Day 15

Day 15
While I was packing up, a lizard scurried into a nearby rock. I tried to catch it, but it was very aware of its surroundings, so I couldn't even get close enough for a good picture. Not long into my ride, I got into Nevada. Being able to consistently check off states has been nice. Once I get near Reno, things got crazy. I constantly had to be vigilant when crossing over the many on ramps and off ramps. It was stressful, but I was doing okay. Then some guy yelled out of his window, "What the hell are you doing!" This was the first negative comment I've had this whole trip. I just wanted to get out of there are soon as possible. Unfortunately, the shoulder suddenly disappeared as it went up to a bridge. I had to reroute. I went down the nearest off ramp. The city part was also scary because of how many cars there were, but at least I had a sidewalk here. The new route was longer, but it completely avoided the highway until I got to he next city. Unfortunately, after I got a bit used to the bike lanes that occasionally pins you between two cars, both the bike lane and the shoulder disappeared. Normally this wouldn't be muh of a problem, I'm pretty sure I can still ride on roads like this, I just have to stay as close as I can to the side and have cars pass me when they can. Or I could use the dirt path next to the road. However, there was sand on either side and the road was pretty busy. Lots of people would not be happy with me, and having angry cars drive by me is the last thing I want. I find out the whole road pretty much is like this, so I reroute again. This path is shorter, but there are some dirt trails. You would think that I would have learned from past experiences with dirt roads are the worst idea ever when biking, but for some reason I continued anyways. After one of the craziest hills in the world, the road turned to dirt/ gravel- not too bad. But eventually, the road got worse and worse. I had to get out and push and one point, and I almost decided to turn back. But I figured it was only a few more miles, and thought that the road would get better. It didn't. Before a rather large hill, I decided to turn back again. But then I calculated it, and even if I walked and pushed my bike the whole way, it would still be faster than turning back. So I pressed on. A lizard crossed my path. This one was much slower than other one I had seen- I easily caught it. It puffed up to try to scare me off, but that didn't work. It was fun to finally catch a reptile again. I kept going, finding an even crazier hill, that took all of my strength to get up. The rest of the path followed the power line. I could finally see what I was getting into- there was a huge mountain range in front of me. I also noticed a fence that crossed the path. I decided to turn back again. Going down all of those crazy hills and stuff would suck, but at least I wouldn't be stuck in the middle of nowhere all night. But I went to see the fence anyways and found that it stopped at the road. I don't know where I got the determination from, but somehow I just decided to keep going. There was a ton of animal dung along this path, so that was freaking me out a bit. Then I heard the coyotes. I wasn't too worried about the coyotes themselves, but if they are out here, then what else is? I decided I just needed to hurry up. Even if I had to push through a bit of darkness, I thought I could get close enough to a paved road that I would be safe. Finally, the road turned completely impossible. I had to go slower than ever before. The road also was going down at a very steep angle. I could see that once I got down, it was all uphill from then on. This is where I really started to freak out. That was when I saw the very last thing in the world that I expected to see out here- a truck. It stopped, probably seeing me. I think we kinda just eyed each other for a while. I finally decided that even though I was only a few miles from where I was trying to go, seeing the truck, combined with seeing what I had to do for those miles, made me finally decide to actually head back. I had to carry my bike up half the hill I just came down. The truck was working it's way around, possibly to me. A waited a bit. I really wanted to go the whole time without ever using a car for assistance, but the circumstances were making that potentially unsafe. I waved at the truck as it went by, and they waved back, and kept on going. I paused for a moment, unsure, and then waved again, trying to get them to stop. The driver got out and asked me if I wanted a ride. Out in the middle of nowhere. How I got this lucky (or unlucky, since I was only a few miles from Fernley) I have no idea. Right after we loaded up my bike, the mountains I used to be heading towards lit up to reveal a rainbow behind it. The sun must have just peeked below the clouds enough to do this just before sunset. The folks we named Matt and Kristina. They were out here just enjoying the view. It was a long way back, and Matt was definitely a talker- our conversation drifted from hiking to biking to mudding to insurance to Obama care. It was interesting to have such a long conversation after being alone for so long. We finally reached Sparks. He dropped me off near a baseball park, off the road where a small sand hill would partially hide my tent. I  hugely thankfully for the reset, even if it meant more miles in the end.