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The MisterEd 8000; Grande
Tour of America
August 17, 2003 - Winnemucca, Nevada to Salina, Utah
10 hours, 12 minutes. 548 miles
TODAY'S MAP: (from the H.O.G. members trip planner & MapQuest)
"Highway 50, The Loneliest Road in America"
The second day of the trip was one largely spent hunting for gasoline. This was about the only part of the trip where I actually worried about running out of gas. Once I left I-80 and headed south through eastern Nevada on highway US93 and then US50, the inherent small-ness of a 3.7 gallon gas tank became painfully apparent. On no fewer than 3 different gas stops that day, I had gone nearly 150 miles on a tank and usually ended up putting in over 3.5 gallons. I kept thinking how nice it would be to have a one-gallon Jerry-Can strapped on to the back...
On the other hand, with scenery like this, it wasn't a hard day at all.
About 75 miles east of Winnemucca
The day dawned cold and the first couple of hours brought numb fingers whenever I rode into a valley or shadow. Never believe that the sun isn't doing amazing things to warm you up - the difference between sunlight and shade in the desert that morning was probably 30 degrees or more. I was glad I had followed my own advice about bringing clothes for every concievable type of weather you may encounter. Yes, it was August. Yes, it was the desert of Nevada. Yes, it was 4,200 feet and 6:00 AM and 38 degrees in the coldest spots. Leather neck wrap, winter gloves, sweatshirt? You BETCHA!
It took until about 8:00 or 8:30 to finally get to a place where I was more often in warm air than cold. At my first gas stop, I shed the neck wrap. At the next one the sweatshirt and winter gloves got packed up again.
Lunch was at a casino in Ely, Nevada where I dined on the finest western hamburger and fries and an exotic casino drink, Coca-Cola. That casino also got $15.00 of my spare cash via poker machine.
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After lunch near Ely, Nevada (click on image for large panorama version)
Same place - near Ely, Nevada
Overall, the day was uneventful. Beautiful weather, not too hot, unlimited visibility, no traffic to speak of. What better way could you spend your time but by riding a motorcycle on your own schedule, through spectacular scenery, in beautiful weather? I had a smile on my face pretty much all day long and by the time I made Salina, Utah that night, I was starting - just starting - to get into vaction mode. Even if my MP3 player wasn't cooperating...
GO to the next day of the trip
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