I woke up to the familiar gentle whispers of Spokes' OTP, Brad and Brian. There was no loud banging or abrupt wakeup, so I was slightly confused as to what as going on; this wasn't how morning wakeup was supposed to work. When I finally decide to open my eyes to the abrasive morning sun, I am instead greeted by our tent ceiling lying right on top of our sleeping bodies. "Oh good," I thought, "at least it makes tent clean-up easier."
We had a slow morning. Everyone was huddled around the camp table at Crystal Springs, munching down on oatmealTM and simply enjoying the morning. We had a short ride to Carson City that day, which made us less in a rush to start biking. Eventually, though, we rinsed our bowls and (nasty) sporks and headed out. With our first state crossing (Nevada woohoo!) and first shower in a few days in mind, Brian, Olivia, Alex, and I hopped on our bikes and headed for the state border!
The ride was overall very smooth and fun! We had a lot of downhill at the beginning, which was fun to go down, and we got some nice action shots (thanks to Brian and Alex). There ended up not being a big "WELCOME TO NEVADA" sign on the route, so we actually crossed the border unknowingly. But it's ok because we got this dope picture next to a more modest Nevada sign and called it a modified "W."
Along our ride, we stopped by a hot springs place and they let us used their really cool bathrooms! We also passed through Genoa, the oldest city in Nevada.
When we finally arrived in Carson City, we were met by Greg and Joan, our amazing and lovely Warmshowers host for the next two days. They let us stay in a cute cottage they have and offered to cook us a barbeque dinner that night. After a bit of chit-chat, our team took our much needed showers. I didn't realize how stinky we were until I left the cottage after my shower, and then walked back into a peculiar stench that was un-coincidentally more apparent. Ahh, the sweet smell of hard work.
Brad and Brian left to get a bike rack, while Olivia, Alyssa and I took a much needed nap. I also did a little bit of host-hunting along Highway 50 in preparation for our next leg of the trip. It was quite difficult; turns out, they really don't lie when they called in the Loneliest Road in America. My favorite line came when I was googling housing in Eureka and came across the little Wikipedia blurb: "With a population of 610 as of the 2010 census, it is by far the largest community in Eureka County."
After a bit of work and relaxing, we went to Joan and Greg's backyard around 6 PM for a fantastic barbeque! Greg grilled some amazing salmon and vegetables, while we got to talk to Joan about her incredible bike tours in Malaysia, her work as a civil lawyer, and her experience horseback riding. We also met their incredible dog, Ella, who loved to chew on fingers and had more energy that the lot of us combined. Also, we learned that Greg and Brian had coincidentally done the same half iron-man in Santa Rosa and were in the same charity group. What a small world.
After an incredible dinner and fascinating conversation with Greg and Joan, we tidied up a bit and headed back to our cottage for the night. Some of us ended up sleeping underneath the stars in their backyard, which turned out to be quite pleasant. With tomorrow being our first rest day, I like to think we all slept a little better knowing we had some time to relax up ahead.
-Rachel