to look forward to because I don't want to hit the road without a pump. There's nothing between here and Austin, the next town 70 miles away.
The first 15 miles were a relatively gentle climb up to Robinson pass at 7,539ft. After crossing the next valley I stopped to eat a bite before starting up the next set of hills. 10 minutes later as I rolled the bike back on to the road I saw that the rear tyre had puncured. I was disgusted. I replaced the tube with a self sealing tube I'd bought in Delta. I inflated it as much as possible but the hand pump couldn't inflate the tyre to the pressure I wanted. This meant the tyre when loaded would be softer and sluggish on the road. I was getting frustrated with punctures. This was the 5th flat in 5 days, all to tyres I'd bought over here. The front tyre after clocking up over 3,000 miles is still going strong.
The next bad humoured 15 miles brought me to a valley where there was a long stretch of roadworks taking place. A new surface was being laid so the road across the length of the valley was covered in a layer of loose gravel. I'm paranoid now about getting punctures so you can imagine how delighted I was to be in this valley. Cycling on this surface was a slow trudge. So it was almost a relief to start climbing up the next hills. At least the road surface was decent again.
Through the last 25 miles to Eureka I became more and more frustrated. My legs felt heavy. I was tired and fed up. A slow trudge across a wind-swept valley was followed by a climb into the last set of hills leading to Eureka but this developed into a race against some thunderstorms which were coming up behind me. Then, at the base of a sharp climb up to Pinto summit, the last pass of the day, the rear tyre went flat again. In a foul humour I got the tyre inflated but, trying to bring up a decent pressure in the tyre the pump broke. Ironically, instead of going absolutely bananas I accepted this little mishap with a certain benign resignation. As thunder rattled and a light shower of rain began to fall I walked the bike up the slope for a mile or two. From Pinto summit I fre-wheeled down to Eureka where I quickly got a room in a motel which didn't have air-conditioning. But I was assured the room didn't need it and the lady was right, it didn't. I hated the road today. For the first time I really did feel fed up.
Nevada is proving to be tough. The landscape is nice but very repetitive. Its becoming a bit like Pennsylvania but without the novelty of the Amish. The punctures more than irk me now. Even the pumps are breaking on me. Searching through Eureka for a shop that could sell me a bicycle pump didn't hold out much promise. The town is small, oddly attractive, with a small scattering of shops. The only real hope for a pump lay with the local hardware store but it was now closed until 9am tomorrow morning. I had a sleep-in to look forward to because I don't want to hit the road without a pump. There's nothing between here and Austin, the next town 70 miles away.
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