California!

Days: 65
Distance: 5318 km / 3305 mi
Location: South Lake Tahoe, CA

We're in California! It's a little hard to believe, but we are now only a 3-day ride from the beach, and its all downhill. A lot has happened since we last had internet.

The Longest Night

After leaving Provo, we took two days to get to Delta, UT. From there we had to embark on an 83 mile stretch of wilderness in the desert between Hinckley, UT and the Nevada border (where there is a small outpost with a gas station and motel). What's more, this stretch included a 2,000 ft climb. Below: an elevation profile from mapmyride.com of the ride from Delta, UT to the Nevada border.

(click to enlarge)

Since we aren't strong enough to carry enough water for biking a whole day in the desert, we had to switch over to night riding. It's quite cool at night here, often down in the 40s. This allows us to carry less water. However, staying awake and biking for an entire night is not so easy!

We got a motel room in Delta and attempted to go to bed at noon. We managed to get some sleep with a little help from some over the counter sleeping pills. Then, at 9 pm we checked out of the motel and got on our bikes.

The sun was just dipping below the horizon. A blood red sunset stretched out across the sky in front of us. We left Delta, and five miles later passed through Hinckley. At the end of town was a run down gas station and a sign: "Next Services 83 Miles". We passed the sign. The lights from the town faded into the distance behind us as we rode off into the desert.

Biking at nightime here is beautiful. There are so many stars, and you can see the milky way. Above: sunrise over the desert.

We reached the summit of the mountain just before dawn. As we coasted down to the border, the sun came up behind us. We reached the border outpost at 7 am. Ten hours of riding!

Highway 50

Highway 50 is one of only 3 paved highways across Nevada, and it is also dubbed "the lonliest road in America". The highway includes several 70 mile stretches of wilderness and the terrain is extremely mountainous. There are no natural water sources, so unless you can carry enough water to last two days out there you absolutely have to make it from town to town. Below: an elevation profile of highway 50. There are 13 summits between the border outpost and Fallon, NV.

(click to enlarge)

We had to pull several more all-nighters to make it from town to town. In spite of riding all night, sleep proved elusive during the day. My body's internal clock simply refused to switch to a night schedule, and I soon found myself suffering from rather severe sleep deprivation.

Water in the West

This is actually a serious political issue. Cities such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles use huge amounts of water, and huge sections of the Southern California desert are irrigated to create farmland. The end result is that there simply isn't enough water. As development of desert regions continues, this issue is becoming more and more serious.

Ely, NV

We took a night off in Ely, NV. The town has a cool museum with many relics from the heyday of Nevada's mining industry in the 1800s. Below: an old machine for digging wells.

Amelia in jail for unruly behavior.

An old bicycle. I'm sure glad bicycle technology has improved in the last century!

Other travelers

We have met numerous other cyclists along this desert route. Above: Max, Eric, and Ray, who are cycling from the East Coast to San Francisco. Ray is raising money for a high school music program in Oakland and he has a web page: cyclingbeatjunkie.com

Other cyclists we met include Cyndy and Steve (Sacramento to Rhode Island):

greatisland.net/biketour

Another guy named Steve, who is biking around the world! ridewithsteve.co.uk

Sand Mountain

so cool!

Fallon, NV

We made it to Fallon, the end of the empty part of Nevada. Fallon is a cool town because it has a naval air base, and you can watch military jets practicing their moves in the sky above. To our delight, we met Carol at a gas station, and she offered to let us stay the night with her family. They even fed us an amazing dinner! Above: Carol, Mike, Patricia, and Amelia.

The Sierras

This is our last mountain range!!! From here we have 7,000 ft to lose to get down to the ocean. We've crossed so many mountain ranges since Colorado I've lost count of them. But now we're done with mountains!

We were warned about the bears...

Lake Tahoe

So now we are in California, our last state. We are couchsurfing with Rob, who has a wonderful place not far from the lake. We're going to take a day off here. Then it's onward to the beach, which is only 230 miles away.

***AN INVITATION***

We will be arriving at Stinson Beach at approximately 11 am on Monday, July 27th! I want to invite everyone reading this who is within traveling distance of Stinson to meet us there for a celebration. Let's call it a potluck: Amelia and I will be bringing a variety of half-finished road snacks. Please feel free to contribute whatever high-calorie foods you want.

The next and final blog entry will be from the coast in about 4 days.