Day 12: Eureka to Ely

Oh my, what a day. Probably the hardest I’ve had so far. 79 miles and 4.500’ of climbing. Left Eureka at 6:15 with temps in the high 30’s and finished up in Ely at 2:45pm in the high 70’s. 

The Loneliest Road in America is even more lonely today without Len. He’s off in Elko trying to get a new rear wheel.  Will he be successful finding a new wheel or would he have to quit the trip and head home?


Just me and my shadow this morning.  A quick rest stop as I’m grinding up my first of four summits today. 

One of my “mini” rest stops through the day.  With no commercial or human inhabited places to stop I had to carry a gallon of extra water and snacks that I nibbled on throughout the day. My loaded bike was probably up to 90lbs today. 😬

One of my life savers was Lifesaver gummies.  I would chomp down 5 or so for a quick hit of sugar.  Peanut butter cheese crackers, a Slim Jim and trail mix also served as my food groups today. 

About 10 miles before I got to Little Antelope Pass (the toughest one of the day) a wonderful woman slowed to my speed in her Subaru Outback and asked me if needed an ice cold Coke?!  I told her I was doing fine at the moment and thanked her for the offer of help.  She asked me where I started and where I was going, and said she was a cross country cyclist too, wished me well and said she’d leave me a Coke at the top of the Summit just in case.  I savored the one, even though it was no longer ice cold and made this my 15 minute lunch stop of the day.  I drank the 2nd Coke over ice in my motel room at the end of the day, very refreshing. I’m always amazed with the kindness of strangers and it lifted my spirits up the pass. 

I call these the Four Horsemen of the US50 Apocalypse.  Robinson Pass was the last and the highest but it set me up for an almost all downhill run over 16 miles into Ely. 


On a sadder note I found the remains of a Western Express cyclist who couldn’t quite make it.  If he’d only been offered a Coke by a friendly driver like I had.  They never made it to Ely. 

Len and I are reunited again in Ely.  He had no luck in Elko but found a bike mechanic in Cedar City, UT which is 3 days further on our route.  I got a text from him about midday. We had trouble actually communicating because we both had weak cell service.  I surmised that he would probably be driving his rental car through Ely about the time I would get there.  I decided I’d hook back up with Len and drive with him to Cedar City which would allow us to keep riding together when his bike is fixed.  It would also take a few days  of what would probably the least pleasant riding of the trip out of Nevada and into Utah. 

I’d been dreaming of a pasta dinner all day so Len and I Carbo-Loaded at Mr. G’s. My Lasagna was very good, and very big so I’m pretty sure I’ve eliminated any food deficit form the day.  Tomorrow we leave early to get to Cedar City by 9am to get Len’s bike back into riding order. 🤞