Day 5: Carson City to Fallon 60 miles.. hauling the mail

I remember the apollo 13 crew after lift off saying that they were hauling the mail... well, maybe we weren't as fast, but we hauled the mail today.   beautiful day out there today and steve seized it by hitting the road by 6 am..  when Gabe, Bob and I were stumbling down the hallway of the hotel wondering where the restaurant was.    We departed at 8 am.   Steve called me just as I was cresting the first hill and said "dude, this is the best ride EVER".   And he was right.. great pavement (although Bob decides now that he hates rumble strips) and downhill pretty much all the way.   Very fast.   I was over 20 mph average so there was plenty of wide open long stretches with flat or slight downhills to them.   The whirl of the spokes, the dryness of the pavement and nothing but speed and blue sky out there today..  Met up with a guy in the middle of nowhere who was on a mountain bike.   Had an accent and a cordial demeanor.. along with the signatory lime green "see you anywhere" jersey that sue loves now... He hung with me for about 15 miles, as my AVERAGE was 28 mph.    Turned around at one point and he was gone..  A quick stop for water and ice in Silver Springs, and there he was again.   We chatted as we headed up the hill and he told me about a 104 mile ride he did day before yesterday..  Reno, around mount rose, all over the place and back to his home town of Dayton... 10400 feet of elevation.. wow.. awesome performance... "what are the ages of your group", he asked with white cotton in his ears; for reasons unknown.    20 - 56 came my reply.    "well", he said with a quirky smile, "you can tell them that today you rode with a 78 year old"....  The dude was in amazing shape.. tough as nails and was just a pleasure to hang on the road with... "I do a couple of centuries a week", he said, and while riders, like fisherman, can expand their distance and elevation to suit their audience, this guy looked the part.   buff buff buff.. super lean and black from the sun... "that should keep you alive a while", I said.... "It better", he said with a smile and I was gone.... Amazing.    Beautiful and dry here in this part of Nevada and tomorrows century ride is lurking off in the distance..  Laughing and howling at us.. it will be especially loud at 4 am..  "come and see", it will yell... if you dare!   And we WILL dare... sore asses and all... Till next time campers, eat your vegetables and say your prayers...    IF I can type tomorrow, I will post something... but not sure how to spell drooling all over myself and loosing control of my bowel... hmm..