Day 88: Cold Springs Station to Fallon

Two days ago, at Cold Springs Stations, I decided to eat some chicken strips and fries as my second dinner. I was ready to watch the sunset over the mountains that’s directly in front of the restaurant, but there were too many clouds. I texted my old roommate, Ray, to see if I can ship my bicycle to my old workplace when I get to San Francisco. I’m glad he said yes.

Before the sunset

I went to my tent not long after the sunset. During the night, I heard someone else coming inside the campsite and set up a tent. Other than that, I slept well.

The next morning, I woke up early. The sun still hasn’t risen over the mountains yet. After packing up everything, I started riding some time before 6 AM.

Sun rising over the mountains

The weather was cooler and it was a slight downhill in the beginning. I rode to Middlegate and waited for the restaurant to open at 7. I had two danishes and a cup of coffee. That about all they had at that time.

Middlegate restaurant

While I was walking up a hill a pickup truck stopped to check on me. The passenger asked me if I was ok. I told him I’m just walking up a hill. Nothing to worry about. People like these make my day!

For the second half of the ride it was flat. Almost too flat. I was riding in the desert. On the dried banks on both sides of the road, I see people have placed rocks to spell their names or write some cute messages. I didn’t stop to write anything. It’ll take too long and the heat is about to come.

Sand Mountain

I <3 you, too!

I stopped at the first convenience store outside of Fallon and bought a can of root beer. The cashier also filled my water bottles. She told me the surface water has arsenic in it due to the mining activities around here, but the deep well water is fine to drink. I just hope my water is definitely from the well.

I rolled into Fallon soon after. I was going to get lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, but it was closed for vacation. A McDonald’s is right across the street from the Budget Inn, where I will be staying, so I went there for lunch. I ordered two McChicken sandwiches and an iced coffee.

After 1 PM, I checked into the Budget Inn. The maid just cleaned a ground floor room so I didn’t have to carry my bike up a flight of stairs. Inside the room, I took a towel and cleaned my bike for the second time on this trip. Ernst, the bike mechanic in Danville, Kentucky, cleaned it for me about a month into the trip. Since then, the bike has not been cleaned. I figured I should clean it now so I don’t have clean much when I pack my bike. I also took a shower afterward.

I saw on the McDonald’s receipt that there’s a buy one get one free on any McCafe drink from 2 to 5 PM. So I went back to the McDonald’s and got two iced coffees. It was over 100 degrees and I needed to buy some food supplies since I ran out of ramen and snacks. The closest supermarket is Walmart and it’s in walking distance. I usually don’t like to shop there, but this time I’ll make an exception.

It felt like an oven outside even though I only walked about a block. I felt like a consumer wanting to buy things I don’t need, such as Lego toys and electronics. I stopped myself when I realized I didn’t buy any food yet and just window shopped for 45 minutes. After I picked out what I needed for the road, I also bought a salad and two bananas.

Back at the hotel room, I ate the salad and one of the bananas, saving the other banana for breakfast the next day. I noticed my air conditioner wasn’t giving off cold air, so I went to the office to ask for a fan. The clerk brought it to me and investigated the air conditioner. My guess is that it ran out of freon.

I washed the towel that I used to clean my bike and cleaned my dirty shorts. Then I decided to go back to the same McDonald’s for another meal and to cool myself. I had a McChicken and a Southwest Chicken Salad. I think the effect of the three iced coffees hit me hard. I was caffeinated and didn’t want to sleep.

After I went back to the motel room, I browsed Facebook and Instagram for a while before finally going to bed around midnight.

Dusk behind my motel room

The heat and the fan, plus the caffeine, only allowed me to sleep for four hours. The McDonald’s opened at 4 AM. I’m there again, hopefully for the last time. I plan on getting some breakfast after writing this blog post then ride over 60 miles to Carson City, where I’ll be staying with a Warmshowers host. The first host in a long time.