Day 7: Carson City to Fallon, NV

Our 7th and best day yet with blue skies, mostly following winds and downhill about 600’ start to finish.  It felt like we were flying at times. 

An early start at 7am with bright sun and temps in the high 40’s. 

We skipped breakfast to get an early start but we knew we had a cafe 12 miles down the road for our first stop in Dayton. Breakfast was tasty and service excellent.  We now had a good base for riding out the rest of the day.  

US50 was excellent this morning, wide shoulders, great pavement, plenty of room to let the pickups pass by safely.  And the traffic wasn’t too busy for a Saturday morning on Memorial Day.  We’re now in the high desert of Nevada, around 4,300’ elevation at this point.   Long views aplenty. 

In case you’re wondering, this is what my  “cockpit” looks like while I’m riding.  Each map panel on my handle bar bag is about 30 miles of travel.  Produced by the Adventure Cycling Association just for tourers like us with plenty of important details like where you can find food or a place to sleep for the night. I keep my phone handy in the left pocket of the handle bar bag for photos while I’m riding, my music or Google maps use and ear buds in the right to easily pull out and listen to music and/or drown out the sound when traffic is too loud. I also have a small but loud Bluetooth speaker hanging just to the right of my bike computer allowing me to listen to music while still listening for approaching traffic when the background noise is more quiet.  Music helps give me energy (or a distraction?) when I need it and makes my ride more enjoyable. 

26 miles to go to get to Fallon and US50 has turned to disappointment for us.  No more broad shoulder to ride on and the foot or so of shoulder that shows up occasionally is wall to wall rumble strips. If you’ve never ridden on a rumble strip imagine re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.  Not pleasant.  But the passing trucks and cars were mostly considerate and moved left into the west bound lane to give us some space. 

Jan, originally from Czech Republic, and at some point in his life in Hawaii now loves the open spaces and high desert of NV.  He regaled us of his old biking days when he made his own bikes and would sometimes ride 150 miles in a day. We talked with him at our 2nd and last area of services called Silver Springs before our final 35 miles.  I charged up on a Mountain Dew and we headed off towards Fallon. 

We met our first WXP cyclists today!  Flo from Vienna and Sebastian from Bavaria left NYC on April 1 headed to San Francisco.  Two great guys that probably started their trip a bit early and have been fighting rain, cold and even snowy weather. They road within a stones throw from our houses in Dillon and Frisco after they summited Loveland Pass in the snow.  We shared information and stories from the road for almost 30 minutes before we said good bye and went off in our opposite directions.  Good luck Flo and Sebastian!!

We’re definitely in MAGA country.  I don’t  quite understand the “The Bait Farm Saloon”. Maybe it’s a charming place?

8 miles out from our destination with an ETA of 1:30 we lock on to our target, The Grid brewpub.  I increased my pace!

Legitimately entering Fallon now, the Stars and Stripes welcomes.  I did not know that Fallon was the Oasis of Nevada. Maybe it’s not actually known as an Oasis and it’s meant to be more aspirational?

The Grid did not disappoint with tasty cold beers and wings for Len.  While Len napped in our hotel room I soaked in the hot tub, rinsed out my cycling clothes, and showered. Then we ate tasty Chimichangas with a Marg at the Mexican restaurant by the hotel, came back to the room, I finished my blog and it’s not even 8 o’clock yet.  Great day!!