Just over the mountains was Nevada, another layer among the others in the desert. Riding on U.S. 50 was everything I envisioned. The long roads that seemed forever, riding shirtless when you catch a breeze, starting early to get a cool ride right before the birds wake, riding at night with an entirely different experience. It gave us everything we wanted including the cold chill on the fingertips. It sometimes seemed like we were racing to get to California but didn’t want it to end.
We left Cedar City, UT with a few summits, head winds and never ending blacktop roads that could melt your tires. We got into Ely, NV in the early evening, which gave us time to find camp and setup for dinner before sundown. A little girl in the park we found walked by our tents as we were setting up and said we weren’t supposed to camp here. She said her dad was the sheriff and she was going to tell on us. When kids tell you this they’re not joking around. We were awakened around midnight by flashlights voices shouting and chuckling keys. I unzipped my tent and it was the sheriff asking what we were doing here. After we explained he was kind to let us camp even though it was forbidden.
We planned that morning to get up at 3:30 a.m. and take on a one hundred twelve mile ride to Fallon, NV. We knew what we were up against. There were limited services and six summits to clear with Carroll being our last. We were psyched and anxious to see the Sierra Nevada’s.
We cleared three summits by 9:30 a.m. and was psyched with three more to go. We ate breakfast and watched the sun peak over the mountains as it warmed us up.
It was cold, and I’d never thought I’d enjoy the heat as much as I did in the photo.
After clearing our fourth summit we saw a not so abandoned house off the road.
After clearing the fourth we were on long Route 50 for several hours.
Roadside shopping
We made it to Carroll Summit later that night around 10pm and camped. We were tired, annoyed, hot, and psyched all at the same time. We were low on food and water and the next morning rode down the summit into Austin, NV about five miles ahead where we took a rest day.
The next day we left Austin, NV for a ride to Fallon, NV. We got right into the riding.
After getting into Fallon we grabbed groceries and a new tire for my bike. Mine took a beating over the miles covered. It was time for a new one. We camped with Cedar City, NV and the Sierra’s on our mind. They were 65 miles away. I think that’s when we knew California was getting close.
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