Sept. 17 – A Brave Man

I couldn’t bring myself to go into the casino for breakfast, so I just packed up and headed East out of town, figuring that there must be more to Ely than the decrepit downtown I was in. And sure enough, the main drag out of the other side of town was more like a regular commercial area. I made a quick stop at the grocery store for a few things and then stopped at the McDonalds – I have been stopping there often for water and ice when I see one as they are always accommodating and there is nothing worse than 4 water bottles full of tepid water when you are thirsty. As long as I was there I ordered some pancakes and eggs and coffee to fuel me for the day – I was headed to Baker, which was 62 miles and two passes away. As I was eating I noticed that there was a sharp dressed Asian man eating right across from me. He was working on his IPad, and something told me that he was a pastor working on his message for the morning. Curiosity got the best of me and I went over to talk to him. Sure enough, he is the pastor of the Methodist church in Ely. Joshua (his American name) came to the US from South Korea 11 years ago to study at seminaries in Denver and Washington DC. He had previously worked at Korean Methodist Churches, but had only recently been assigned to the church here in rural Ely, where there are no other Koreans. Wow – talk about a huge challenge – both culturally and linguistically, as Joshua’s English is decent, but not totally fluent. We had a nice conversation and I wish him the best in his adventure of faith – he is a brave man!

He invited me to the service at his church, but there was still quite awhile before it started and I had many miles to ride, so I regrettably had to decline. Today’s riding was beautiful, and even though the two passes wrecked me as they usually do – I made it!

I also passed a huge wind farm that was out in the middle of nowhere.

The descent from Sacramento pass took me almost all the way in to Baker, which is a tiny town with way more going on than many towns much larger that I passed. I stopped in at the General Store, which was kind of a mix between a store and a boutique – very nice. They gave me the low down on an RV campground that always took in bike tourists – and sure enough, for $10.75 I got a spot and a hot shower! I felt so good afterwards that I walked over to the restaurant in town and had an excellent salad with seared ahi. My first salad in 9 days! I feel human again. Now I am in the bar at the campground – yes, not only hot showers, but a bar! Writing my thoughts for the day. Tomorrow I will cross into Utah. Well, they are closing the bar at 8pm – so I gotta get out of here. Adios.