Loneliest Road Route now complete

Martin Krieg said:

The first working draft for Hwy 50 across Nevada, from Fallon to Ely, is
now complete,

Having this route complete, removes the only black hole from my ride.
Tho I've biked across the US twice, I have never done Nevada. It lets me
see what kind of work is involved. Or as
<http://www.bikeroute.com/ScottCampbell> Scott Campbell advises:

"Hwy 50 is constantly rolling up and down over many passes. There are at
least 3-4 passes between each town; which means there are about 16
passes between Fallon and Ely. All the passes gain several thousand feet
of elevation when climbing over them. I'd say you need to step up your
training of hill climbs to make it over any one of these passes."

Why not use I-80 instead, as I did this past August? I've never done
US 50, so I can't make a detailed comparison, but I do know that I-80
is shorter and has less climbing, and probably more services available.

WoW - I hadn't even considered that option. I know 1-10 across Texas
wasn't all that horrible. The only time I noticed the noise was when I
stopped. Plus there was a wide shoulder..

What is the shoulder like on 80 in Nevada? And is it legal to ride? It
was legal in Texas and AZ because there were no alternatives...

THX 4 this heads up!!

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Ron Wallenfang said:

Martin Krieg said:

The first working draft for Hwy 50 across Nevada, from Fallon to Ely, is
now complete,

Having this route complete, removes the only black hole from my ride.
Tho I've biked across the US twice, I have never done Nevada. It lets me
see what kind of work is involved. Or as
<http://www.bikeroute.com/ScottCampbell> Scott Campbell advises:

"Hwy 50 is constantly rolling up and down over many passes. There are at
least 3-4 passes between each town; which means there are about 16
passes between Fallon and Ely. All the passes gain several thousand feet
of elevation when climbing over them. I'd say you need to step up your
training of hill climbs to make it over any one of these passes."

Why not use I-80 instead, as I did this past August? I've never done
US 50, so I can't make a detailed comparison, but I do know that I-80
is shorter and has less climbing, and probably more services available.

Martin Krieg said:

What is the shoulder like on 80 in Nevada? And is it legal to ride? It
was legal in Texas and AZ because there were no alternatives...

Look at my Nov 19, 2007 posting on rec.bicycles.rides for a complete
account of my Aug. 10-26 bicycle ride from San Francisco to Milwaukee,
on which I biked I-80 most of the way from eastern California to
Rawlins, Wyoming.

Before the trip the NV highway dept sent me info that I-80 was legal
except when going by the towns that are served by more than one exit,
where you're expected to exit on the first exit and re-enter on the
last one. The DOT official advised that at least one organized tour
used I-80. When on the road, the only "bicycles must exit" sign I
encountered was at milepost 8 going into Reno, where you re-enter
again at exit 20-21 at Sparks. The other towns had no signs but in
practice you exit at all of them anyway for food, water, rest,
overnights or whatever -essentially at Fernley, Lovelock, Winnemucca,
Battle Mountain, Carley, Elko and Wells. I stopped at all of the
above except Elko.

There is a longer required exit in the SLC area in Utah described on
days 6 and 7 of my report.

There is a full paved shoulder throughout the state; the quality is
uneven but was never unacceptable. There were a few miles where there
were grooves cut across the whole shoulder but they weren't deep
grooves. Mostly, the grooves were confined to the area immediately
adjacent to the travel lanes and were not a factor. I generally rode
near the right edge of the shoulder lane and did not feel threatened
by auto or truck traffic, which in NV is never very heavy anyway.

Ron Wallenfang

THX for this excellent report. Hwey 50 has thirty thousand feet of
climning over 16 passes. Is i-80 any flatter?

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Ron Wallenfang said:

Martin Krieg said:

What is the shoulder like on 80 in Nevada? And is it legal to ride? It
was legal in Texas and AZ because there were no alternatives...

Look at my Nov 19, 2007 posting on rec.bicycles.rides for a complete
account of my Aug. 10-26 bicycle ride from San Francisco to Milwaukee,
on which I biked I-80 most of the way from eastern California to
Rawlins, Wyoming.

Before the trip the NV highway dept sent me info that I-80 was legal
except when going by the towns that are served by more than one exit,
where you're expected to exit on the first exit and re-enter on the
last one. The DOT official advised that at least one organized tour
used I-80. When on the road, the only "bicycles must exit" sign I
encountered was at milepost 8 going into Reno, where you re-enter
again at exit 20-21 at Sparks. The other towns had no signs but in
practice you exit at all of them anyway for food, water, rest,
overnights or whatever -essentially at Fernley, Lovelock, Winnemucca,
Battle Mountain, Carley, Elko and Wells. I stopped at all of the
above except Elko.

There is a longer required exit in the SLC area in Utah described on
days 6 and 7 of my report.

There is a full paved shoulder throughout the state; the quality is
uneven but was never unacceptable. There were a few miles where there
were grooves cut across the whole shoulder but they weren't deep
grooves. Mostly, the grooves were confined to the area immediately
adjacent to the travel lanes and were not a factor. I generally rode
near the right edge of the shoulder lane and did not feel threatened
by auto or truck traffic, which in NV is never very heavy anyway.

Ron Wallenfang

Martin Krieg said:

THX for this excellent report. Hwey 50 has thirty thousand feet of
climning over 16 passes. Is i-80 any flatter?

I don't have a gauge so can't answer to that extent. I recorded the 4
longest climbs on I-80 based on map elevations, and they totaled about
4200 feet for the four combined. There were, of course, a lot of
smaller ups and downs, but you wouldn't come anywhere near 30,000 feet
of climbing in Nevada and western Utah.