Uphill Into A Headwind
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intoaheadwind.bsky.social
Uphill Into A Headwind
@intoaheadwind.bsky.social
No matter which way I go,
Conditions change to make it so;
I’m going uphill or into a headwind.
🚵🏼‍♂️

#BicycleTouring focused account of @bioalex.bsky.social.

#Cycling #Bicycle #BikeSky #BicycleTravel
The setting sun, clouds, and distant haze made for some rather dramatic scenes in the desert where I camped before heading over to Sandy Valley the next day. 5/6
#BicycleTravel #BikeSky
December 1, 2025 at 2:12 AM
All the jet contrails pointed towards Las Vegas, but I took a different way. Gotta say, despite how heavily loaded my bicycle is, my Surly Long Haul Trucker never fails to impress me how well it holds up when I have to go on rough unpaved routes. Not comfy, but doable. 4/6
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel
December 1, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Guess I passed close enough to Area 51 to run into some Aliens. 👽😁 3/6
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel
December 1, 2025 at 2:12 AM
To get there after returning through Beatty, I still had to pass through the Amargosa Valley, Pahrump, and Sandy Valley. Had a good place to camp in the Amargosa Valley near the Big Dune. 2/6
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Camping
December 1, 2025 at 2:12 AM
My next main goal was to make it near Las Vegas, though I had no intention of going into the city. Instead, my plan was to follow route that most players take in the game #FalloutNewVegas, starting from Goodsprings, around to Primm, Nipton, & Boulder City. 1/6
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel
December 1, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Nothing beats a nice wide shoulder. They even did it right with the rumble strip being right on the white line. I've been on several roads (including this same road just north of Beatty) where the rumble strip is running down the middle of the shoulder. Terrible for #cycling. 3/3
#BikeSky #Nevada
December 1, 2025 at 1:27 AM
And so I made it to Tonopah, thus completing that line from the Linda Ronstadt song "Willin'". 😁 That was literally my ONLY reason for going there, so I ate lunch and immediately turned around and headed back south the way I came. 2/3
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Nevada
December 1, 2025 at 1:27 AM
After Death Valley, I headed east to Beatty #Nevada, there to turn north to make my way towards Tonopah. 1/3
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel
December 1, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Lucky for me, especially since I was worried about running out of daylight, another very kind soul offered me a ride when I was about halfway up, so the climb was only half as brutal as I’d feared.🥹 Exiting #DeathValley National Park immediately put me into Nevada. 7/8
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel
November 17, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Making the climb up the other side of #DeathValley was again looking to be brutal. Despite aiming for a lower elevation at the top of Daylight Pass (1315m) than entering the valley at Towne Pass (1511m), I had more gain due to starting lower (-25m vs . ~470m) 😅 6/8
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel
November 17, 2025 at 6:59 PM
This is the lowest point I’ve ever been, physically 😉, on land, in my entire life (under water, I’ve been down to -30m on my Open Water Advanced checkout dive). Pretty desolate, & even in November pretty hot. 5/8
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #DeathValley #Desert
November 17, 2025 at 6:59 PM
The road, CA190, continued across the valley floor of #DeathValley past the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. 4/8
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Desert
November 17, 2025 at 6:59 PM
The floor of #DeathValley became more and more visible as I descended, losing all that elevation I’d gained and then some. 3/8
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Desert #Mountains
November 17, 2025 at 6:59 PM
She dropped me off at the pass so I could ride down into #DeathValley under the power of gravity. After some weaving among the mountain tops, I finally got my first glimpses of the valley itself. 2/8
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Desert #Mountains
November 17, 2025 at 6:59 PM
#DeathValley Thread 🧵
Climbing out of Panamint Valley up to Towne Pass was a brutal ~1100m of elevation gain. Or it would have been brutal, but a nice young woman from France saw me pushing my bicycle up the constant 6-7% grade & offered me a ride! 😅🥹 1/8
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Desert
November 17, 2025 at 6:59 PM
And once again the clouds put on a bit of a show after the sun set behind the mountains. 6/6
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Mojave #Desert #California
November 17, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Don’t mind me, just experimenting with photographing the rising moon on my iPhone camera. 😅 All of these (& most of my photos in general) were taken with the Obscura app. 5/6
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Mojave #Desert #California
November 17, 2025 at 12:15 AM
I stopped to camp in Panamint Valley a couple of km before the boundary of Death Valley National Park. Death Valley is just across those mountains. Caught the moon rising. 4/6
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Mojave #Desert
November 17, 2025 at 12:15 AM
The Panamint Valley floor was pretty barren, but still pretty. Apparently most of the (non-indigenous) historical action here concerned mining in the mountains, including the ghost town of Baharat near the foot of the mountains. I did not ride the unpaved road to it. 😅 3/6
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel
November 17, 2025 at 12:15 AM
The ride down from the pass wasn’t the most pleasant, with no shoulder, twisty curves, and tricky winds. But it sure was pretty. 2/6
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Mojave #Desert #California
November 17, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Climbing out of Searles Valley up to the Slate Range Crossing gave me a pretty spectacular view of Panamint Valley on the other side. 1/6
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Mojave #Desert #California
November 17, 2025 at 12:15 AM
That evening while the sun set behind the mountains behind me, the clouds above the Slate Range on the eastern side of the Searles Valley were putting on quite a show! 2/2
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Mojave #Desert #California
November 16, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Passed through Trona (where I stopped for lunch & cold beverage that didn’t cut into my water supply) & made my way north about 2/3 of the way up Searles Valley where I stopped to camp. Some very pretty clouds over the Slate Range. 1/2
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #Mojave #California #Desert
November 16, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Continuing through the #Mojave towards Ridgecrest, #California, where I needed to really stock up at the last good grocery store for most of what I’d need to get to Death Valley. After that, I’d take CA178 over into Searles Valley.
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel
November 16, 2025 at 10:50 PM
I know I still have some catching up to do, including Searles Valley, Panamint Valley, Death Valley, & the ride to & from Tonopah, but I am rather excited that my #Fallout #NewVegas tour will start tomorrow with a route looking something like this.☢️🚵🏼‍♂️💪🏼
#BikeSky #BicycleTravel #FONV
November 11, 2025 at 4:35 PM