Aftermath...

Ah Reno... have you ever been? It was my first time out there. I've visited all of the other states in that part of the country, but not Nevada. As far as I can tell there's nothing in Nevada except for Reno and Las Vegas. I know this because I flew first to Vegas, changed planes, then continued up to Reno. I sat in a window seat and looked out the whole way, seeing nothing but high desert. There were dirt roads here and there, but I didn't see any paved roads. There must be some, somewhere, because I'm pretty sure you can drive between these cities without a four wheel drive vehicle. It's an odd view for someone from the Northeast... On the outskirts of Vegas, the buildings stop, the roads continue another block or two, then the desert takes over. Then, an hour later, the desert stops, roads begin, and buildings appear. Welcome to Reno!

Reno is, uh, skeevy. That's the best word I can think of to describe it. The city consists of casinos, pawn shops, and bars. There are allegedly crackheads and meth addicts on the streets, more so than in other places. I didn't see any in person but they were all over the local news. Everything is dusty and dirty. You can smoke pretty much everywhere in Reno, so the whole place smells like cigarettes. Our conference was in Harrah's Casino, where you can't get anywhere without walking through the gaming areas. There are people draining their money at all hours of the day and night, it's a little depressing. This is not a joke, but I saw a guy playing video poker when I stumbled past on my way to my room at 2:30 in the morning. Saw the same guy, in the same place, at 7:30 the next morning when I went down for breakfast. It's nuts.

However, having said all that, I had a great time out there. The conference was moderately interesting but I did meet some really cool people, including, but not limited to: A Canadian, a bartender who dances on the bar for extra tips, a little guy who's in the UFC, a recently retired NFL player, and a bunch of folks like me looking to have fun on a business trip. We got our work done and then went to visit the sketchy bars every night. With the exception of the place that used to be a strip club, none of the individual places were any sketchier than what one might find out here. Rather it was the sheer density of sketchy bars. Here you have to seek out the dives, out there it's the other way around and you have to seek out nice places.

By the end of the week, however, I was ready to come home. Too much drinking, too much nasty food (or too little healthy food is maybe a better way to say it...), too much smelling tobacco smoke, too little sleep. I think I'm sick, actually, something is wrong with my sinuses. I'm still on Pacific Time, so I've been unable to fall asleep before 1 a.m. since I've been back. Hopefully I'll be tired enough to get to bed early tonight...

Back from the edge...

I'm just back from a week-long "business trip" to Reno, NV. I'll try to post more on the trip later since it was a solid adventure, but for now this'll just be a bike inventory from the journey. While in Reno I saw three cyclists, one person who looked like they were riding because they wanted to and three who seemed to be riding because they had to (i.e. oh crap, lost my license...). Reno does not appear to be a very cycle-friendly city because although the roads are wide, people drive super fast. Left turns on a bike involve taking not just a lane, but three or four to get over to the middle of the road. On the other hand, since the city is in a valley, it's pretty flat.

Ok, that's all for now, I'll do more later.