The Monster

Nate had been riding with a guy named Kevin back in the Midwest and Kevin arrived the night before, after we had gone to bed. He did 150 miles to get there. Kevin is a constant adventurer and is planning to hike the John Muir Trail after he finishes riding across the United States. He bar tends during the winter months and travels during the summer. Anyway, now it was five riders.

We rode through more high desert desolation before the heat got to us and we decided to get naked in the middle of the road. Actually, it had been passed around in discussion for quite some time. I've heard it's the same with long distance sailors. At a certain point, you just have to get naked. Results are below. The road was lonely for most of the photo shoot but a Subaru showed up near the end and honked in good cheer. With clothes back on, we rode again. We arrived for our next break at Cold Springs Station, which has burned to the ground. Some mobile homes and other outbuildings remain, but the gas station and general store is charred ashes and a concrete slab. The place did still have running water for the people living there so we enjoyed a cool drink during our break. We hadn't really relied on the place absolutely having supplies, so it wasn't so bad that there were only cinders.

Just a few miles outside of Middlegate we encountered a tree festooned with all types of shoes. Piles of them at the trunk, thousands tossed up in the limbs, and even a few nailed here and there. We met a couple of hippie girls from Missouri who were looking for cowboy boots and were just “a little too far out, maaaan.” We arrived in Middlegate, our destination for the day. We took a short day today and it felt almost wrong to be done so early. Middlegate was a Pony Express stop 150 years ago, as were many of the places we've stopped at in Nevada. The available services are concentrated in the bar/restaurant/grocery store/pool hall/performance hall/internet lounge. They really did have a wireless connection which was nice for the sticks and a flat screen TV to watch more junk. Man is TV bad.

We enjoyed a first round of orders off the menu which included the Monster burger for Nate, who won a tee shirt after downing a pound of meat and all the fixings. Jordan had a cheeseburger that round but was apparently transfixed and made a go of eating the Monster a few hours later. He said it was a difficult challenge, but he wanted the shirt. They had a guitar there and I played for a few minutes and a number of us indulged in their Blue Bunny ice cream selection. There was quite a bit of lounging around. Some of the locals had us spooked about scorpions or other nasty insects so most of us slept on top of picnic tables to try and avoid the bugs.

Out of Austin.

More rocks.

Is that Subway a mirage?

Bicycle touring: a pursuit for the sophisticated, for the refined, for the bold traveler.

So build another one.

Dive in.

Or make the ascent.

Now you see it.

Now you don't.

The Middlegate bar.