"Karstens Rage" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:X2Pjd.313662$wV.174624@attbi_s54...
> Just got the Adventure Cycling map from Fallon, NV to Cedar City, UT and
> the route goes over US 50 to cross Nevada. There are three places on the
> map where it says "No Services X miles" where X is between 60 and 90
miles.
>
> Everyone Ive talked to so far has said that 50 is hot, long and boring
> and Im having a hard time convincing myself to bike it? Can anyone say
> anything good about 50 or suggest an alternate route?
>
> k
As the previous poster said, it depends on what you're interested in. I
rode across it with the "OATBRAN" tour (
http://www.bikethewest.com/OATBRAN.html ) back in '97, and really enjoyed
it. It's "basin and range" country, so you usually have 20 miles or so of
flats (the "basins", followed by 1-3000 feet of climbing to get over each of
the north-south mountain ranges. None of the climbs were very steep or
long, but if you're carrying your own gear, that will certainly add to the
challenge.
If you like history, US 50 generally follows the route of the old Pony
Express trail, and you can see a couple of remnants of buildings associated
with the trail along the way. There are also some Indian petroglyph sites,
and a place outside of Eureka (about 3 miles off of 50), where you can dig
for garnets. There's also Great Basin National Park, near the Utah border.
If you're riding east to west, you'll gradually be losing elevation. If
west to east, you'll gradually be gaining elevation.
If you get depressed by a lack of trees, you may want to avoid 50 - there's
only a couple of roadside trees between Carson City and the Utah border. In
that case, you would need to go a LOT farther north (through Idaho and
Washington). Personally, I like that kind of wide open, raw landscape, so
enjoyed it a lot.
I assume you could ride Interstate 80 (50-100 miles to the north), as an
alternative, but that road has lots of high speed traffic. US 50 has very
little shoulder, compared to the interstates, but I found it a lot more
pleasant to ride.
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