Day 87 – Zabriskie Point

Distance: 57.91mi | Time: 6:25 | 2323kcal | 4123 vertical feet

131108-zabriskie-point-death-valleyWe spent the night another time in Death Valley this time at the Furnace Creek campground. Where we had to hide our food of the bears in Alaska and of the raccoons in Oregon we have now trouble with coyotes. Our food safe locked away we went to bed early and got awake in the middle of the night to the crying sound of one of these animals, which was probably walking an hour through the campground waking everybody up. From Furnace Creek being 180 feet below sea level we had to climb up until 3300 feet again. Along our way was Zabriskies Point. There we saw impressive rock formations. The heat was hard on us especially today, since it was a long uphill at the beginning and also while riding further to Pharump in Nevada. There we set up our today’s camp while we’re looking forward for the nice hotel and being fresh again tomorrow in Vegas.

Day 87 – Vegas here we come

Distance: 41.33mi | Time: 4:49 | 1288kcal | 2583 vertical feet

reflection-on-the-road-in-nevada-riding-a-bicycleThe last day on the road before we came to Las Vegas was really hard on us. The road looks like the Autobahn and there is a lot of traffic between Pahrump and Las Vegas. The landscape here is still very amazing. There are still many Joshua Trees and a great variety of cacti, bushes, and agaves. But whatever plant it is, it has thorns to protect itself against hungry animals. For us this means we have to be super careful where we ride our bicycles because and especially cacti can make it through any sort of rubber tire. After two days of riding on the road here we finally made it to Vegas, where we shortly stayed with a supportive friend near Boulder City where a refreshed and had one of the best cappuccinos so far. Later he gave us a ride over the Las Vegas Boulevard which is also called “The Strip”. Thanks again Mike!

Viva Las Vegas!

new-york-new-york-hotelwinning-at-roulette-bicycle-tour-vegasAgainst the Vegas law “What happens here stays here” we’ll tell you some things what happened :-) Let’s simply say it we owned the roulette table for one round. Here’s a little sum up how we won back what we’ve lost on our trip so far: One GoPro (dumped in the water in Smithers, B.C.), one pair of sunglasses (going down the trail near Burns Lake, B.C.) and one backpack (washing machine in Coldfoot, Alaska). Mathias: “What’s the maximum amount we can put on black in one round?” Dealer (kind of smiling): “It’s $3000, do you think that’s enough?” Mathias: “I think that’s good”. Then we pulled some Benjamins and changed them to chips and put them all on black. Once we did, a family found interest in our move and was also surrounding our table. The dealer turned the roulette and it was 26 and black. Yehaa!!! Mathias: “There is our new GoPro” We took the chips and stood up. Dealer (confused looking): “That’s it??” Mathias: “You have to know, when to leave the table!” With a very big smile we both left the table and continued our Vegas visit. :-)our-hotel-luxorvenedig-in-las-vegaswater-show-of-the-bellagio-hotel