Friday, September 28, 2012

OATBRAN: September 27, 2012. Eureka to Ely, NV. 80 miles

We started climbing right from breakfast... Dianne had an issue with her bike shifting cable and Mike took a look at it and told her she needed a new cable. She told him she just had the whole bike overhauled and did NOT need a new cable. He adjusted it and away we went.


First stop: Pinto Summit, 5 miles into the ride. We are having a poker run today and picked up cards at each stop.


We descended from Pinto and began climbing up to Pancake Summit, a 3 mile climb. We could see ahead where we were going, and could do nothing about it... those mountains were there and they needed to be crossed.


When we reached the mountains, we could not see where the road went until we were right there! And it went into a canyon--a very different terrain than what we'd been on. It was so cool that we really did not mind that we were climbing again...


We finally reached Little Antelope Summit at 7,433' and had a long winding downhill--not too steep. It was a great trip down! We had our lunch at the bottom and started a 10 mile climb right after lunch. Dianne and I were not riding together by then. We can ride together on the flat, but there's not much of that around here! I'm faster on the climbs and she is faster on the descents.


At Robinson Summit we had a rest stop and the rest of the day was a piece of cake! We descended for almost 18 miles right into Ely, where we passed through another canyon on the way into town. I found out later that Dianne's shifting cable snapped just as she was leaving Robinson Pass. Fortunately it was all downhill from there and she did not have to shift all the way into town!


We are staying at the Jailhouse Motel, and having turkey dinner prepared by a local women's club. Mike replaced Dianne's shifting cable, Curtis finally decided who did NOT cheat on the poker hands and awarded cool prizes. (I didn't cheat, but didn't win either with my pair of aces).


Ely is the largest town in eastern Nevada, and is a typical Nevada town, with casinos and clubs, "ranches" where one can purchase "companionship", and an old time drug store with soda fountain. There are a lot of beautiful murals painted around town, It would be fun to spend more time here.


2 comments:

Julebow said...

What's the difference between a valley and a canyon? I follow your adventures, with its unbelievable summits and descents, with fascination. Say hi to di...her sister, julie

Paul said...

Bikes don't have "issues;" they have problems. There's a difference.