Hello again, my friends!
As I write this blog post, I am sitting in the van driver’s seat (don’t worry parents; the van is parked! Don’t Write and Drive!) with the door open, the vehicle safely tucked away in a turnoff at a place called Cold Springs, Nevada. It is 8 o’clock in the morning, and while the sun has been peeking out behind the sand mountains since at least 5:30 am this morning, the heat is just starting to come out of hiding. Out on Highway 50, AKA The Loneliest Road in America, the sun is our constant companion, and come this afternoon, that fact is sure to be remembered. As I sit here typing my little heart out, I’m playing my summer country playlist from my phone speakers (10/10 would recommend), and every now and then, a car, or a truck, or an 18-wheeler will pass me by here at Cold Springs, which consists of a small shop, café, motel, and RV park, all within what looks to be a 600-ft. radius. But, my friends, I have a confession - the real reason I am writing you today is not to tell you about today; it is to tell you about Day 10, which was yesterday (Oops. Better late than never, am I right?!).
Yesterday, we left Fallon, NV for the town of Middlegate, NV. The ride was just about fifty miles, and only about 1,000 ft. of elevation, which should have made for a relatively easy ride for the team, but within about a mile and a half, we noticed Olivia’s tires were both flat. The Flat Conundrum went something like this:
Olivia: My tires are both flat!
Team: Oh no! But do not fret; we know how to fix flats! Yay!
* maybe 30 minutes, several patches, and about six arms’ worth of mini pumping later *
Team: Good work, no more flats, team. Let’s hit the road.
Someone: Wait! Her front tire is flat again!
* another thirty minutes, a few elusive thorns, more patches, another round of mini pumping, and a few jokes later*
Team: Take that, flat prone tires! Now, let’s hit the road.
*We all start mounting our bikes, then, one pedal stroke into hitting the road-
Me: Wait, my back tire is flat!
Brad: Ha ha
Me: No, really
Team:
*another thirty minutes later *
Team: (as we suspiciously look at our tires) Okay, NOW, let’s hit the road!
- And just like that, we all took off before our tires had another chance to become mysteriously punctured and/or deflated.
Just kidding!
Two Hours Later:
Olivia: My tires are flat AGAIN!
^ repeat three times.
And that, my friends, was The Flat Conundrum.
Since then, we’ve replaced Olivia’s tubes, and they have been going strong.
Yesterday, at the end of our ride, we found ourselves at a place called Middlegate Station in Middlegate, NV. Let me tell you a few things about Middlegate.
1) It’s small. In fact, if you take a second to read the sign next to the door at Middlegate Station, you’ll see that it reads “Middlegate Station: Population 17 18”. Middlegate consists of Middlegate Station, which is a bar and restaurant, a few RVs, a single gas pump, and a small motel. All of these things are maybe within 500 feet of each other.
Pictured: Middlegate Station
2) Middlegate Station is well loved. Travelers from all over leave their little pieces of the world there, and you can see it in the countless number of stickers on the door, and on the signed one dollar bills that cover the station’s ceiling, many of which are decades old. We left a sticker on the door that Brian had from the Stanford Bicycle Project, as well as a dollar bill signed with all of our names. I drew a miniature road bike on the corner.
Among the travelers at Middlegate was Zdenko; Zdenko is also cycling across the country, from San Francisco to New York, only he’s doing it on a recumbent bicycle. He started his journey only three days after us. He’s following a very similar route to us for a little while, and is trying to get to New York in seven weeks. Zdenko is 25 years old, and is from Croatia. He also stopped at Middlegate Station for a short break before continuing on his journey. If you’re reading this Zdenko, we wish you the best of luck!
3) The people at Middlegate are wonderful. We met a few of them- Rose, Brad, and Traviola. They were very funny, and very welcoming. Rose likes to call people by nicknames like “babydoll,” “sweetpea”, and “honey”, and it’s very endearing.
4) Although the number of people who stay at Middlegate is small, so many people pass through the station in a day. It’s one of the only places you can stop at along Highway 50, and as a result, it gets a lot of traffic. This tiny place in the middle of nowhere, where only very few seem to stay, is vital to countless travelers. It’s truly incredible.
We spent the rest of our day at Middlegate, and stayed there for the night. We finished dinner behind the motel, where we saw the most beautiful sunset. The sky was clear, and as the sun lowered, the sand mountains turned pink, and once we realized what was happening, we really could not help but stop and stare.
So, if you were to ask me how the journey was going, my friends, I’d say it’s going well.
Love,
Alyssa
P.S. Here are some pics from Day 10 :D
