Summits

Friday, June 4, 2010

Riding Day 9

Eureka to Ely, Nevada--80 Miles

Today my riding buddy, Joe Ossmann, was down-loading his pictures at the end of a long day of riding. He confessed that his pictures had become pretty "boring". Three of the four pictures he took today were of signs indicating that we had passed over a significant summit. I realized that I had almost exactly the same pictures, but there is a reason for our boring photography.

We faced three significant summit passes today. That means climbing from maybe 5,200 feet to 7,300 feet. I don't mean to whine, but it is hard. This morning we rode 16 miles up to today we rode from the basin floor to Little Antelope Pass. The grades going up to the pass vary, but sometimes are 6 to 8%. So when we finally arrive at the top it feels like we have just accomplished something huge, and deserves to be recorded on film (or however these digital things work). And then at the end of the day, all we have are some very wimpy looking signs that say, "Robinson Summit, 7,635 feet...that must mean almost nothing to most of you.

Sorry! They mean a lot to us...so here's my shot of Little Antelope Summit. Please know that it is not just a "shot" it represents for us a lot of very hard pedaling. And the beauty going up and speeding down the other side is really hard to capture anyway. So just for a moment, celebrate with us the accomplishment of three major summits today. Hey, Thanks!