Day 12 Ely, NV to Baker, NV

Headwinds! No, that is not a victory sign I am holding up in the photo above, but maybe a moral victory. These winds normally come from the west, known as westerlies, which would be ideal for me going east. For some reason, I am getting blasted day in and day out with these winds in my face, and from the side, known as a cross wind. Just one more thing to think about and deal with along with the mountain passes to climb, the burning hot sun, the lack of services, the cold nights, and now the worst of all - the headwinds. I always tell people I meet, that I would rather climb a mountain or mountains, than to have headwinds. The reason is this: a mountain will at some point end and then you go downhill, but a headwind is in your face and pushing you backwards and you are trying to push forward, and most of the time, you lose. An example of a typical headwind is this: on a flat road you can bike tour at an easy pace of 13 mph, but on that same road with a 20mph headwind and pushing as hard as you can, your lucky to be going 7 to 8 mph and you tire out much faster. The wind whistles in your ears all day and it plays games in your head, and not good games. When I get to that point, it's time to put my I-Pod on and crank some tunes.