Over Hill, Over Dale, We hit the Dusty Trail

Before we left Reno I knew we had to ride to downtown and gets this picture.



Heading out of Reno for Ely, NV we hit Virginia City as our first stop. This was mainly for the historic picture capturing than anything else. Initial part of the ride had us climbing some mountains, which will become the norm for the day. RT 341 is the road into Virginia City. As we climbed the mountains I was humming the theme song to Bonanza.







As you peak the top of hills you see Virginia City.



And then you are there.



First impression was this was a pretty touristy type of town. We grabbed some of, what I felt were, the more significant buildings and we got out of Dodge.









Heading out of town was more difficult for the GPS's than for us. One had us going in a different direction than the other. Looking at the roads I took the path of least resistance to US 50. Next stop was another historic landmark, Fort Churchill just outside Silver Springs. This was good grab for a water town as well.

Not alot out here other than ruins of the buildings for Fort Churchill, which was built to protect the early settlers and the Pony Express route. At some of these stops you have to use your imagination of what went on.



This was abit more out of the way than I anticipated, but on MapSource it was just so easy to incorporate into the route. Simple click, drag to the Waypoint and the route is amended.

At this point it is time to make time for Ely, NV on route 50, the loneliest road in America. You wouldn't want to break down on this road. There is not a whole lot of traffic on this road and only a handful of towns along the way. Keep an eye on your gas as well. You ride from mountain range to mountain range. Ride across the valley and climb over the mountain, drop down to the valley and ride to the next one.

The Valleys







The sign that indicates that this is a lonely road



The Hills





We hit some pretty high winds crossing Nevada. At one point there was a bit of rain, just enough to mix with the oil on the road, add a bunch of wind, forcing you to list the bike (in this case to the left) to add to the excitement. Some of the wind felt like it was going to blow the wheels right out from under you.

We pulled into Ely right around 6pm. I was so ready for a beer. We stayed at the Hotel Nevada which is a whole journey unto itself, and a good journey to boot. For 39.95 you get a room, a pretty good restaurant, fairly cheap drinks and gambling if you want. When we pulled up there must have been 25 HD's out in front and one FJR on the end. It looked so out of place.



The inside










I heard about these books, but I did not pick mine up until we hit Ely. Just as well, since all it could do was slow us down. I asked MeAsWe if she wanted to ride back to Reno to get our stamps and I got that look "Are you kiddin me?"