Day 11: Topaz Lake NV - Battle Mountain NV

Message on the recumbents.com forum last night led to last-minute change of plan and instead of haring off along US-50 to Austin and then taking the 305 north, I went via Reno to collect Mike Sova.  Mike was travelling here from Grenada.  Via Miami.  Oh.  Before all that, though, I dropped in on the assembly of beach buggies outside the "gas" station/restaurant/casino/motel/RV park¹ next door.

A relatively easy run up to Reno, except for the interminable 25 mph speed limit through the very strung-out town of Gardnerville.  I arrived bang on time at 10:30 and then spent about fifteen minutes wandering through the pit of Heck² that is the ground floor of the Silver Legacy Casino/Resort/Hotel/Let's Not Go There¹ before finding the actual hotel reception on an entirely different floor and rousting Mike from his room.

Then an equally painless drive along I-80 to Battle Mountain, except that it started to rain at Winnemucca.  Stop, erect roof, rain stops.  But it did look pretty gloomy most of the rest of the way.  Honest.  And we actually saw an actual passenger train on the line somewhere near Lovelock!  I have in the past contemplated travelling here by train from Chicago, but the nearest stations are in Winnemucca or Elko, so unless you jump out at the level crossing near the Wol Club, it's a bit of a hike to get the rest of the way.

Spotted Barbara Buatois and Julius Kunich just as we pulled in; much standing around in the car park chattering ensued, in the middle of which the Ligtvoets rocked up in a shiny Merc E-Class.  "They didn't have the car we reserved.  Would we like a Mercedes?" explained Arnold.  In a minute I will take a wander over to the Civic Center to see who else is around; it should be noted that photos uploaded to Flickr from here on in will almost certainly be shrunk to 1024x768 as the Intertubes get very clogged very quickly.

To the Civic Center for fetching and carrying.  The van Vugts appeared in mid-carry, thereby ruling out one option for "How does Yasmin Tredell get here from Las Vegas tomorrow?"  She was a last-minute sub for Becky Taylor and thus one can suppose she was too late to fit into the rest of the Liverpool University team's travel plans.  Vegas is a whisker over 400 miles from here, though, so I don't think a minicab is an option.

VeloX 7. Please don't crash it...

Back to the Super 8 for further technology-prodding.  Team Policumbent, the Italian champions have arrived.  Twelve people this time.  "No more than twelve, ever!" says team boss Paolo Baldissera with the resigned look of a reluctant cat-herder.  Then to the Ming Dynasty for nosh with Larry Lem, John Jackson, Mike Sova and the Krauses, before TEA!  More bike Stuffs tomorrow when we expect the rest of the mob to roll up, and probably more pictures too if I'm awake enough to gatecrash the technical inspections, this year being conducted by Arnold Ligtvoet and Hans van Vugt, as the Leones have thoughtlessly taken themselves to Norway.  Yes, it begins with an "N", but...

1. They're big on multi-tasking in Nevada.
2. Although what I thought was brimstone was merely a hundred years of cigarette smoke.