Day 16,
Throughout the whole day yesterday, I
was debating with myself which way to go next. First choice was to continue on 447
going
After I woke up and packed up the tent, I
went to eat a little lunch at the near by structure with a roof, where people
actually play weddings in town. Then I stopped by the post office and asked a
lady about the
Not be able to ride through the rocky
pavement. When I told the lady that I am going to that road, she
showed a real concern saying the road is not traveled by regular traffic.
Using the opportunity, she redirected
me to her friend in some near by office, where I was able to get on the
Internet and send an e-mail to my father, leaving him the number of these
ladies. In case I don’t send another e-mail in a week, he would call the ladies
to verify where to start a search or where the cyclist went.
By now, of course, I already decided to
go there and take the chance on the tires. Since there aren’t going to be any
services for 100 miles to Winnemucca, I had to take with me as much water as
possible.
I stopped by the saloon from the
yesterday, and again talked to the nice older lady, which kindly allowed me to
fill up the bottles.
She also was worrying about me going
there and left her e-mail, asking me to let her know how I am doing later.
I gathered total of 6 bottles, few 500
ml, 700, and one liter bottle. I also drank as much as I could then and watered
the shirt at the tap near by.
By this time it was already
I crossed the rail road and rode
exactly 2.8 miles; where the road was suppose to start. Indeed, there was a
sign displaying Winnemucca 98 miles. No Services until Winnemucca.
I got on the road and surface was not
actually very bad. At this point, I still was leaving the opportunity to turn
back. Since 100 miles is definitely not possible in one day, I decided to try
to ride the half 50 miles today.
The road started to wind and surface
changed with rocks reaching the size of the wrist, which I had to steer around.
In 30 minutes, some kind of government
vehicle has passed quickly going the opposite direction. Wow, I couldn’t even
see who was inside, was it something high secret?
Soon, a pickup truck approached from
the same direction, in which a hippy looking guy decided to stop and talk to
me. He backed up and told me that he was going from Winnemucca. He wanted to
know how far Gerlach was. After I told him that it’s
only another 10 miles, he said that his truck should make it that far. One of
the tires was ruined along the way and now he was riding on the spare.
The guy also told me that he came in
this area for the Burning Man event, which was suppose to start something like
a week from now. He was a bit early, but as he said, he hoped to find cheaper
accommodations in Gerlach. We said good-bye to each
other and I continued riding.
By this time, I have finished the first
bottle and opened a bag with dried fruit and nuts. This thing is awesome, but
naturally requires water with it. So I started the second bottle. The time was
approaching 5 and I have pedaled 16 miles. Average speed here was around 6-7
mph, as some portions of the road were pure sand where I just had to walk. Also
on the hill, a wheel would simply not have enough friction, starting slipping
on the little rocks.
In the next few hours I didn’t
encounter anymore cars. Few times I sat down to rest, but I had to conserve the
water. The surroundings around were the yellow grey colors, where the mountain
line would perfectly blend in, so I was constantly looking out hoping to see
one.
By approximately
In 5 more miles, I saw a cloud of dust
ahead and soon a semi-trucks showed up on the road
ahead. When the truck was close enough for the driver to see me, I got on the
shoulder and held an empty bottle in my hand, hoping he might have some to
share. The truck, however didn’t even slow down
passing me and leaving in the dust with a strange feeling. This reminds me of
the movie “Trucks”, where they drove on their own. J
In another 30 minutes, I saw a trailer, approximately 200 meters from the road. I left the bike on the road and walked towards the trailer. Somewhat like a road was blocked by the gates with a lock on. But the surface going to the gate was dried out water mud and I knew no one was on it since the last rain, which was probably months ago. J The place was not habitat. I went to the bike and rolled it to the gate, then just walked around, where it’s still easy for person on foot or bike but impossible for the car. This is what the gate served for… restrict cars. Besides, I could go under it as there was at least a meter high gap from the ground.
Around the trailer were parked few rusty bulldozers, obviously not used for a while. I walked to the door and knocked, being very cautious of the dogs, but there was nothing but silence. Then I noticed that the door was being shut only by the mean of the bungee cord. This was the same as open door for the human, but kept the hungry animals away.
I opened the door and walked inside. The place looked like a normal house, with sofas, armchairs, even television and VCR. On the table I saw a note written on the yellow paper, which was there probably for long time now. Everywhere in the kitchen were rat’s droppings and thick layer of dust.
Oh yeah, the note. The note said that this is a miner’s cabin, and please, no questions asked, if you have taken something from the house, just bring it back. I thought this was pretty interesting approach. But main thing I was looking for, of course, was water. Unfortunately, as I noticed first walking in, was an open refrigerator with old mustard and ketchup bottles. There was two litter bottle standing on the side of the sink, with some kind of liquid reminding water, but since it had something floating in it, I absolutely excluded it from the list of possible things to drink.
By this time I used half of the water, three bottles out of six and it was time for the lunch. I quickly set up the tent in front of the trailer and ate some bread with meat spread, watching the setting big read sun, and sitting on the trailer steps. As I walked around the trailer, I noticed the diesel generator and a hose going from the well pump. There were also some empty animal cages and a little plate near the doors, possibly for a cat. It could also be an air- snake, as in one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories.
As I got dark, I went to the tent and couldn’t resist drinking the rest of the water of the fourth bottle. I needed it now and thought tomorrow I will deal with the circumstances. Not very wise approach, but I just drank the water.
Today - only 39 miles from the beginning of the road, leaving 60 miles for tomorrow with only two bottles of water. This thought was bit frightening but the night was quite and cool so I got all the rest one would ever need. J
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