Day 9: Nice Swim (Austin, NV to Eureka, NV - 70 miles)

We began the day in Austin, which was a really interesting town. Back in the late 1800's thousands of people lived there, now, however, the population is 192. The graduating high school class this year was 4 people, which is on the higher side. The Pony Express, which was a mail service going from Missouri to California on horseback, ran through the town in 1860 to 1861. Here is an old Pony Express ad. Dan and I fit the young, skinny, and wiry part. 

We started the day with a steep three mile climb to Austin Summit. At 7484 feet, this was the highest we have been so far. When we got to the top we were stopped by two police officers for 15 minutes because an oversized load was coming up the mountain on the other side. I was very happy to take a break. 

We then continued through the hilly desert of Nevada. The ride was more mentally tough today than physically. The scenery doesn't change much, so after an hour of hard pedaling it looks like we are in the same place we were when we started. Although, we did see another pack of wild horses today, which was once again awesome. 

We arrived in Eureka around 4:30 and met up with the other cross country bikers we met in Middlegate at the Eureka local swimming pool. Dan and I hopped right in in our cycling shorts. Cooling off after a long day of riding felt great. 

All these small towns on the loneliest road in America have had very friendly people who love to tell their stories. Unfortunately, the towns are so spread out that Dan and I are both getting sick of Nevada. Being in town is nice, but the 70 miles between is pretty boring. 

Tonight we are camping in a backyard with the other coast to coast riders. Tomorrow we will head to Ely, which has three mountains ranges in between. Hopefully we will be in Salt Lake City by the middle of next week.