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Day 12. Carson City, NV to Fallon, NVYesterday: Day 11. Reno, NVTomorrow: Day 13. Fallon, NV to Middlegate Station, NV
Synopsis
Dropping the rental car off in Carson City, I spent a bit of time rain-proofing a lot of my gear by wrapping it in garbage bags. The forecasts throughout Nevada had called for Scattered Thunderstorms. Until now, I hadn't had any run-ins with the rain and it seemed as though today would finally bring the inevitable. The Hertz rental car salesman trapped me for nearly an hour, hearing about the travels as he shared some of his own travel stories with me. I worked my way through town to HW50, heading east toward Fallon. Just a few miles out of town, the terrain quickly became quite desolate. Passing through the towns of Moundhouse and Dayton I rode alongside several thundershowers -- the lightning flickered just a mile or so off of the highway in the fields -- while I remained dry. A quick lunch in Dayton brought the rain, so I quickly hopped back on the bike to get as far as I could before the rain became too intense... Although I remained clear of any lightning, I did do a large portion of today's ride in the rain. Most of the road between Carson City and Fallon is very remote with little traffic, and thanks to a predominant tailwind for most of the day, it became very easy to settle into a somewhat meditative rhythm as I pedaled down the road. It turned out to be a very peaceful day. I did suffer from my first flat tire today, somewhere between Silver Springs and Fallon. Fortunately it wasn't raining at the time, so I pulled over to dis-assemble the racks to get access to the rear tire. When changing it, a Nevada Highway Patrolman stopped to make sure everything was ok. I waved him on, fixed the flat then rolled into town to finish up the longest leg of my trip so far. About 55 miles up HW50 rests a small crossroads known as Middlegate, Nevada, where I will be staying tomorrow night.
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