Day 5 Truckee, California to Sparks, Nevada 67 miles 4750 feet of climbing

today was a ride in four parts:  through the tahoe forest along the truckee river; around lake tahoe; climbing mt. rose; and riding through the high desert of nevada.

should have worn something warmer.  but the views along the road were grand.

i'll let the pictures let much of the story today.  i should note that when we left truckee, it was a brisk 48 degrees.  i could see my breath.  and i definitely needed fingertips on my bike gloves this morning.

 the truckee river basin at break of day.  the river runs right past both alpine meadows and squaw valley ski resorts

this alpine lake was too good a picture for me to just ride past

the second leg of today's ride was around lake tahoe.  the truckee river feeds into the lake and, early in the morning, the views were spectacular of both the lake and the surrounding mountains.  half way around the lake, we said goodbye to california and entered nevada.

from the water's edge just as we turned off the truckee river bike path

from the northwestern side of the lake, still in california

i figured it was either this shot, or the casinos across the street as we entered nevada

from the observation point above the lake

the third part of the ride started when we left the lakefront to climb up mt. rose.  while the ride yesterday up norton grade was steeper in parts, it was not even four miles of climbing.  today, we "enjoyed" an 8.2-mile, non-stop, take-no-prisoners climb to the summit at nearly 9000 feet [10,776 if you are hiking].  just to put this climb into perspective, during the morning through the forest, i was riding at about a 15-to 17-mile per hour pace, depending on the road conditions.  climbing up the mt. rose road, i was in my small ring [i was told by andy kaplan, our resident bike mechanic and someone far more knowledgeable about this stuff than i, that as i'm riding what's called a "compact cassette" -- two rings, not three as found on touring bikes, i don't actually HAVE a granny gear.  it's just called the small ring.] the entire way up the mountain and travelling at about 4 to 4.5 miles per hour.  that's seriously slow.  a fast walker on a flat surface can walk that fast.  but that's how steep the climb was.  i was told it averaged anywhere between a 7% to a 9% grade.  the incline wasn't the issue.  it was the nearly 8 miles of the 8.2 mile climb that was the killer.  the other two percent, by the way, were a beautiful alpine meadow [see below].

did i mention it was steep?  i hope this photo does justice to the incline.

i climbed above the snow line!!

hikers could go nearly another 2000 feet to the actual summit

the final section of the ride was both the 15-mile descent into reno as well as the ride through nevada.  the descent was down a series of hairpin turns that lasted nearly ten miles.  that's the longest and steepest downhill i've ever done.  and, while the climb was tough, at least we had very wide shoulders to as not to challenge cars and trucks.  on the way down, we used the actual road.  we were instructed to find our pace line and hold it even with cars behind us.  with no real shoulder to speak of, that was the safest approach.  when i could, i'd pull off to let cars and trucks go by.  but i also got lucky as those cars behind me, even with me going about 35 miles per hour at some points, were very patient.  my speed was another issue.  i like climbing.  i don't like descending.  yes, it's probably fear.  but hey, that's how i'm built.  i'm not crazy about blasting down a road at over 40 miles per hour.  just too many variables to take in.  today, one of the variables was the winds on the far side of mt. rose.  at times, with heavy cross winds, i even dialed it back to only 25 miles per hour until i either had a wider shoulder or the winds died down.

that's mt rose from the reno side.  cold at the top, numb down the descent, hot at the bottom

the only reason i separated the descent and the reno leg of the trip, apart from the speed of getting down in a matter of minutes what it took hours to get up, was the heat.  i said i started the day in truckee at 48 degrees.  my bike computer said the temperature in reno and sparks was 102 degrees.  and not a lot of shade to hide beneath.

tomorrow will be another scorcher.  temps at our destination projected to be over 100 degrees.  no real climbing tomorrow, just 92 miles of heat.  hence we'll be getting out before the sun's up.