Through the desert on a bike with no name

Hi All
I'm in Fallon as today I crossed the 40 mile desert. I feared telling you last night, Colleen, because I thought you would worry but except for a headwind, it was a piece of cake. Hardly any cars, no buildings anywhere and a brand new road. I stopped in the middle, way off the road, at a memorial for the almost 1000 people who died on this stretch, and in the distance could hear the cars blow by with air conditioning and stereos running - 150 years of progress.

But I need to take you back to Elko to tell you the story of the Bicycle Guru.
(apologies to Mike Myers)

I mentioned that the Red Lion Casino sent a van around the the RV Parks to bring potential gamblers to them. I went because right across the road was a Pizza Hut for dinner.

When I got in the van there were already a couple in the back seat and the driver was (honest to god) saying "The @#$%^ elk are at 10,000 feet this year cause of all the @#$% rain and you got to carry the @#$% meat all the @#$% way down." Then he asked me if I hunted and I said that bicycling was my thing which put him in a temporary state of shock.

The lady behind said they had seen me coming into town and asked me all the usual questions. I noticed she asked about good stuff and he about danger and cost but when I asked them about themselves the floodgates opened. They were just retired, living in Reding, California and having a hard time reestablishing intimacy after many years of jobs and family. They bought the RV to travel and do things together and right there she started talking about how he had no soul for adventure and he about how she was totally impractical.

The driver was squirming.

Since we had arrived at the Casino I suggested we go inside and continue the conversation over a coffee, much to the driver's relief. While we were getting our coffee I innocently remarked how much better coffee was with milk. These people must have thought there was a lot more to my trip than just bicycling because she immediately said "Honey, do you see what he means?"

"Yes" he replied, "it's a parable - you are the coffee, I am the milk"

"My God, together we make a perfect pair, that's what he's saying".

The billing and cooing was getting pretty thick so I made my escape - The Bicycle Guru was born.

But wait - there's more. The next day I stopped for lunch at a rest area and a mother and son came over and asked where I was going etc. I asked where they were from and they said "Minnesota".

"Oh, by any chance near Hibbing" I asked him as she lit a cigarette.

"My God! How did you know? No one has ever heard of Hibbing", she choked.

The Bicycle Guru looked inscrutable (and failed to mention that Hibbing is the only town he knows in Minnesota and that's because Bob Dylan was born there) and said "I heard it on the wind".

And, not content to quit, said "Lady, I don't want to interfere but you should consider quiting smoking as I see black clouds gathering over you".

They sat in their car talking for quite a while as I ate and then they pulled out but stopping at the trash can the power window went down and a hand reached out and deposited a pack of cigarettes inside (empty or full I'll never know?).

The Bicycle Guru rides on.

After Elko was Battle Mountain (motel), then Winnemucca (RV Park), then Lovelock (RV Park) then here. That's almost all on I80 which is horrible to bike but whenever I tried to take any of the old roads they decayed into gravel washboard leaving meto hump my stuff over the barbed wire to get back on the Intersate (which I only did once - that was enough).

I did meet an archaelogist who introduced me to the lovely fall yellow bloom of Raggit Bush and it's unique aroma as well assome of the history of the area.

Today I bid my friend the Humboldt River goodbye at the Humboldt Sink and tomorrow will meet the Carson River. Tomorrow will be my last night in Nevada and then it's time to see how good my conditioning is when I have to climb some really big hills into California. People tell me Hwys 88 and 89 are very scenic and so is the descent along the American River.
Well, that's all, so love
Laurence

ps Andrew, I learned my ute lesson watching
"My Cousin Vinnie"
ps Glenn - a motorcycle with a sidecar - what say you?
ps Lee - Istudy the mapsforhours tryingto extract all possible information
ps Laura - did you utter a "dinkyism"?
ps Binks - the other day the RV beside me was pulling out at the crack of dawn and I found myself checking the top for figurines.
ps John - you are evil, evil with tasty foam on your upper lip.
ps Richard, I could have got over that barbed wire fence a lot easier if I thought there were golfballs onthe other side.
L