Day 44 & 45 - Eureka to Middlegate, NV

Wow there is just nothing that comes easy out here. 71 miles to the next town of Austin was a monster of a ride that saved the formidable Austin Pass for the tail end of the day. I don’t know what else to say that would differentiate it from the rest of Route 50 West through Nevada, just know it was a slog. Getting into town I met up again with my Irish buddy I hadn’t seen since Baker a few days back. We were able to form a Nevada support group for each other comparing our miseries, and there are a many. He left out around 5am this morning while I needed some extra rest to recover from the sprinkler debacle at my last camp. I snoozed deeply having scouted out the sprinkler heads in the evening.

We’d end up at the same spot tonight 65 miles later, through the standard agonizing headwinds, in good old Middlegate, NV. This is a place more akin to a compound than a town, but has an RV Park, saloon, and tiny motel. Pretty much everything the cyclist that hasn’t showered in three days craves. Ended up closing the bar down here hanging with all the locals. After 50 miles tomorrow I’ll finally be back into a place where 80 mile serviceless deserts aren’t the norm. You wouldn’t believe how nice that’ll be for me after what I’ve gone through.