Day 10-Crickets, Crickets, On The Road To Ely

Miles Completed Today: 76
Total Miles Completed: 620
Miles To Go: 3080

Five AM wakeup! After listening to the weather forecast last night that called for 40 mph winds in the afternoon today, the guys decided to get up early, leave in the cool, and get their miles in before the wind kicked up. By 11:30 they had logged over forty miles, and by 3:30 had cruised in to Ely, NV, where we will spend the night.

The first fifteen to twenty miles of road were covered with crickets. Live ones, dead ones, crickets everywhere. They were more a curiosity than a distraction and didn't cause any trouble. Two more summits were passed today and the air cleared noticeably as a "cold" front pushed through keeping the temperatures in the 80's and 90's.

Tomorrow, the route turns to the southeast as we head out of Ely completing the transit of "The Loneliest Road In America". The name is well deserved, but it should not be misconstrued; the scenery is actually quite spectacular and some of the summits and vistas offer views that go on forever. In some instances visibility was easily more than seventy to eighty miles. Just a few miles west of Ely we passed one of the largest open pit copper mines in the world at the town of Ruth, NV.

Today's Internet courtesy of the Grand Central Motel in Ely, NV.

Day 9-Hills And More Hills

Miles Completed Today: 66
Total Miles Completed: 544
Miles To Go: 3156

Bob Scott campground bid the bikers farewell at 9:45 AM today as they headed to Eureka, NV. Still not a cloud has passed over us since Fallon, and those were just wispy, high clouds. The temperature though is not too bad as we are above five thousand feet and will remain so all the way through the state. We plan to stay in Eureka today, and then make a long run to Ely tomorrow.

Today's internet courtesy of the Eureka Public Library.

Day 8- Loneliest Road Lives Up To Its Name

Miles Completed Today: 58
Total Miles Completed: 480
Miles To Go: 3220

Pat and and Sean left Cold Springs at 9:30 AM and after a 12:30 PM snack and water refill at New Pass Summit continued toward Austin, NV. They passed the British team a little while after departing, and also ran into another team that is cycling all the way to Maine. The terrain remains very desolate and arid, and the only sign of life was a few wild horses seen after New Pass Summit. Around two o'clock they reached the dying mining town of Austin, NV. Although the map says the population is 370, the locals said it is now only around two hundred and falling. We were the only customers for lunch at the International Hotel & Cafe, and the bike shop where we hoped to buy some extra tubes for Sean's bike was no longer in business. After lunch, Chris drove ahead to Bob Scott campground while Pat and Sean stuck around Austin for milk shake, and then proceeded to fall asleep in the soda shop. Eventually they woke up, mounted their bikes and climbed another thousand feet out of Austin before rolling downhill three hundred feet into Bob Scott campground.

Today's internet courtesy of the Eureka Public Library.

Day 7-Beginning "The Loneliest Road"

Miles Completed Today: 60
Total Miles Completed: 422
Miles To Go: 3278

We woke up at 7:00 this morning, but never got on road until 10:30 after having breakfast and getting ready. We wanted to get some more insurance tubes after yesterday's flats, but the only bike shop in town was closed. So Pat and Sean rolled out of Fallon, NV at 10:45 heading down the stretch of Highway 50 known as "The Loneliest Road".

The "guest" in today's heading-out photo is "Mel" the Wal-Mart gardener who was sprucing up around us this morning and was so intrigued by the journey we were enjoying. A seventy-one year old, tough as nails, self described "Brooklyn boy", he'd made his way out west, lived in San Francisco, and settled in Fallon, NV. After we chatted with him for awhile, we asked him to be in the picture, and he was more than happy. Then he grabbed Pat's hand and gave a nice, spontaneous prayer and blessing to send us off on our way. What a guy.

Today's internet courtesy of the Churchill County Public Library in Fallon, NV.

Update: The guys made it to Cold Springs, NV where we spent the night.

Day 6-One State Down, Eight To Go

Miles Completed Today: 69
Total Miles Completed: 362
Miles To Go: 3338

Out of the mountains, but cursed today. Pat took a spill on his bike in the parking lot going about 1 mph as we were getting ready for the daily outbound photo. A little scratch, but a good reminder. They took off at 8:30 today and were making very good time until Sean's rear tire failed and went flat. Chris made a quick run to a Carson City bike shop for a couple tires and tubes and they were on the road again by 11:15AM. Thank goodness for cell phones, radios, and GPS. The GPS alone has already proved invaluable several times in just a few days.

We are meeting a lot of interesting people on the trip. This morning we met three men camped out at the RV Park, Dave, Roger, and Brian from the U.K. They are making the same trip to Virginia and are raising money for breast cancer. Amazingly, one of them is seventy-one years old and they started the same day as Sean and Pat. This certainly motivated Sean and Pat to kick it up a notch today, and they passed the U.K. riders very soon after starting this morning even though they had a forty-five minute head start. But, the U.K. team passed them by while they waited for a new tire and tube. By now, I suspect Pat and Sean have caught them again.

Yesterday, after Sean and Pat left Carson Pass a heavy set, bearded, tatooed, Harley-Davidson biker was so curious about these two guys on bicycles way up there that he approached me and asked where they had come from. When I told him San Francisco and that they were going to Virginia, he almost fainted. Today, they are shooting for Fallon, NV and possibly a few more miles, but not too many, as that will be entering "The Lonliest Road" and we will have to stay in close coordination on this 150 mile stretch of desolation. We will certainly have limited cell phone and internet connections, so may not post for a couple of days.

P.S. FYI, The photos can viewed full size simply by clicking on them.

Update: They made it to Fallon and we stayed at the "Wal-Mart Inn" i.e. slept in the van in the parking lot with the other RV'ers. Sean had a second flat tire yesterday afternoon, but they were only delayed a short while.

A Sean Update

I havent gotten a chance to see the blog since before we actually started riding on our trip. Its good to see that people seem to like it. A quick update from me: I'm really sore. Those Sierra Nevadas are steep and long, at times we were only going 5 mph up the mountain. Today though we passed through the highest point, Carson Pass, which is if I remember correctly 8573 feet high, it was almost above the tree line. Going down the mountains was alot of fun, I hit 50.6 mph going down, thats a new personal record. Backing up a little bit, crossing the river that we ran into right before Sacramento was awful. We wasted about 4 hours trying to figure out how to cross it. The map just showed us easily riding across, but there was no bridge, there was the remainder of one though. So we walked our bikes along a train track for half a mile and after talking to some fisherman that had just crossed the river, we found a spot that we could cross. The crossing took multiple trips, and since I dont do well with swimming or large bodies of water it freaked me out a bit. My bike hasn't been handling the trip very well so far; one torn tire, a front deralieur that wouldnt shift, a flat, and now gear buttons that are quickly dieing on me. O well it will keep working.

Day 5-Summiting At Carson Pass

Miles Completed Today: 68
Total Miles Completed: 293
Miles To Go: 3407

Pat and Sean hit the road at 10:30 AM and resumed the climb to the 8,500 foot summit of the Sierra Nevada, Carson Pass. They reached the pass at 4:30 PM and were rewarded with a twenty five mile descent into Nevada. After a late dinner in Genoa, the first settlement in Nevada, they made a quick jaunt into Carson City, where we are spending the night at the Comstock RV Park. Muscle pain seems to be the norm every day, but no cramps or anything else as they are each carrying about a gallon of water and sports drinks.