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My tent is glowing from a fire quickly engulfing a nearby mountain. I watched it grow from a tiny puff of smoke to the bright orange ball it is now. More on this later.

It feels like a whole week of riding and living was crammed into today. The riding was slow going, and once again, the seat and I were not getting along. Filled to capacity, I was loaded with 19 lbs of water, of which I drank just about all. I’m scratching my head about just where it all went after entering my body. I guess this is the Great Basin; water comes in and never leaves 🙂

I’ve been wondering recently if my tire is slowly losing air. I tried to pump it up this morning but couldn’t build any pressure. Was my tube bad, or was my pump bad, or both? I installed a new tube but still couldn’t get any significant pressure out of my pump. Fortunately, Melanie was still around and had a spare pump that she’s gifted me. As I struggled through the sand and wind today, I had to remind myself that I was very nearly walking through this dry stretch of the route.

Not too long after starting this morning, I stopped for a short break. A car approached from the opposite direction. As it went by, I glanced at the driver and couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Girl Scout! Girl Scout is my friend and hiking buddy from my Pacific Crest Trail hike in 2006. He and Gazelle are out here doing ‘trail magic’ for CDT hikers. We caught up as best we could in 30 minutes, then parted ways. I laughed out loud at the chance of randomly running into an old friend out here near the basin. Unfortunately, my high from the chance encounter wore off as I pedaled through the sandy ups and downs.

I’m actually fortunate. Today, I was shaded by clouds more often than not, and the temperatures weren’t bad either. Winds weren’t nearly as bad as they could have been, and they came from behind much of the day.

I had a bit of a scare and some deja vu this evening. I tried to mount the uni and failed. My foot slipped forward off the pedal, the pedal’s spikes sliding up the back of my calf. I went down backward, hard. I lay there for a minute, foot caught in the spokes and leg somehow intertwined with the uni. Soon after, I came across writing in the road. It read, “Go Gen Go!” It gave me the boost I needed to pedal out the final 10 miles.