The Not-So-Lonely Road

With it all said and done, Nevada is a hoax. Lonely, sure. Especially since my ipod broke in Ely, there wasn’t much more than the sun to keep me company. As long as you carry enough water though, the road poses a very minimal challenge. With the exception of crazy semi-truck drivers who don’t care if you’re there or not, the sun is the biggest obstacle. Get off the road by 2:00 and you’re golden. In terms of traffic, Kansas was probably a more desolate state - although the towns weren’t nearly as spread out. Oh, and there weren’t any mountains. Can’t forget about those...

But the loneliest road in America? False.

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Day 69:

The ride from Fallon to Carson City was a far cry from the Route 50 that I had grown to know. Packed with speeding cars, lined with bustling towns, and unusually flat. Luckily there was finally a generous shoulder to keep me out of harms way, albeit a tad frazzled. I arrived in Carson City in one piece, and even had three tires full of air despite the glass that littered the roadway. Riding through the city, I gazed anxiously at the towering peaks overhead which housed the Tahoe Basin.

The first stop was a bike shop. I had my chain stretch measured and miraculously I was told that if I sacrificed my cassette I could make it to the coast without buying a new chain. Done deal.

The second stop was an artisan bakery. They hooked me up with some hearty wheat bread and a free lunch.

A side note: Riding through Utah and most of Nevada, I was eating some amazing bread made by Aspen Mills, a company run out of Utah. This is by far the best bread I’ve ever had in my entire life. Hearty, delicious, and not too expensive. The last loaf I bought was called Squaw, and it was the tastiest thing I’ve ever had. If I ate this bread for the rest of my life, I would have no regrets. If you ever get a chance to buy it, do it. You won’t be disappointed.

With no other business to take care of, I took a deep breath and hit the climb out of Carson. Not before long I was over 7,000 feet, descending into one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever seen.

Fending off traffic as I traversed a four lane highway around Nevada’s side of Tahoe, I quickly realized how little the state actually cares about bikes. Weaving in and out of a shoulder that would exist one second and be gone the next, I thought how ironic it would be if California had a bike path on their side of the lake. Wait...there actually was one. It was at that point I turned around and gave Nevada a swift kick in the butt.

So long desert, hello beautiful Northern California.

Riding through the tourist towns that lined the road, I made my way to D.L. Bliss State Park. I learned from a couple traveling through Nevada that this was a prime camping spot, so I decided to check it out.

Before I got to the campsite though, I found the most incredible store I’ve ever been in - Grocery Outlet. $2 Ben and Jerry’s pints, $1.50 Oreo boxes, and all the other (healthier) food you could want at drastically discounted prices. I was in heaven.

Miles Covered: 110

Want more desert?

...and then I saw this:

Hello Lake Tahoe!