It was brisk this morning when we left the hotel for breakfast at 6:30 AM. The Cowpoke Restaurant, where we dined last evening, also serves breakfast and it was indeed a breakfast fit for a Cowpoke or in my case, an aging bicyclist determined to ride across the country before it's too late.
After breakfast, we loaded our luggage into the truck, and off we rode. Our destination today, Winnemucca, NV, population 7400. On September 16, 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad reached Winnemucca and was officially opened on October 1 of that year. It was on the First Transcontinental Railroad. It was part of the transcontinental line.
Winnemucca hosts an annual Basque Festival, going on this weekend in fact, because back in the 1800s Basque immigrants worked here as sheep-herders. Having been a sheep-herder myself briefly before becoming a musician, I was intrigued and was excited to check out the festival.
A good part of the day we rode on Interstate 80 and frontage roads. The wind was still blowing from the Northeast. The Nevada desert is vast and beautiful, and I think I'm just as awed by the wide-open spaces of the west today as I was when I first visited here from Connecticut back when I was 12 years old.
My friend Ken from Jacksonville, Florida, is a serious cyclist. Ken has been on many of these cycling trips all over the world. He loves to climb, but today he and I rode the highways and frontage roads together against the wind. One could not ask for a better riding partner.
Modeling my new Cycling jersey, gifted to me by the Bob and Sharon Waal Foundation
I arrived at the hotel at around 1:30 pm. I left my bike in my hotel room and immediately walked down to the Basque Festival, hoping to meet some of my fellow sheep-herders. When I arrived at the town square, I saw many people participating in traditional Basque games like weight carrying and Jota dancing, but to my dismay, they shunned me and turned me away. They said that I was not dressed appropriately to participate in their sheep-herding games even though I told them that back in high school I was president of the sheep- herding club and finished third one year in a Jota dance-off competition. In retrospect, I suppose I should have changed out of my spandex biking shorts, jersey and bike shoes before venturing down to the festival. Everyone was in traditional Basque attire, and I probably stood out like a sore thumb. I saw no one else wearing spandex shorts, not one person. I was certainly getting lots of dirty looks from people that's for sure. So I hightailed it out of there and went to Subway for a footlong sandwich to quench my hunger.
The British National Cycling Team (Masters Division) told me that they stopped numerous times today to speak to some cowboys. They seem to really be enjoying the sights having never been to this part of the American west. That is so wonderful to hear. I was born and raised in New England, a green, lush, beautiful place. But for some reason, I have always preferred the wide-open spaces of the west. Again today, as I rode the final leg of the ride alone, I got emotional as I looked out across the landscape and realized that I was actually doing what I had dreamed of doing for a good part of my life. Seriously.
I'll try to be better at taking pictures, but frankly, I'm more into just riding my bike and drinking it all in. If you'd like more photos of where we've been, you can check out the blog of one of my fellow riders, Jamie. The web address is:
itsthejourney.co
It's much more polished and elegant than this humble blog, but that is to be expected. Come on, Jamie's a doctor for God's sake! Do you know how long you have to go to school to be a doctor?
It's like years, I'm not kidding. My head hurts just thinking about that. At any rate, I think Jamie should win the Rick Steves Travel Writing Award for his blog of this trip.
One final note, I tried to get us a tour of the Humboldt County Jail which is located here in Winnemucca, but they just looked at me funny and said no one had ever asked for a tour and then they asked that I leave the premises immediately. Very unfriendly. I plan to write the Nevada State Board of Corrections to lodge a complaint.
Dinner tonight at The Pig restaurant here in town. Good food and wonderfully friendly service.
Tomorrow, on to Battle Mountain, NV.
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