Western Express Day #20 Middlegate, NV to Fallon, NV
Western Express Day #20
June 20 2021
Middlegate, NV to Fallon, NV - 50 Miles
Start 6:27AM Finish 12:01PM
Ride Time: 4:54
Ascent: 671'
Descent: 1325'
Tour Total Miles: 1323
I slept well last night behind the restaurant in Middlegate Station. The musicians were still playing when I finally left the restaurant. I had sat at the bar for eight continuous hours drinking, eating, and waiting for the temperature to drop from 97°F to 90°F. I talked with many of the people who were passing through, as well as employees. One of the workers, originally from Detroit, had hiked the PCT last summer. After my earlier monster burger attempt, I later ordered a chicken Caesar salad and a few IPAs. While it was still light out and before I set up my tent, I rode back east a few miles to visit the shoe tree that I had missed earlier. It had been on my itinerary and I somehow hadn’t noticed it. I’ve had a thing for shoe trees ever since I encountered my first one in Oregon on the TransAm. Afterwards I returned to the brimming oasis and set up my tent. I took a shower, returned myself to level one, and went to bed. It got a little chilly during the night and I used my silk liner and sleeping bag. After sucky Austin, Middlegate was a good stop.
This morning I took my time packing up. Among other things, I cleaned my rearview mirror and sunglasses. It was going to be a short day today. I couldn't help myself for waking up early with the sunrise, and once I was roused it was time to get going. I prefered cycling when the temperatures were cool, and by noon in the desert it was hot. Middlegate Station was still slumbering when I pedaled away. It was chilly out on the road so I stopped to put on my sweater. In addition, I was wearing my cycling shorts and short-sleeve jersey. I stopped to take a picture of an old windmill. It’s tin blades were spinning in the breeze. Adjoining it was handsome stone water tank lined with concrete and filled with water.
Last night I checked in with east-bounder Peter, whom had successfully eaten the entire Middlegate monster burger and won a t-shirt. He was currently just to the west of Telluride and was planning to camp with Claudia in Telluride tomorrow. A week from today I’d be in San Francisco and my tour would be over. It was hard to fathom, as was my home and life in Brooklyn. When I had walked into the International in Austin and was ostensibly a little spaced out and trying to adjust my focus, the cantankerous owner asked, “So, are you back down to earth yet?”.
I reached the top of 4600’ Drumm Summit. The passes were getting smaller and I was descending in altitude. There wasn’t much of a downhill. I entered the Fairview Flat, that was used as a US Naval Reservation. There were a lot of military personnel in this part of Nevada, and I heard stories in Middlegate Station of people arriving in helicopters or in single engine planes.
I reached wide open Fairview valley and could see eight miles across to the next pass. The ridges and valleys continued their north-south alignment. I could see the giant Labou Flat that the highway bisected. Fairview was a town that had existed here during the mining boom in the early 20th century. The current Naval base was called the U.S. Navy Centroid Facility.
Today there were wooden utility poles and wire lines on the right side of the highway. There was barbwire to both sides and beyond that was sagebrush and wild grass. If Colorado is colorful and Utah is eroded rock formations, then Nevada is sagebrush; tenacious, spicy and bitter.
At Labou Flat I couldn’t resist leaving the road and directly crossing the dried lake. I followed vehicle tracks and then made a few of my own. Soon afterwards I was climbing up towards my second pass. I went by the intersection for state Highway 839 and the turnoff for the B–17 Naval Range. The steep grade for the pass began. I passed three eastbound cyclists and then three more. At the top of Sand Springs Pass, I met four more who were getting refreshments from a support van. The supported ride was called Journey of Hope, and went from San Francisco to Washington DC. The website is: https://www.classy.org/event/journey-of-hope-2021/e279762 They would be spending tonight in a church in Austin.
I rode down into the next valley, the Salt Wells Basin, which contained a giant salt flat. I could see the Salt Wells Geothermal Plant out in the center of the flat, and once again the highway went right across it. I spotted giant dunes to my right. Sand Mountain was a landmark used by the Pony Express, and I passed by the Sand Springs Pony Express Station. I rode right across the enormous Borax Playa. There was a new asphalt surface that began midway. A lot of people had spelled their names with rocks on the side of the road. I saw written out the first line of the US Constitution. The salt resembled snow, and I would not want to be out here on a bicycle when it was 97°F.
I stopped to explore Grimes Point Archaeological Area, where petroglyphs had been carved into boulders. Fallon Naval Air Station could be seen to the left. I got a father’s day call from my son, whom I’d be touring with next month on the Erie Canal towpath in upstate New York. As I approached Fallon, I noticed green pastures, grass lawns, houses, and commercial buildings. I stopped at Harmon Junction where I purchased a Red Gatorade. On my last four miles into Fallon I passed more pastures, irrigation canals, salt mining operations, scattered trees, and even a cornfield with waist high stalks. I cycled past numerous roadkill skunks.
'Welcome to Fallon, the oasis of Nevada'. Fallon’s population was 9608 and the elevation was 3960'. The town was founded in 1908. The ACA map had indicated a campsite at the Churchill County Fairgrounds, and I headed over to take a look. It was noon and 97°F. There were signs that read ‘No Tent Camping’, yet I saw a few RV’s and campers. I headed back towards the center of town and sat inside an air-conditioned Dairy Queen where I drank free Pepsi and edited this report.
I rode to CVS and purchased a fresh bottle of sunscreen. Then I went to Big 5 Sporting Goods, where I bought a replacement inner tube. At 3pm it was 100°F. I pedaled over to The Grid Brewpub & Restaurant, where I channeled Team Spokane's Jeff C and found a table right next to an outlet. The laptop, phone, and power-pack charging began while I relished pulled pork nachos and pints of red ale in the air conditioning.
I surveyed my final map section to San Francisco and, while I noticed the high Sierra Nevada climbs ahead, I was excited to realize that I would no longer have long days without service stops during the ride. In addition to the physical challenges of pedaling eight hours without a cold refreshing drink, a meal, or a snack, it was mentally taxing in near 100°F heat to not have a relaxing break. I was now on the home stretch!
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