Sept. 12 “Wasting away again in Middlegate-a-ville”

I was up early, broke camp, and got on the road. There wasn’t much going on in Silver Springs other than the two ratty looking casinos and a gas station….but there was a little coffee shop that had just opened and some very chipper baristas made me a coffee and a sandwich. My goal for today was to make it to Middlegate, this kind of mythical place that had been mentioned to me by a few people including my host in South Lake Tahoe, Dan. Evidently there were good burgers, a free place to camp, and a gathering place for people traveling through the middle of nowhere. How could you not want to go there? It was a 70 mile ride, so my plan was to stop in Fallon for lunch, a few groceries and water. While I was eating lunch two more people asked if I was going to stop at Middlegate – now I really had to go! I was motivated and got back on the road and started pedaling hard. And then I saw him – another touring cyclist – but he was going the other way and there was lots of traffic. So we only managed a wave – but this was a good sign as so far I had not seen any other fellow tourers. I put on some music and kept up a good pace and then, shining in the distance – I saw it….Middlegate -I had made it!

What was it like, you ask? Imagine if you were a set designer for a B movie and were tasked with designing a tumbledown roadside bar in the middle of nowhere with every cliche known to tumbledown roadside bars. Things like, flypaper hanging by the front door with at least 10,000 flies on it, broken down furniture on the porch, weeds everywhere, a front door that squeaks, wooden paneled walls, a pool table, dollar bills pinned to the ceiling, etc. That’s exactly how it was.

I walked in and was the only one in the place except for the bartender and the cook. They looked at me, I looked at them – and then I said “ I heard that you let through cyclists camp here.” “We sure do”, said the bartender, “ you can set up anywhere behind the building, want a beer?” “Let me set up camp first”, I replied and headed around back. There were a bunch of trailers in the back, I guess for the staff, and a kind of weedy courtyard with a small basketball court and a couple of picnic tables. Nearby a big generator was humming away. Well, I was here, so I picked a flat spot and put up my tent.

There was a spigot over by the trailer so I washed up a bit and got out of my sweaty biking gear – then I headed back over to the bar. And what a great surprise! Two more touring cyclists had ridden in and were having a beer on the porch – Max and Zach were college buddies who were each doing a separate tour, but had joined up to cycle together for awhile. They were on gravel bikes and were doing both on road and off road cycling. Really nice young guys – things were looking up as it is always fun to meet fellow cyclists!

I went inside to order and although a few more customers were at the bar, the grill cook had a full grill of burgers. I ordered a burger and a beer and was informed that they had a large military order to prepare and it would take a little extra time for my burger. No problem – I took my beer outside to sit and chat. In the dusky light we saw a caravan of headlights converging on the bar as all types of military vehicles descended on the parking lot. Burly guys poured out and grouped together to receive instructions from their leaders. It was straight out of a zombie apocalypse movie. I went inside for another beer and noticed that several tables had been put together and plates were lined up containing the biggest hamburgers I had ever seen. They were gigantic. I asked the bartender what was going on and evidently this is a thing at Middlegate – they have a 5 pound hamburger, and if you can eat the whole thing, including fries, you get a t-shirt. The military guys came streaming in and it was time for a old fashioned, all American eating contest. Some of them actually finished! By the way, I did get my regular burger and it was very good. By that time the bar was hopping and we met a nice couple from New Zealand who were very interested on our bike tours. The staff did a great job of handling the crowd and the orders and I started to feel the magic of Middlegate – people were nice, prices were right, beer was cold……and by the time I went to bed I was a full-fledged convert. If you are ever on Hwy 50 in Nevada, make sure you stop by.