In the past 24 hours, we have seen/met more touring cyclists than any other point during our trip. As mentioned in the last post, we met two very young guys coming from San Francisco at the RV Park in Eureka. At the Mexican restaurant last night, we met two more people (a young couple) who were headed to Yorktown, Virginia.

Today we met the first cyclist about 20 miles outside of Eureka. His name was Hamish and he was from Scotland. He just decided a couple weeks ago that he wanted to tour the USA via bicycle. He flew over here without a bike/gear or any detailed plans. He is making his way from San Francisco to New York City, where he will fly back home. 

Next, we met an older man at a tiny rest area along Hwy. 50. He was biking to Denver from the Bay area. He will meet his son there and then they will bike back to the Bay area together. While talking to him, two more cyclists showed up! These two younger guys were also headed to New York. They had just started their trip about 10 days ago from northern California.

The rest of our 70 mile ride was a lot less eventful. The first half was pretty much all downhill and flat. The second half, however, gradually increased in elevation, and had 2 steep mountain passes at the end. About 13 miles from the end, Michelle had to hitch a ride again. Her bike is not being cooperative and simply not shifting into the lower gears (which she desperately needed for the steep climbs). 

Rebekah and Emily sweated their way to the top and rested for a moment before heading down 3 miles to Austin, Nevada. Austin is a tiny town of 350 people or so, but used to be booming during the silver rush. Apparently, our timing is good; there is supposed to be some live music and dancing at the bars downtown tonight to celebrate the holiday weekend.

We are staying at the Austin RV Park, which is very nice and only $10 for tents! The shower was great and we even have shade and our own water spicket. Since Michelle got into town a little bit before Rebekah and Emily, she had a chance to wander around. While doing so, she met a nice man named John. He offered to take a look at her bike, but wasn't able to help. He did, however, bring us an entire watermelon (and a knife to cut it with) and a little adapter so that we could get online and check our email. What a wonderfal man!