DAY 21

Jackpot to Ely

We head into the great unknown, into Great Basin territory, Nevada desert as far as the eye can see. It's really pretty: carved mountains and hills, shadowing each other and the road. We get about 50kms into the ride before we decide to pull the pin on the day: there are rumble strips leaving very little room to move against the trucks and side rails/road edges, Ada was almost brushed by an RV (recreational vehicle, like a campervan but usually the size of a bus and often towing a similarly gas-guzzling hummer or jeep) at one stage, which was the final straw. So we hitchhiked with Mike, a maker of electric assisted bicycles on his way to Vegas for a bike show.

A big thankyou to Mike, we promised to plug his business, so you can have a look at www.ohmcycles.com. We planned on hitching tomorrow anyway, this part of America is so desolate there wasn't a town of any sort for over 200kms.

 

We got dropped of at Ely (incidentally the next town, about 3 hours drive away) which was ABSOLUTELY CLASSIC. Nothing but bordered up shops, cheap motels, a handful of bars and brothels, and the Hotel Nevada, where we stay for the night. The Hotel is awesome (we can't stop laughing at how good it is, and straight away plan a rest day here for tomorrow to enjoy it), it's chock full of kitschy slots, memoribilia (guns, wild west, hollywood actors, NASCAR), 70's neon, wacky furniture and taxidermied everything. We live it up for night, Ely style.