Comstock Century, finally...

Sorry it took so long to get this little story up, but it's been busy, as you may have realized from prior posts, plus the training never ends. Oh, and I was planning to blog over the last weekend from my phone, but sure enough, when I attempted to post my first entry on Friday evening, I got error messages. So, I kind of gave up on that idea for the trip.

So, the Comstock Century... Basically the most beautiful hell you could possibly ride through. The funny thing, it wasn't the hills that killed me but the headwind in the last 8 or 9 miles. Or maybe it was trying to keep up with Carlos that killed me, either way, when I pulled back into Genoa, I was a zombie! You know the deal, click the Read More...I drove over from South Lake Tahoe early, the views from the Kingsbury grade were great at sunrise.


We started around 7 AM from Genoa, in the coolness, at least I was shivering. Rob just had shorts and a jersey and seemed happy about the temperature.



Out to the first rest stop it was mellow cruising just trying to warm up and not expend too much energy as we knew the torture that was ahead.

From there it was out on to HWY 50 for a few miles before hitting HWY 341 into Virginia City. There was another rest stop before hitting the hill into Virginia City where we overheard a story of a man and his dog. Well, this man was throwing the signs letting cyclists which was to go over into the canyon. As we were at the stop, he came pulling in with his dogs asking about who was in charge and needing their phone number and address... yada yada. The best part was when he claimed to own the road and said that cyclists were pulling over and peeing on his property. We took the steep route not only because it was steep, but also because that guy lived on the other route. Oh joy, the grade on the optional route we took was nice, probably between 15% and 18% but it didn't seem as steep as some sections at the Sierra Century a few weeks back.

So, on the road up to Virginia City, we kept seeing signs for the Suicide Table at a particular casino. Of course, we stopped and I ran in to take the following pictures.


The table display.


explanation of the table's history.


Story about the game Faro.

Then it was out to conquer Geiger Summit which wasn't really long or too steep, but a nice climb with views of the shrub brush and deep valleys. Once to the top of Geiger it was a long fast decent, about 9 miles or so and what seemed to be a few thousand feet. Rob had one scary episode with a passing vehicle where they had to swerve in front of Rob to avoid an oncoming car. There wasn't much of a shoulder on that road if I remember correctly but who needs a shoulder when you are doing 40 to 50 MPH.


Heading toward Geiger Summit


Rob giving the victory salute as we near the top.


Carlos at the top, I believe the mountain in the back ground is Mt. Rose. The next climb.


Rob, summoning the cycling gods


Tony and Rob at Geiger Summit.

Once off Geiger we were on south side of Reno heading for Mt. Rose on HWY 431. There's not much to say other than it was 17 mile or so long, never really steep but also never ever flat. I'm not sure of the actual elevation gain, but I'd have to say it was around 4000 to 4500 feet. But before we got to the actually summit of Mt. Rose, we stopped for lunch at the ski resort. Port of Subs was tasty, but after all that climbing, eating was tough. Not to mention, it was cold, probably in the low 50's if not into the 40's.

The it was off to finish the rest of Mt. Rose and head off to Incline Village before hitting the last climb, Spooner grade.


The road up vanishing into the trees with faint glimpses of Geiger Summit in the back ground.


Entrance to Mt. Rose ski area. 8260 feet up.


There was still a fair amount of snow on the north facing hills for the last weekend in June.


Rob at the Mt. Rose summit.


Tony at the Mt. Rose summit.


Tony again at the Mt. Rose summit.


Snow on the mountains alongside the road to Incline Village.


Another fast decent.


As we were getting close to Incline we could see the lake.

Ok, unfortunately that's all for the pictures because the road had almost no shoulder to ride on much of HWY 28, ha, I should have taken a picture of that. The ride into Incline was fast and fun but only made the next hill arrive that much more quickly. Hwy 28 coming around the lake was really the turning point when I began to get tired, the hill wasn't much but after all the miles and climbing he had done, it really put me into the red zone. Ultimately, HWY 28 dropped us off on HWY 50 to Spooner summit at the last rest area. It was needed, but we couldn't stay long, we knew at this point the end was near and there was no reason to put it off for too long. Plus, the next 10 miles was all down hill on HWY 50 into the south side of Carson City. It was really fast and really windy so it was a little scary. I don't think we ever broke 50 because I found myself peddling to go faster but with the wind it was challenging as you would get wobbles when the wind hits the wheels. The fun part was riding in a 5 to 6 person pack at those speeds taking up an entire lane of HWY 50.

Once off of Spooner we turned south on HWY 395 to only turn again for the final run back into Genoa. Someone turned the winds on HIGH when we made that turn. I was dead at that point and took a short pull and could do no more. I rode Carlos' wheel for another few miles but his pace was too much.

After regrouping in town, Rob had family obligations and Carlos and I chatted for a bit over the customary post century meal. BBQ chicken, rolls, potato salad, and best of all ice cream.

The ride was great fun, though painful at times, but the true pain was the one in my butt after driving 3.5 hours home after riding all day. Ok, I'm getting tired just thinking about it, so I'll leave it at that.