Loneliest Highway in America

By John Hardwig

Any biker who has struggled with SUVs and 18- wheelers will know some of the appeal of "America 's Loneliest Highway." Highway 50 is one of two major East-West roads in Nevada , yet it's the “ Loneliest Highway in America ” – there's just nobody there. Ron, a friend from Reno , and I biked Highway 50 across Nevada , from South Tahoe to the Utah state line. Ron's wife, Jimmie, drove the sag wagon, making the whole trip much easier. But we had dinner three nights in a row with a retired guy who was biking from S.F. to Denver all by himself, so obviously you don't need domestiques . If you like desert landscapes, it's a great ride. The surface is terrific (in Nevada , definitely not in Utah ). There's almost no litter, almost no broken glass or other debris on the road. And, yes, very little traffic. Sometimes it would be 10 or 15 minutes between one car and the next. And since there was only rarely traffic coming from the other direction, the cars and trucks that did pass us could be very courteous – most got way over in the left lane, giving us all sorts of room. I didn't know how mountainous Nevada is. There are more than 90 named mountain ranges in Nevada , and Ron tells me that the only geographic entity more mountainous than Nevada is Afghanistan . When you bike from West to East (with the wind!) across the state, you climb over one range after another. We went over 8 passes that are 7000'+. A typical riding day would include 3- 5 ascents of about ½ hour each, followed by rapid descents (40+ mph), and then into a basin, flat as a tabletop, ringed with mountains, with the road laid out in front of you straight as a ruler for the next 10-15 miles. This highway is so lonely because there's so little water. We crossed only one river in the whole 420- mile trip, and that one is less than half the size of Third Creek. It can be 75 miles between places to fill your water bottles, so you have to be careful about fluids. You also have to plan for the temperature extremes of the desert. In late May, heat was not a problem (only one day over 90). But there was snow on many of the mountaintops, and we awoke one morning to find the thermometer at 26. And in country that averages about 8” of rain/year, we managed to ride for about 5 straight hours in a 45-degree driving rain! Ron, who initially assured me that the rain would not last long later said he'd never seen rain like that in 12 years living in Nevada. I figure it must be some kind of honor to get rained on like that in Nevada . Also, it's nice to know that you helped everybody out by bringing on such a good rain. We did about 75 miles/day, camping out some nights and staying in motels some nights. The trip fell neatly into 75-mile segments: camping at Fort Churchill , Middlegate , camping above Austin , Eureka , Ely, and the Great Basin National Park . (Interesting places! ) Middlegate , population 17, has one establishment: a gas station/mini mart/restaurant/mot el.) Taken in 75- mile parcels, you could camp out every night or stay in a motel every night. If you're up for more than 75 miles/day, most of Nevada is public land and you can pull off almost anywhere to set up your camp. It's a beautiful, serene ride. But don't forget the water.