Nevada’s Route 50 was once considered a dangerous passage with “no points of interest” until a group of cyclists rebranded it as a life-altering grand tour.
Rene Linares first heard about the ride on the news — his local weather forecaster was babble about it .
The 29 - yr - old was rapturous . As a teen , his dad had given him a beloved 10 - speed back in Guatemala , in hopes that he would n’t kill himself on a motorcycle . The plan figure out , to an extent . Linares consistently pushed his limitation on the road bike , fill it farther and riding it quicker every year . Cyclingfollowed him into his adult life inReno , Nevada , where he worked as a cablegram guy wire and on a regular basis pulled 150 miles on his mean solar day off .
But here was something dissimilar : a 413 - mile tour on what a writer forLifeonce splendidly referred to as the “ Loneliest Road in America . ” According to the meteorologist Linares had discover , this supported drive took place every September and be less than $ 500 . That was peanuts equate with other organized rides Linares had seen publicize elsewhere . It would also take him out of the urban surroundings he ’d grown used to traversing and onto a stretchiness of road so bare that you could ride for hour without picture a car . The idea of going somewhere so detached seemed crazy , but Linares fancy that even if he did it only once , it would at least give him the opportunity to see aside of Nevadamost had n’t .
You can drive on US Route 50 in Nevada for hours without seeing another car.|Photo by Emily Najera for Thrillist
“ mass said there was nothing to do out there , ” he says . “ They think that it ’s boring , that it ’s the desert . It ’s all a affair of perspective . ”
Curtis Fong found OATBRAN — One Awesome Tour Bike Ride Across Nevada — in 1991 . His goal was to reappropriate the “ Loneliest Road ” cognomen and bestow touristry to under - jaw parts of the DoS — places far from the cacophony of the cassino . He was weirdly suited for the occupation : As a phallus of theNevada Broadcasters Hall of Fameand a winter sports whiz , he have both rhetorical skills and proven athletic chops . He had experience as an organizer , too , having launch a hard - heart perpendicular raise in the California Alps be intimate as theDeath Ride . But he ’d never done anything like OATBRAN — no one had .
In theLifemagazine clause from the ‘ 80s , a rep from AAA warn motorists not to repel Route 50 unless they were confident of their survival accomplishment . That ’s because there were only five townspeople along a 300 - mile couple , rendering something as small as a blown tire potentially disastrous . Fong notice that being out in the midriff of nowhere did come with inherent risk ; he just charter proceeds with the company ’s claim that there were “ no points of interest ” for those who dare to look for them . In fact , the path was home to muckle of strange attractor . Take , for instance , the Pony Express post that had been turn into a roadhouse with a gravid burger , or the former naval air - breeding base popularly make love as Top Gun . He knew travelers would also pass through the bread and butter ghost town of Austin , where they could terminate and buy jewellery made of local turquoise before jump into one of several volunteer - maintained red-hot springs . What ’s more , the itinerary ’s lifelike terminus wasGreat Basin National Park , one of theleast visitednational parks in the country . After an epic route trip , a driver could go explore a massive cave system or climb to the top of Wheeler Peak — all without crew .
Photo by Emily Najera for Thrillist
Fong was confident that he could aid his home state flip a pejorative nickname on its head — all he needed was for citizenry to see the Loneliest Road for themselves . He start by asking various nonprofits if they would render solid food to riders . He applied for grants from the tourism board and then rent staff to travel with the cyclists in support vehicles so there was no danger of anyone getting lost or falling behind . He also screw there would be no deficit of places for participants to encampment along the way of life . With the basic logistics sketched out , Fong started advertising in regional magazine , and a duo XII masses finally sign on up . One of them was a luxuriously - powered lawyer from the Bay Area , who rode up beside Fong between the townspeople of Austin and Eureka , seemingly experiencing something likeStendhal syndrome . He ’ll never forget the woman exhibiting a impregnable forcible reaction to the esthetical beauty beleaguer them .
“ There are in all probability more cars passing the intersection she lick on in a 10 - minute distich than there are all day on Highway 50 , ” he says . “ That ’s what made me realize : People are n’t used to hear nothing . ”
The drive was a hit . Linares joined on a few years later , in 1994 . He also determine that the rapidly shifting scenery had a hypnotic effect . “ It changes from the pines in Tahoe , to sagebrush , to evergreen , to that red - one-sided dirt when you get stuffy to the border of Utah , ” he retrieve . “ It ’s just beautiful being out there in the absolute center of nowhere . ”
The Eureka Opera House was built in 1880 and is one of Nevada’s best preserved performing arts venues.|Photo by Emily Najera for Thrillist
The lack of pass motorists might restrict the route as lone , but its banks are littered with herds of sheep , wild horses , antelope , and elk . What ’s more , Central Nevada has one of the low levels of weak pollution in the Lower 48 , which mean there ’s a absolved horizon of the Milky Way every night , a position that inspired Linares to have what he phone “ conversation with God . ”
Over the years , these heavenly check - atomic number 49 took different material body . He ab initio ponder on head of baby - rearing . Later on , he deliberate whether he should negotiate for a pay raise at work . On one particular ride , he asked God if he was a safe enough husband ; the follow September , he take for guidance helping his kids cover their parents ’ divorce . As Linares puts it , “ When you have that much oxygen going through your organization , your psyche is always somewhere else . ” That long - standing dialogue with his high power is just what made him an OATBRAN lover ( “ Curtis is our spiritual godfather , ” he says ) . Twenty - nine years later , he ’s probably bicycle Highway 50 more than anyone else on Earth , apart from Fong . And he ’s made a net ton of supporter doing it — including the same weather forecaster who exalt the ride ’s virtues on the local news nearly three decennary ago .
While the drive has been a mainstay for at least half of Linares ’s grownup life , his fourth dimension in the saddle might be coming to an end . This preceding September ’s OATBRAN appears to have been the last one . Fong , who is turn 74 this year , is setting his stack on something a little more easy - pace and culturally orient that he ’s calling the Great Ride Across Nevada on Lonely Asphalt . “ I would wish to have on my résumé that I produced both OATBRAN and GRANOLA , ” he says .
U.S. Route 50 in Nevada through the rearview mirror.|Photo by Emily Najera for Thrillist
Getting GRANOLA off the ground means start up up the same process he underwent ten ago : cruise down a bare desert route , map it out , and building relationships with business owner along the way . He hop that his new drive will be about more than just bikes and that riders will spend two days in each township along his route on Highway 93 , going fishing , checking out museum , and generally seeing what Nevada has to volunteer . “ There ’s just so , so much out there besides biking , ” he say .
Meanwhile , back on Highway 50 , bicycler are now using the base Fong and his fellow riders created to nurture their own solo adventures . What was once considered a hazard has been transform into a can’t - fille finish for enterprising cyclists . “ now , every metre I repulse out there , I see five or six or more people touring across Nevada , ” tell Fong . “ hoi polloi take time off every year to come here , and not simply because the ride is challenging . It ’s because they realize what peachy beauty there is in the Great Basin . ”
The sun sets on the so-called Loneliest Road in America.|Photo by Emily Najera for Thrillist
