rEEEno!

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 8, 2007:

We're almost out of Nevada! This trip is definitely awesome, but I am so ready to finish. I miss civilization, I miss the ocean, and I miss my friends. I mean the people here are great, but it's getting really claustrophobic. The other day as I was ontop of Silverzone Pass, fixing my third flat in as many days, I texted my friend "please send a jet to pick me up! i hate bike and build." haha, obviously I was being dramatic, but I don't want you to think that every day is a cakewalk. After this is over, I know it will be very easy to romanticize the whole trip, and I don't want to do that. I want to be realistic about it. There are some days when it's terrible!

Like this:
-Our night in West Wendover (our first in Nevada) was spent in their high school, where I was snuggled next to scorpians and snakes. Luckily no bites.
-We stayed in the town park in Battle Mountain (home of Jeanette Sparks, author of The Glass Castle, an incredible memoir -- read it if you haven't) and were not only woken up every 45 minutes to a train rumbling thru, just 100 feet from us, but at 4am the sprinklers came on and drenched us all. I spent the final few hours before being woken up again in the van, while my sleeping bag and clothes dried out on a fence.
-I can't get the dust out of my mouth. Nevada is gross.
-Cars and semis pass us going nearly 90 mph-- and sometimes more -- causing us to swerve uncontrollably. It's scary.
-The sun is so hot my lips are ridiculously sunburned and my tan lines are just out of control.
-Most every town we go thru is the same: poor/dry/sad/dirty.
-We haven't had an off day in like a week. I am so over riding my bike.



BUT! I don't want you to feel badly for me, I'm just whining because I'm tired, it's been a long summer, and it's time for a change again. I really do appreciate this amazing opportunity and wouldn't want it any other way. If every day was perfect, that would certainly be a boring trip.

Also, I am riding the van back with a few of the riders and one of the Habitat Bike Challenge riders. Should be fun! We are going to some cool places, too, including Boise, Jackson Hole, the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands, the Field of Dreams, Madison, Chicago, COLUMBUS, and then I'll get dropped off in NJ while everyone else will continue on to Providence. Another adventure to look forward to!