DAY #02 - One of the Hottest Days Yet

Map for Days 2 & 3

Saturday, September 2nd, 2017

Today was another 500 mile trip from Hood River, Oregon to Winnemucca, Nevada. I left about 6:00 AM and it was in the low 50's so I wore warm clothes. About noon when I stopped for lunch it was in the mid-90's The remainder of the day was very hot and little shade.

Shortly after sunrise, I had a few brief glances of Mount Hood which was covered in snow. I stopped for lunch and tried to drink as much water as possible to prevent dehydration. I tried to deal with the heat as best as I could. 

I got to Winnemucca's checkpoint. It happened to be at the fairgrounds. The Tri-County Fair was in progress. I was definitely suffering heat stress. I finally gto to the check-in location. They had snacks and Gator Aid on ice, so I downed one and eventually felt better. 

I chatted with some other riders that had done this annual classic over 30 times. I spoke with one woman who had chaired the ride on two occasions in the past. She and her husband started this Annual Classic 43 years ago. She had intended to ride but fell on Friday morning while getting ready to leave and fractured her collar bone. She still was going on the ride, just as a passenger on the back of someone else's back.

After leaving the fairgrounds and checked into the hotel. I worked on the Blog, entered my expenses and went to sleep around 10:00 PM.

Sunday, September 3rd, 2017

This was a 600 mile day where the third checkpoint was in Kanab, Utah. I left the hotel at 5:00 AM and was making good time. I realized to late that there were no gas stations for 40 miles or so. I pulled over at an exit and used one of the spare tanks of gas to return to a station that I had passed about 15 miles back. By the time I got back to where I turned around the sun was up and it was 45-minutes later. It was not a good start for the day. 

I got to Ely, Nevada and it had warmed up so I shed the leather jacket for shirt sleeves and wet towels to keep cool. There is one stretch of 125-miles that reminded me of the scene from "Forrest Gump" where he comes to the end of his run. The road is a straight line and you can see it disappear on the horizon. That is exactly how several of these valley crossings looked.

I stopped for fuel and lunch in Beaver, Utah. I was feeling pretty good. This is the closest point on this four-week adventure to where I live, which is just 5-hours south. I pressed on to Kanab for the third checkpoint. It was hot and muggy so I was pretty tired again. I had some oranges and water before getting the gas tank topped off for the morning.

I got checked into the hotel, got cleaned up and walked a block to a nice restaurant for dinner. I finished up the paperwork and got caught up on this blog. I plan on leaving a 3:00 AM in the morning and intend to reach the Mexican border by 11:00 AM.