It was truly a different type of ride today. For mile after mile after mile there were no signs of human activity outside of the road I was on. My mind had a peaceful aura for a lot of the ride. Hard to explain. Seeing this great land of ours from the seat of a bicycle rather than the comfort and speed of a vehicle. However, I do wish my butt would enjoy it as much as my mind.
No trees, boulders or signs to be had so ousting the remanent from a morning coffee became a bit of a challenge. Good news, a gully and no traffic.
The town of Austin was once a thriving silver mining town. A lot of past history. I found it interesting that the highway was new right along with new curb and gutter, a nice welcome center with a spot honoring veterans and a new gas station/convenience store, yet the buildings were almost in ghost town form. The main businesses now are ATV’s and scramblers in the summer, snowmobiles in the winter. Some RV and camping. In talking to some locals, apparently COVID hit the town hard but those that have stayed on believe this will be a better year.
I also found out that I was cycling on the “Loneliest Highway in “America”. Yes, at times I was the only “vehicle” in either direction. A very nice change from many other roads I’ve been on.
Tomorrow, I head to Eureka. Two summits to go over.
And I forgot of list week 8 stats. So here is week 8 + a day: 2,299 miles. My trusty Sigma of 13 years finely had enough so I needed to buy a new Cateye odometer in San Francisco. I’ll need to do some manual calculations of seat time, maybe.