(Start at the beginning: GS Nevada Dual-Sport Tour: Day 1)
On Day 4 of our BMW GS Nevada dual-sport tour, rolling out of camp late, we pretend not to notice the good camp sites we pass in a couple of miles. Then it’s out of the Monitors on a decent dirt road, south through Antelope Valley (no antelope in residence) on fast gravel and back across the Monitors to descend to Potts Ranch from a different direction. Yes, we’re going in circles. No, we don’t care.
More gravel ahead in Monitor Valley, high speed stuff where we pair up and ride our BMW GS motorcycles side-by-side, one pair a good half mile behind the other’s dust. It’s fun running when we can see a mile or two ahead, but occasional rises force us to a defensive echelon formation. More than one rise has hidden a pickup truck, and they don’t drive Tacomas out here – we’re talking crew cab dualies pulling horse trailers down the middle of the road. We whiz past the geographic center of Nevada. If Jim’s in the lead we stop at such landmarks; if not, well, Jim will just have to come back.
We hit US 50 30 miles east of Eureka and ride the Loneliest Road into town. The desert is beautiful, the pavement tedious. Another late lunch, another gas fill, another committee meeting. A vote, a decision: call it day and get a motel. One can only dirt camp for so long before the Siren song of the shower calls you into its warm, wet embrace. Our time has come. It feels good to kick back with a beer and watch rural Nevada rumble by from our perch at the Sundowner. The location is perfect, with a grocery store and café across the street and a Chinese restaurant almost next door. But then, nothing’s too far away in small-town Nevada.
Continue reading: GS Nevada Dual-Sport Tour: Day 5
