Day 22

Today's ride was very repetitive. Mountain pass, valley, mountain pass, valley, mountain pass, valley, for about 6 or 7 times. The climbs were short but the straight riding across the valleys on a road that disappeared into nowhere seemed like they took forever. I think that we saw maybe 10 cars all day long if that many. The good thing about there being no cars was that we could ride in a double pace line in the lane so the ride went by a lot faster. We arrived in Rachel, NV once again with nothing secured. Little did we know that everything had already been taken care of. Chris' mom was able to call ahead for us and arrange a meal with the Little Ale' Inn and a place to shower. The local cook, "Boot", served us some great beef and rice. Boot is the local alien expert. You see, Rachel is the closest town to the top-secret military base "Area 51" and the town contains only an inn and a gas station along with some trailer homes. The population of Rachel is also less than 100. Boot said that people come all the time to try and catch a glimpse of aliens or to watch some of the military's latest planes fly overhead. The Little Ale' Inn also allowed us to set up camp next to their establishment. We came into Nevada a little worried and thinking that it was going to be a challenge since we had trouble contacting people in this area. Once again the people who we have come across have been more than happy to lend us a hand. We thank everyone who helps us along the way because with everything that they donate we are able to save that money and that will in the end make our donation to the American Cancer Society that much larger. Many thanks go out to the people of Rachel, NV.