Ely, NV to Eureka, NV — 79.2 mi, 4543 ft
The state I am in is a bit hard to describe. I am having the best time of my life and seeing sights I never thought I would get to see, but at the same time, my chains haven’t been lubricated in days. My tires get pumped sometimes, but not every day. My front and back wheel axles both keep coming loose randomly, my left brake is sticky, my gears don’t always shift, and the grips on my handlebars have seen better days. I know that Tatiana loves me, but boy is this trip rough on me and all the other bikes. The loss of Drewbike was especially tough on all of us, and I feel like it’s been an adjustment for Drewbike2 to fit in, considering his hydraulic brakes and bright pink color. I’m honestly just glad we don’t have to make it back the other way!
Regardless of how I am doing physically, my favorite part of the trip so far has been getting to see the Spokes members bond and have a magical time. Last night, I got to sleep another night in the library with the Spokes crew instead of in some shed, and I saw a few of them go crazy with laughter while working on a massive puzzle. Tatiana seemed to be going especially crazy, singing a song over and over again and even harmonizing with Drew? I’m not really sure what was going on, but maybe it isn’t meant for me to know. When the team said they were going to go watch a movie at 11 pm and still wake up at 6 am the next morning, I had a sneaking suspicion that they were being overly ambitious with their plan. Regardless, I turned in for the night, waking up only briefly when they snuck back into the library room at 1:30 am.
In the morning, it was evidently clear that no 6 am movement was occurring, and instead, I saw the first signs of life at 8 am from Nunu and Nate, who were sleeping in the library’s office. Today is a very special day, as it is Nate’s birthday!! I had previously overheard the team’s secret plan of waking up extra early and being completely silent in the morning to celebrate Nate. All summer, he kept asking for us to play the quiet game, so I thought it was a great idea and was ready to be silent myself (though I had no faith in Tatiana), but it seemed like the morning took a different turn. When Nunu started giggling in the library’s office, and Tatiana immediately said happy birthday to Nate, I knew that the quiet game was over.
Regardless, the team was in a great mood, largely added to by the fact that a kind woman from the White Pine County Library had brought a phenomenal tray of breakfast burritos and cinnamon rolls for the team to enjoy. While all of them were getting ready, I was still standing untouched in the corner. Instead of spending her time lubing my chains, Tatiana decided to have a gun show in the restroom. Of course, I wasn’t there, but she generously gave me this photo to include in my blog.
Finally, at 9:40, Tatiana came up to me for the first time to refill my water bottles. I can’t complain too much, because the new pink water bottle I get to carry around is SICCKKKK! As she walked away, I noticed that the rest of the team was suspiciously taking turns writing something at one of the library tables. Of course, Nate decided to walk towards them, inches away from spoiling his birthday surprise. Tatiana very unsubtly attempted to distract him, but I do think that Nate may have seen the card they were working on.
At 10:00, Tatiana brought me outside, and I got to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air with my bike friends. Tatiana finished packing things and putting on her sunblock, and at 10:15, we were off!
The first stretch was longer than the team had been doing the past few days, but I was so excited because all the bikes stayed together! Usually, Tatiana tends to bike a little… slow… so I don’t get to bike with my friends, but this stretch was different! The group discussed all the blogs they wanted to write (including this one) and the plan for the Spokes end-of-trip party. Tatiana also made some calls to finally schedule her long-awaited leg waxing appointment at Lake Tahoe and called her boyfriend Noah! I feel like I get to eavesdrop on so many of Tatiana’s conversations with the team and with her family, even though most of the time it sounds like Tatiana’s family either can’t hear anything because of the wind or there is no service in the first place.
At the first rest stop, it was time to unveil the big surprise! As I learned, the reason the first stretch was so long was to give Drew extra time to race to the grocery store and buy cake and a car full of Nate’s favorite snacks! There were Nilla Wafers, peach rings, Cheez-its, navel oranges… everything our birthday boy could dream of. The team had a hugely fun birthday celebration for Nate, consisting of an oversized party hat, a hand-decorated birthday cake courtesy of Drew which had Nate at the center of a Venn Diagram comparing cyclists and feminists, and a bunch of those birthday kazoo type things. The team also presented Nate with the birthday card and a silly magnet of a goofy woman on a bicycle. It made my bike-heart happy to see the team so joyously celebrating Nate!
Just before getting back to the road, I heard the team making a Spokes playlist, which Tatiana would end up listening to for the rest of the day. The goal of the playlist was to capture songs from the summer that would remind the team of Spokes, and it made me nostalgic to hear Tatiana humming songs from the past two months throughout the day’s bike ride. If you’re interested, you can listen to it too!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7J8mwEkqZCYOeyR4odLpQZ?si=HXUjlnkzRkmT2k4UYcIHEw&utm_source=copy-link&pi=5KvOhV-_SFaP6
As we set off for the second stretch, I heard Natebike behind me make a weird sound, and then for some reason Natebike and Nunubike stayed behind. I kept thinking they would pass me like usual, but 5 miles in, they were nowhere to be found. At this point, Tatiana was worried, and after a few calls I understood that Natebike’s tire had popped and that Drew would drive back to Ely for a new tire.
At the next rest stop, we knew that Drew would not be able to make it back in time, so I lay on the ground next to Aarushibike, Carmenbike, and Carolinebike while the four girls found shade under some heavy machinery on the side of the road. I could tell that their energy was a little bit low in the heat, but they tried to be positive, and Tatiana suddenly remembered the Rice Krispie treat she had hidden in my saddle bag.
Eventually, the four of them decided to get back on the road again, and we finished our second big climb of the day under Nevada’s scorching sun. I could feel that Tatiana’s pedaling was starting to slow down and she seemed more exhausted than usual. When we came to the last rest stop of the day, it became evident why. Tatiana and Caroline were both feeling quite ill, possibly catching onto whatever Aarushi and Drew had been experiencing.
Beyond the brutal heat, I also saw the Spokes team assaulted by flies, with the pesky creatures attacking all of their food and everything in sight. Drew was going especially crazy from this, since he had to drive the minivan with all of the flies trapped inside! Luckily, Nunu happened to have bought a fly swatter earlier in the trip, and Nate decided that this was the opportunity for him to wage war on the flies. See the video below for a live-action of Nate’s fly assassination attempt.
After accepting their fate and the flies’ dominance, the team was ready for the final stretch, a 1,500 ft climb over 9 miles. I could feel Tatiana seriously struggling on this climb, forcing herself to pedal even though she felt extremely ill. At some point, Aarushi and Aarushibike noticed how tough it was going, and Aarushi started to retell another one of the Percy Jackson books to help distract Tatiana. I think it worked, because her pedaling did get faster and she started to take less frequent breaks!
Eventually, Tatiana, Aarushi, Aarushibike, and I finished the climb, and sped through the downhill to meet up with all of my other bike friends at a gas station in the town of Eureka. The church we would stay at was 18 miles north of our route, and Drew was already unpacking the car at the church so that we could shuttle. Tatiana was in a pretty rough state, so she quickly bought an Arizona iced tea from the gas station while we waited for Drew to come back. When he arrived, he told all the bikers that he had bought pizzas for them to eat and loaded me on the back of the van for my joyride.
As soon as we got to the church, Tatiana was ready to crash, and quickly showered, ate pizza, and hit the hay to try and recover from the illness.
As for me, I got to enjoy a night out under the stars, watching Carmen, Aarushi, and Nunu cowboy camp to enjoy the beautiful night sky.
With all my bikey-love,
Tatianabike
MIT Spokes 2026 
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