Over the last few days I've encountered some late May snow, traversed the Nevada desert via the loneliest highway in America, gone on a stealth camping spree, and lost a dollar on the Nevada slots. I'm down to my last 315ish miles and can almost smell the Pacific Ocean. Here's how they have played out:
Day 42 - with a pretty early start we were looking at making it to Baker, Nevada for the day - a 70 mile trip. However, once we got to Baker and refueled we realized that Majors Junction (another 35ish miles) was within reach, but about halfway to Majors we turned directly into a 24 mph headwind. We battled it for a couple of miles and took turns leading before we finally stopped and sat down to eat and try and gain some strength back. We had already gotten in around 90 miles by this point and were about ready to shut it down. We walked about 100 yards up the road before I convinced Cole that it wasn't going to let up for a while and it would be best to just call it quits and camp on the side of the road. So we've decided to stealth camp once again. Except this time were not being so stealthy. There is no tree or bush coverage so we're literally about 30 yards off the side of the road out in the open for everyone to see. Fortunately, though, we're on highway 50 - the loneliest highway in America, so we probably don't have to worry too much about people bothering us. We're going to rest up here and finish up into Ely, Nevada in the morning, restock the bags and probably head out on another 70-80 mile section with no services. Other than the late wind, the rest of today's ride went really well. We had a good bit of descending today, which was nice. The roads are deceivingly long and straight - what seems to be about 3 or 4 miles of riding ahead ends up being around 10-15 miles of riding. The scenery, though, is really pretty - we paralleled the edge of the Great Basin National Park for a bit which seemed to be beautiful. It's starting to look somewhat like the Colorado Rockies again, just without the bigger climbs. I made it into Nevada, my 9th state, and crossed my 3rd and final time zone. I've got just over 600 miles left and it doesn't look like it will be an extremely difficult ride in terms of terrain, but let's just hope the weather and wind cooperate. I'm enjoying the stealth camping because it makes for great adventure and it's cheap, but I'm wishing I had a thermarest pad to sleep on - the bedding out here hasn't been so comfortable - last night a dirt and rock mattress and tonight much of the same. The winds should be calming down tonight and hopefully staying fairly calm throughout tomorrow morning so an early start will be a must.
Day 43 - today went well. We woke up early and hit the road. The whole not-so-stealthy camping seemed to work well, as no one gave us any trouble. It was still fairly windy because we were in a valley, but we pushed through to Majors Junction. We stopped for a quick snack in Majors and fortunately the guy who owned the bar we stopped at had just woken up, so he refilled our water for us. We finished the climb from Majors up to the top of Connors Pass (7,722 ft) and then descended down into Ely, Nevada where we stocked up on food and water and grabbed a warm meal. We wanted to get past Ely because tomorrow's weather looks like it could get pretty windy. So after a little lunch at a casino we headed off - oh and yes I did play 1 dollar on the slots just for fun - I lost, but the guy next to me struck a thousand bucks just as I got ready to play. We had no plan past Ely, but to just get closer to Eureka where we may or may not be stopping tomorrow. We climbed up and over Robinson Summit (7,588 ft), descended down and climbed almost to the top of Little Antelope Summit where we're stealth camping for the night. We're about 2 miles from the top and pretty well hidden about 50 yards off the side of the road behind some bushes. It looks like it could get pretty cold tonight (down to the high 20s or low 30s) so I've got the layers ready. We're looking at getting an early start in the morning when it should be fairly calm - we'll be shooting for Eureka, and if the wind is cooperating then we may even make a run for Austin - that is if we survive the cold tonight.
Day 44 - well we survived the cold, but it wasn't easy climbing out of the tent this morning in 30 degree weather. It got a little scary last night when we woke up in the middle of the night to a pack of animals of some sort howling, barking and crying for about 20 minutes within a pretty close radius of where we were posted up. Nonetheless, somehow we were able to get on the road early. It was pretty calm this morning so it was still a toss up as to whether or not we would stay in Eureka (35-40 miles) or head on towards Austin (90+ miles). We made it to Eureka after crossing Little Antelope (7,438 ft), Pancake (6,521 ft), and Pinto (7,351 ft) Summits. When we got into town we grabbed some breakfast, checked the weather and talked our options over with the locals. There was still a wind advisory in effect for today and tomorrow's forecast looks good so we've decided to post up here in Eureka for the night so we can get a bed and a shower - a nice change from the last few nights of roughing it. Let it be known that nothing beats a warm shower to wash off 4 days of sweat and sunscreen. We've racked up on groceries and water and have been resting up for tomorrow. We'll likely head to Austin, restock, then head out for another night of camping before we head to Fallon the next day. I'm down to 500 miles left and am counting down the days. In addition to my right Achilles bothering me, my left has now started bothering me. I've been resting and icing it today since we got in, so hopefully it will hold out this last week or so.
Day 45 - today turned out to be a lot longer day than I anticipated - at least in terms of time spent on the road. We left around 630 this morning and rode off-and-on until around 6 pm. The winds were pretty brutal. What we thought was going to be a slight tailwind turning into a cross wind ended up being a headwind for most of the day. It wasn't so bad going up climbs, but coming downhill and in the valleys between climbs was tough - especially when you're the only one breaking the wind. Nonetheless, we were able to make it around 96 miles where we are stealth camping off the side of hwy 50 between Austin, Nv and Fallon, Nv just past New Pass Summit (6,348 ft). We also crossed 3 other summits today: Hickison Summit (6,594 ft), Bob Scott Summit (7,195 ft), and Austin Summit (7,484 ft). We stopped in Austin for lunch and restocked on food and water for the night. We're essentially out of the sections of hwy 50 with no services so we will actually be able to have a warm breakfast in the morning. We'll be heading into Fallon, Nv tomorrow (around 85 miles) and hopefully staying with a warmshowers host. Once we arrive in Fallon I will switch over to my final map set and will have about 317 miles to go. It must be peak time for cyclists to be heading out on tour because we ran in to 5 different riders today. My Achilles is still a little sore, but with the finish line in sight I'm able to pedal through it.
Day 46 - despite battling some winds all day, today went pretty well. We got a later start than usual at around 730 and made it about 84 miles into Fallon, NV. It was mostly flat and downhill with a couple of small climbs. I broke the wind for the entire way yet again. I wanted to get to Fallon early so I made sure to set a good pace. We stopped in Cold Springs for breakfast, but other than that we rode pretty much straight through only stopping for water/sunscreen/bathroom breaks. Evidently we passed some salt wells just outside of Fallon, but they weren't too impressive. What was impressive, though, was Sand Mountain - a random sand dune in Nevada about 600-700 feet high sitting among the mountains - it's seemingly a popular place for riding atv's. Once we arrived in Fallon we grabbed some food at Safeway and hung out at a coffee shop until our warmshowers host, Brad, called. He has actually taken his warmshowers profile down because he is about to travel, but agreed to host us anyways. So, we'll be here in Fallon for the night then tomorrow Cole and I will likely go our separate ways when we hit Carson City. It's been fun having another riding buddy, but I'm looking forward to making it to San Francisco. I'm starting my last map set tomorrow and have around 315 miles left, so it's looking like I'll be arriving in 4-5 days.
http://www.ridewithoutlimits.org/goto/Eric_Johnson
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