DAY 23

Ely to Austin

We started our journey on highway 50, the "lonliest road in America", named for its sheer emptiness and quiet. We pass 3 significant passes, each followed by extremely long and satisfying descents into huge, expansive valleys (called Basin's) of nothing, ringed by mountains and dotted with remnants of the mining days.

Distance is so deceiving here. What looks like a short ride from one edge of a Basin to the other ends up being a 20km never-ending slog. It's gorgeous though, perhaps the best roadside scenery we've seen thus far. Make up your own mind.

But it's not all rosey. Ada's got cramps in her calfs all day, followed by a flat tyre, her first, which takes forever to fix because of the rubbish pump we own. Then things go from bad to much worse: Ada, trying to stretch her calf on her pedal, loses balance, over corrects, and hits the deck, ending up in the middle of the road. She's shaken, and a little grazed, but more than anything fed up from a very physically trying day. The bike is okay, in fact the only thing thats damaged is the visor on her helmet (which, of course, wasn't being worn and was strapped to the bike). It could have been much much worse. Joseph comes to the rescue. He's driving from Arizona to Oregon to go hunting with his grandson, and seeing things were clearly wrong, pulled over and gave us a lift to Austin. He also takes us out for dinner. His hospitality and kindness turn our biggest low into a little high. The highs and lows of cycle touring...