Day 5 -- Truckee, CA to Sparks, NV

Miles: 64.96
Total Miles: 333.80
Time: 4:36
Average Speed: 14.1 mph
Max Speed: 37.2 mph
Flats Today: 0
Total Flats: 0
Elevation Gain: 3958 ft
Weather: 35 degrees in the morning, 65 later in the day, and clear skies

We woke up today around 5:15, ate breakfast 6:00, and loaded luggage at 7:00. We ended up getting out around 7:15, and we started with a large pack of riders. All of the riders, including us, had two layers of clothing on top, long pants on the bottom, and gloves. We all rode at a nice pace for 10 miles, then we came to the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. We all got some pictures by the sign and we even got to see some workers light the flame. It's supposed to be an eternal flame, but I guess they've been lying to us. actually they said with high winds it occasionally goes out. Oh well... it was cool to see.

For the next 6 miles, we rode on a bike path along another stream of snow melt. Once again, it was extremely clear, and the water was rushing quickly. The surroundings of the stream were also very beautiful, so it made the bike path one of the best I've ever ridden on. Of course the bike paths that Choice One designs are far superior, but it was definitely one of the best. We rode on that bike path for awhile, then we turned onto a state route, which led us to even greater scenery than yesterday.

About 3 miles after we got on the state route, Lake Tahoe came into view. It had the clearest water I've ever seen in a lake. There were mountains all around it, which made it even greater. The water had a very distinct blue color, especially in the middle where it reaches a depth of 2,000 ft. It was a rather large lake, so we took our time getting around the 15 miles we rode next to it. We took tons of pictures, and it seemed like every time we would find "the greatest photo opportunity," there would be one to top it. The further we got around Lake Tahoe, the better the mountains in the background became. They changed from evergreen topped mountains to snow capped mountains. It was gorgeous. But, like I said before, it only got better.

Sometime during our trek around the lake, we came upon a sign, and it said, "Welcome to Nevada." We took a picture there, then we turned around and took a picture with the "Welcome to California" sign because we hadn't gotten one of California yet. We ended our 15 miles around the lake, and read our cue sheet. It said "Turn left on Route 143, then CLIMB for 8.2 miles." So, we decided to stop at a bakery. Almost all the riders stopped there, then we all stripped off our layers of clothing because we knew we would get hot riding up. We dumped our extra clothes in the sag van, then headed up our CLIMB. We got about 100 yards up the mountain, then we stopped. We couldn't take it anymore. The sun was shining bright, and we forgot sunscreen on the exposed parts that were covered before. So, we put on sunscreen and began our climb again.
When you start out in your smallest gear, and 10 feet up you're looking for a lower one, it's not a good sign. We actually did pass quite a few riders, so we weren't the slowest, but we definitely felt the burn. We stopped 2 miles into the 8.2 and decided we needed a picture. It's great when you can use a photo opportunity as an excuse to take a break. About a mile later... "Oh look, a photo opportunity!" This time it really was a great view though. It beat out yesterday's lake with mountains in the background picture for sure. We soon realized that all of those amazing pictures down by the lake were nothing compared to this. The scene was gorgeous. Nothing I have ever seen can beat this. I hope the pictures at least give some justice to how great the view truly was.

Anyway, we did have to continue up the mountain. We got 3.5 miles this time until we needed another photo opportunity, but this turned out well too. There was no lake, but we're high enough into the mountain that we're looking down at the snow. We finished up our climb, and reached the summit of Mount Rose. It was freezing up there, so immediately, we put on the same exact clothes we had just taken off an hour and 15 minutes ago. Yes, it took us and hour and 15 minutes to climb 8.2 miles... and we were the faster bunch. It took some people over 2 hours to climb Mount Rose. We averaged about 7.5 mph up the mountain at 7-10 percent grade. We were definitely glad to reach the summit, which was at 8,900 ft.

We ate some food at the sag stop, which was right at the summit, took some pictures, bundled up, and headed down the opposite side of the same mountain we just came up. The side we went down was completely different than the side we went up. Besides the fact that we were braking instead of pedaling, and freezing instead of heating up, the mountain was different. It looked brown and tan, instead of white and green. After our frozen decent, we got some flat roads.

On the first flat road, we had to dodge a tumbleweed. We looked to our left and right, and there was sand, shrubs, and more sand. Cleverly, Wade stated, "Dad, I think we're in the desert." We rode about 10 more miles into our hotel, then went and ate some Mexican... What a great day!!!