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Day 14. Middlegate Station, NV to Austin, NVYesterday: Day 13. Fallon, NV to Middlegate Station, NVTomorrow: Day 15. Austin, NV.
Synopsis
Grabbing a hearty breakfast at Middlegate and stocking up on water and Gatorade, I prepared for what, on paper, should be the hardest day of the trip to date. The route from Middlegate took me along HW50 past Cold Springs Station, another old Pony Express Change Station now acting as a restaurant/bar, etc, just as Middlegate was. Cold Springs was at mile 15 and would be the last chance for anything that I might need. The next 50 miles would have no service whatsoever. No gas, no phones, no water, no food, no shade. No ranches, no houses, no buildings. Just 50 miles of desert. I hit the road around 9am, which had been my earliest departure in a week or so. I was fearing the heat and the general lack of water, so avoiding the mid-day heat was a goal. Somewhere around 25 miles into the ride, I saw two fellow bike tourists pedaling from the East. I pulled over and stopped and they crossed the road to stop and exchange stories and road conditions that lie ahead. The two 25-30 year old guys were on their way to San Francisco from Virginia and were on day number 40-high for their trip. They definitely were much more fit than I am so far and were covering more miles per day -- in fact, today their plan was to cover the 110 miles from Austin to Fallon. The three of us were sitting there in the middle of the desert in what was otherwise complete silence. What a surreal experience. After about 20-30 minutes of stories and laughs, we all bid farewell and got the pedals spinning again. From there, the route involved crossing over two passes, New Pass Summit at 6,348' followed by a brief descent before the road once again tilts up toward Mt Airy Summit at 6,679'. Once atop this second summit, the valley below opened up to give a clear view 10-15 miles away of the Toiyabe Range, home to my stop for the day. Home to Austin, Nevada. The descent from Mt. Airy was a bit slowed by a headwind and it was then that I noticed that my shorts and shirt were once again covered in salt. It was then that I started to notice that I was becoming noticeably weaker. It was then that I realized that I was starting to Bonk. But I still had about 5 miles into the headwind and up 1,000' feet to reach the town of Austin. I was finally feeling the heat and was finally feeling the fact that I had only eaten a couple energy bars since my breakfast some 6 hours and 60 miles earlier. These last 5 miles taught me a lot. They reminded me that the desert is big; that it is hot, and that it is relentless. I made it to the motel just fine and I am sure I could have pedaled much further that day, but I definitely left my comfort zone for that last hour. I check into the motel, hop into the shower fully clothed and just stand there for a long time. I proceeded to drink a ton of water and to study the route that lies ahead of me, adjusting plans to allow me to rest-up here for one extra day -- the next 3-4 days of riding will be no different than the last few. Welcome to the desert. Today really wiped me out so in preparation for the two long days of riding to Ely, I will lay low in Austin for one more night. Just as yesterday, I took a photo of the road ahead of me every 10 miles to illustrate the landscape. Photos truly do it no justice, but perhaps they can spark the imagination.
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