Day 6: S. Lake Tahoe to Carson City, NV

A great sunny, cool but short “positioning” day of 26 miles to Carson City.  There’s only 5 towns with any kind of overnight facilities on US50 between Carson City and the Utah border spaced anywhere from 47 to 70 miles apart.  Now we’re ready to stop at the first town, Fallon, tomorrow 60 miles away.  

We didn’t leave until after 10 today so it was laundry day.  My 3 jerseys smelled so bad they were acting as insect repellents.  So nice to have fresh clothes again.  People nearby feel the same.  

Tunnels are never fun on a bike, especially at higher traffic speeds like we have on US50.  You also know there will not be a shoulder to ride on inside the tunnel. 

The state of Nevada was thoughtful enough to give us a button to push to light up an overhead blinking sign that said “BIKES IN TUNNEL”. That gave the drivers enough time to speed up and cement themselves in the right lane before they hit us.  We got through without event in spite of the traffic sign warning. 

One of our last views of Lake Tahoe. 

We had only one major climb today of about 1,000’.  The grade was mostly 4-6% however our legs are still struggling to recover from past days. We managed nicely knowing this was our only pass to conquer today and it would be a short overall ride.  

Len said he had a phone call.  I’m pretty sure he just wanted an excuse to rest his legs.  

We stopped at the summit for a banana and water, preparing ourselves for the awesome almost 3,000’ downhill where I topped out at 48mph.  It’s always fun to take over the right lane when you’re moving close to vehicle speed and watch the cars slowly pass you on the left.  I drafted a slower dump truck that had passed me for about 2 miles before he finally pulled away.  My fully loaded up, steel framed Surly Disk Trucker was sure and solid as a rock all the way. 

We pulled into Carson City about 12:30, cruising in on the main drag.  I immediatly liked the feel of the town.  As the state capital of Nevada it had the right blend of small town with lots of things to do.  Especially if you like to gamble.  

My rear derailleur was skipping or slipping in my lower  uphill “grinding” gears.  The Bike Smith had great reviews and the owner welcomed us in, admired our steel touring bikes, and said we were the first of the Western Express riders to have stopped in this year.  Adam, holding my bike in the picture tweaked my shifting, lubed my chain and said “No charge for though bikers!!  Len supported them though by buying a new helmet and some energy snacks.  

A great lunch outside on the sidewalk at “Mom & Pop’s Diner” right along the main drag.  I over ate but ate it all!

We did a little PR video for local candidate for US Congress. He was wandering around with his  “Greg Kidd for Congress”media crew and started asking us about our bikes. Sounds like he’s a mountain biker and dressed like he might have just ridden in on it. I’m sure our video will be the linch pin of his campaign.  Good luck Greg!

We had a restful afternoon-evening at the Federal Hotel/Max Casino with our free drinks at the bar and dinner at the Black Bear Diner and then off to bed.  Riding our bikes across country was enough gambling for us!!