Going Downhill and Pedaling Hard to Get There

Saturday June 16, 2012

What a day.

We started out early.  Denis is an engineer and his methodical planning and methodology show it. The only thing that prevented us from being on the road before 7:00 was that we decided to have breakfast at the establishment in Middlegate Station.  I don't think that I described Middlegate Station very thoroughly.  It was once an overland stage stop, and hasn't changed much since then, with the exception of electricity, cable TV, and spots for perhaps a dozen or so RVs in back.  It isn't an RV park; most of the RVs there serve as mobile homes for Middlegate's residents.  And I got the distinct impression that most of the residents take turns working at the establishment.  Denis was told by our barman/cook when we arrived, that he worked for tips and free room & board.  It is everything that you might stereotypically imagine from a desert way station that is literally 50 miles from its nearest neighbors.

That wasn't a very good paragraph, because it started wwith one topic, and closed out with another, but in a way, they are closely related.  Our morning cook, just another of the grizzled characters, was a fellow with whom we had had a brief discussion the night before.  Just east of Middlegate, travellers need to make a decision.  For most, it is no decision at all; stay on Highway 50 for 64 miles and you reach the closest services/town/potable water to the east, which is Austin NV.  On the cycling route maps, there is an alternate route that deviates from 50 about 3 miles aout of Middlegate, then rejoins the highway about a mile west of Austin.  This route isn't a 'recommended' alternative, but it is availble and mapped.  Well, our breakfast cook had a very strong opinion, both the previous evening, and in the morning, basically all through breakfast.  He said, "Take the back route.  There's no traffic and no rumble-strip for 50 miles."  When we pointed out that the pass that had to be climbed that way was a thousand feet higher than any point on Highway 50, his response was, "Yeah, but two fat girls done it, plus it's a mile shorter!"  Although he kept extolling the virtues of no rumble-strip or traffic, both Denis and I remained leery.

We had to tell our fine advisor that we had decided to take the back route just so that we could get out of there.  Outside, Denis asked,"Whatdja reckon?"  I told him there is a reason that one route is the highway, and the other is not.  The highway is designed for getting places, while the back way is for accessing places.  We decided to take Highway 50, a fortuitous decision indeed!

We had about a half hour of smooth sailing - no pun intended - and then the wind picked up.  I don't know if the wind was there all along, and we just rode into it, or if that's when it began for the day.  Either way, we had a very strong wind, of perhaps 25 miles an hour, coming in from about 10 or 11 o'clock.  We were indeed having to pedal hard to make progress on a downhill grade. Granted, it wasn't very steep, but when you can see that you are clearly going downhill and that you are having to work so hard to do it, that is discouraging!!!

The only defense against the wind that a cyclist has is to ride very close to the person in front of him, and that is just what I was doing when Riley stopped.  I stopped too, but to make a short story even shorter, I tipped over, with our wheels overlapping one another.  I didn't take Riley out with me, but I did take out his rear wheel.  It was a pretzel, beyond any hope of repair.  We had no choice but to put out the thumb at that point.  Times like these are definitely a low-point in one's day, trip, even life (while they are happening).  So our morale was at rock-bottom at that point.  'Just let me die quickly in the desert' kind of low.

Fortunately, we did not listen to our breakfast cook. There might not have been much traffic, but there was some traffic (and a rumble-strip) going both ways.  We decided that we could hitchhike in either direction.  Regardless of where we ended up, our plans will need some sort of revision, so let's just get out of here (and not just back to Middlegate Station).  There wasn't much traffic out there, but even so, we were there only about 15 - 20 minutes before the Christiansen family whizzed by, hit the brakes, did a u-turn, and came to our rescue.  Great people, the Christiansens.  Chad is a regular down to earth guy with a wife and 3 daughters.  I told Chad that we were trying to get to Austin, and asked him how far he was going.  He said that they were headed to Ely, so we caught a ride there.

Ely has about 4000 residents, and our route map indicated that it also has a bicycle shop - the only one between Fallon and Cedar City UT.  Well, the bicycle shop isn't really a bicycle shop in the sense that I am accustomed to.  It is a sporting goods store, catering mainly to the hunting, fishing & associated camping sectors of sporting goods, that also sells and services bicycles.  Fortunately, they actually do have a full-blown shop with all the tools you might hope for.  As you might imagine, Ely doesn't seem to have a huge cycling community and so it is understandable that their stock of parts on the shelf is rather small.

When I first looked in the bike area, I saw no wheels at all, but upon further investigation, there was in fact, one new wheel that would suit the purpose, in the back room.  What's more, it was on clearance for $5.00!  Yipee!  The guy who was working the bicycle shop (it does sort of function as a shop within a shop) was Ryan.  He's a freshly minted product of White Pine High School and he will be attending UNLV in the fall.  He let me do my own work, and in the process, I was able to teach him what a wheel dishing tool is ("I've always wondered what that thing is, it's just been sitting there forever.") and how to use it.  All in all, I was in the bike shop with Ryan for a couple of hours, and walked out with a new wheel and a six pack of Heineken all for about $16.00.  Did I mention that the sprting goods store also has the lowest prices, and apparently, sells the most beer in town?  Ammo & Alcohol now that's a combination!

In summary about the bike shop.  If you are in Nevada on the Western Express, there is a complete shop in Ely.  You may need to have you part shipped in, and you may need to have some knowledge about the repair or installation of said part(s), but all the tools you might need are there.

Well, that's kind of long, so I'll be stopping now.  I will try to get some pictures up, but I am still having trouble.

Dale