ST.N National - Day 1

Day 1 of my trip to the National in WV sees me ride I-80 in 4 different states for 860 miles. Except for one "incident", it was pretty uneventful and boring.

Startpoint: Mountain View, CA
Endpoint: Evanston, WY
Miles traveled: 860
Mishaps: 0
Tickets: 0
Gallons of gas used: 20.728

I started out early in the morning, my bike already loaded and set up from the night before. Took the interstates up through California and into Nevada.


Filling up not far from Donner Pass, CA


View(tm) from gas station near Donner Pass, CA


FJR at same gas station


Filling up in Winnemucca, NV


Bugs I collected (Winnemucca, NV)


This was across from gas station in Winnemucca, NV


Lunch (gas station food) in Winnemucca, NV

It was pretty hot in Nevada, even with the Aerostich vents open. Moving at a decent clip was giving me enough wind to not get too hot. Speaking of moving at a decent clip... I got pulled over in Nevada a little past Elko (on I-80). Officer Friendly told me I was going 86 in 75 - but he wasn't going to give me a ticket or a warning. He just wanted to check out my bike and how it's set up. We talked about riding, about my bike (he wants to get an FJR), IBA and other stuff. Then I left, but cut my speed down. This conversation with the officer was perhaps the coolest thing that happened to me all day :) .

This is what most of I-80 looks like in Nevada:






FJR at rest stop in Nevada

Anyway, the rest is boring.


Fill up at the last town in Nevada, Wendover


View from gas station in Wendover, NV

I went through Utah, it was getting dark as I reached Salt Lake City. My destination for the day was Evanston, WY, so I continued up the mountains in the dark and cold. Evanston is at 6700 feet or so, it was chilly.


FJR at the hotel in Evanston, WY