Wednesday 09th June 1999 -> Truckee CA

The day dawned early – 5.30am, and was cool with varying high cloud. After a breakfast of cereal, cereal or cereal and / or oatmeal and / or wait some time for pancakes from 6am, riders starting setting off on the hills. There was basically no wind.

I left almost last at about 7.10am. Very shortly after starting I passed the first rider. Every mile reeled in more and more riders.

There were one or two quite short sharp rises but the majority were long and gentle. I cruised up most hills at about 10mph in 9^th gear. The entire ride was either up or down – some ups were very long – many miles in length.

By the first sag at 26 miles, I was about the 4^th rider but had not passed that many people. It seems a few had taken a special tiki tour!

On the way to the 2^nd sag at 58 miles, I pulled in the rest of the riders and the staff member riding. The hills continued right to the sag.

Road conditions were extremely variable, some were superb, one was an Interstate and others were full of cracks etc. As the Denver Pass area in the Sierras is a ski resort area, much of the road damage is a result of snow.

The scenery was very Canadian i.e. clear water, snow and trees etc. A lot better than cities!!

From the 2^nd sag, a couple of short climbs led to a descent of about 1,000ft over 6 miles down a twisting road. This then continued as a downhill road right into town. A missed turn and I was on my way to Nevada! After a few bonus hills (both up and down), I turned around and headed for the hotel and found it easily.

I first arrived in town about 12.45pm and was first into town. I reached the hotel about 1.20pm, was 2^nd in, and was about an hour early for the luggage. Great! By 3pm, only about 8 riders had arrived.

My speedo missed a beat for a minute or so but recorded 80.9 miles, max 40.2mph, and cycling time of 5hrs 23m (including starting + stopping etc.) Vertical climb was 8,230ft total and it felt like it before I arrived!

Dinner was fairly good at the motel with lasagne, chicken, bread, drinks etc etc. All good and filling!