Got an early start from Austin and climbed the last 1000' to cross Austin Pass at 7500'. From then it was a nice coast down to the next valley. The Reno Channel 2 weather lady said it would be windy today. Maybe it's windy in Reno but super calm in the middle of Nevada.
I passed the halfway point of this journey today which also just happened to be near the geographic center of Nevada so I stopped to celebrate with a candy bar.
The highlight of the day was a 26 mile stretch of new asphalt with a nice wide shoulder. Bonus was the 30 minute stoppage for road work one-way traffic. What little traffic I saw came in a clump and then I had the super smooth road to myself for the next 40 minutes. Cycling Nirvana.
I stopped as I passed the "rumble strip cutter" guy and he informs me the new NV DOT "spec" is to cut the shoulder rumble strip with plenty of room for bikes on the shoulder. Thanks Rumble Strip Guy!
Now in Eureka doing my laundry at the gas station. Eureka is the county seat and another old mining town at the 6500' level on the slope of a mountain but there are still functioning mines near here so it doesn't have the "ghost town" look of Austin.
US 50 is starting to drift south of the real Pony Express route so I am seeing fewer references to PE. I will catch up with the route again in Utah.
I sense I'm making real progress. Subtle things like many Utah license plates, TV weather from Salt Lake City and a sunrise at 5:15 am (30 minutes earlier than Danville) makes me feel like I'm getting far from home.
Tomorrow to Ely. Can't wait.
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