Days 60 and 61 - King of the Road

Comments about comments:

Hey Coop-dogg's Mom,
Thanks for the comment! Glad to see you're following along. Make sure you leave more comments on my blog than on Ryan's.

Ryan,
The Schwalbe's bulged on you, eh? Glad to see the duct tape technique got you through. I hope Eli isn't cooler than me.

Anonymous,
Thanks for the comment, the advice, and the birthday wishes.

Texas Meyerson,
Thanks! And wish Dan a happy birthday for me!

To all my other birthday well-wishers,
Thank you very much and I appreciate that you keep following along! Less than a week to San Francisco!

As soon I arrived in Eureka, I went straight to the pool. They let me in for free. After that, I put my bike in a park behind the elementary school. It looked like a nice place to spend the night. 

I fell asleep by 8PM and did not wake up until 5AM. I had not been sleeping well lately and it was starting to drastically effect my riding. After that much shut-eye, the ride into Austin was great. Austin was actually a stop for the Pony Express and highway 50 is roughly the route the riders used. I was reading the menu at a restaurant and according to it, the riders could deliver a letter 1800 miles in just 10 days. Five days after the first telegraph message was sent, the Pony Express shut down. I like that it took them 5 days, though. 

I love this picture.

Once again, as soon as I arrived in Austin, I found the pool. Only this time, I rode past it to a gas station to get some drinks and food before taking a dip. As I was standing outside the gas station in Austin, an older gentleman in his 70s came up and talked to me. He asked me the standard questions at first just to get the conversation going. Then, we really got to talking. 

He was a triathlete in his day and did four iron-mans. He didn't do the first one until he was 41 years old. He was a runner his whole life and that is what he truly enjoyed. Although, he really talked fondly of biking, and even racquetball. He remembers when triathlons started in the U.S. in the 70's. He also remembers when racquetball was started and then got really popular in the 80's. 

We also talked about health. He was 5 foot 9 and weighed 140 pounds, at the most. He had guessed my height and weight exactly within a few minutes of talking with him. He said how it is sad that when he goes to the doctor's office and sees a fat man who eats bad food and drinks and smokes get a new heart or a procedure done to fix his clogged heart, then just keep on with their bad habits. When he got a quadruple bypass, his weight went down to 107 pounds and it took him three years to get his weight back to where it is now. It only took him a few months to get back on his bike and ride up Mt. Evans. This is because the weight he put back on was all muscle and at his age, putting on muscle takes time. 

He was a science teacher in Florida and still lives there. People just say that he is an exception and that he is just a naturally skinny person. That's what those fat people at the doctor's office say when he walks in. He knows he is no exception. He tells his students, you want to be as fit as me, spend a week with me, see how I live. I'm up at 4 in the morning to run 8 miles. Then, see what I eat for breakfast. The day just continues like that. 

He still had clogged arteries because of his genetics. All of his mother's brothers died before they were 40. He is convinced that if he would've kept smoking and drinking and eating as poorly as he did in his young days, he would've been lucky to see 50. I told him all that hard work paid off and he saved his life. He said, "What hard work? I enjoy what I do." 

After that, I went over to the pool, got a shower, and then decided to walk around town. As I was strolling,  I met Chip sitting outside a restaurant. I noticed his Shimano shoes and then saw his yellow Ortlieb panniers and sat down right across from him. He looked exhausted, and as I soon found out, reasonably so. The day before, he had ridden 116 miles from Carson City to Middlegate. Along the way he ran out of food and water. Rookie mistakes. 

Chip is a photographer from Long Beach. He said he sold everything he had to buy the bike and the gear. He used to own a pet photography business and also worked with fashion schools. Then, he decided he needed to mix things up and was tired of his lifestyle. This is basically why he decided to do the bike trip. 

He left Long Beach and was riding up the coast to stay with friends in Oakland. While in Oakland, he got a call about a photography gig in D.C. in early October. So, he decided to start heading east from Oakland and so we crossed paths in Austin. 

We camped next to a church in Austin. I still haven't paid for a place to sleep in the entire state. As I was laying in my tent, I was wondering how the next day would go. I could ride only 65 miles to Middlegate and camp there for free. Or, I could ride 110 miles all the way to Fallon. 

I went all the way to Fallon and completely dominated it. To put a final stamp of domination on Nevada, I even chose to ride an alternate route over Carroll summit. The normal route would've taken me over two 500 foot climbs. Carroll summit was nearly 1500 feet. No sweat. I made it the 65 miles to Middlegate without even finishing half my 3 liter CamelBak. I also didn't even need to eat anything. I was feeling good.

I had a burger in Middlegate and watched a recording of a special done on highway 50. All the people in the bar I was watching the show with were interviewed on it! It was funny watching it with them. It was also interesting to see how the show portrayed the highway. They certainly make you think it's completely desolate. After riding on it for the past 5 days, I can tell you, it's anything but. Cars are constantly going by me. I think the longest span of time without a car was 10 or 15 minutes. The towns, while sparsely populated and far apart, have plenty of people going through them. I think back on my conversations in Baker and Austin and highway 50 isn't really lonely at all. There are even T-shirts you can buy that say, "I survived highway 50." What a joke. Maybe if you are in your car and just stop to get gas and just stay at hotels it will get pretty lonely. 

I completed the entire 110 miles from Austin to Fallon in about 9.5 hours. However, I only spent about 7.5 of them on my bike. My average speed was 14.5 mph. I'm King of the Road.

Old worn out suits and shoes,
I don't pay no union dues,
I smoke old stogies I have found
Short, but not too big around
I'm a man of means by no means
King of the road.

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life=good