Leg Two of the Grand Tour

Over The Great Deserts To The Rocky Mountains

(Click the title to read Wyman's account of this leg of his journey)

Reno, NV to Ogden, UT  Wyman woke to snow on the ground in Reno on the morning of May 21.  It delayed his departure till early afternoon.  He was facing the desolation of the Nevada and Utah deserts in front of him.  The roads, what there was of them, were mere wagon tracks laid down by the emigrants heading to the California gold fields 60 years before.  His salvation was the Transcontinental Railroad that was the transportation superhighway of the time.  It ran all the way from Omaha, Nebraska.

Having spent the better part of 9 months preparing for his trip, Wyman had a plan to keep him on track.  He would follow the Central Pacific Railroad, now the Union Pacific RR all the way to Omaha.  He secured as his mile post guide a copy of “The Official Listing” of agents, stations, sidings, telegraph and Express offices along the route.  It listed each place, with the miles from San Francisco, the elevation and what was available in the way of services.  It was like the interstate atlas of its day.

Many of the communities along the Transcontinental Railroad from Omaha to Sacramento sprung up because of the railroad.  The consortium of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads was given title, by Congress, to broad swaths of federal land along the right of way as incentive to build the railroad linking the nation together.  Many of the communities are still in existence today.  Many decayed into ghostly remains when the railroad realigned or stopped using them as maintenance facilities.  The ceremonial linking event took place at Promontory Point, UT on May 10, 1869.  Wyman did not mention that he stopped there when he was riding the rails over the top of The Great Salt Lake.  While you are in the neighborhood take the opportunity to visit the Golden Spike National Historic Site. 

In 1903, it took Wyman 8 days to ride the 650 miles from Reno, NV to Ogden, UT.  He mentioned 22 points along the way that he either stopped or passed through riding to Ogden.  Today, as you can see by the table below, you can do it on your motorcycle in one day of relaxed riding over paved roads with modern conveniences along the way. 

LEG 2 -- Over The Great Deserts To The Rocky Mountains
RON POINT	WAYPOINT	MILES	MOVING TIME	DWELL TIME	TOTAL TIME
521.1 Wadsworth RON	1	32.0	0:31	0:10	0:41
522.5 Humboldt House RON	5	127.0	2:17	1:00	3:17
523.2 Battle Mountain RON	2	95.5	1:27	0:20	1:47
524.2 Carlin RON	3	70.8	1:07	0:30	1:37
525.1 Wells RON	1	71.8	1:04	0:10	1:14
526.2i Terrace RON Info	3	87.0	1:17	0:20	1:37
527.1 Zenda RON	2	130.1	1:53	0:20	2:13
528.2 LH Becraft Bicycle Shop	2	16.7	0:19	0:20	0:39
LEG 2 TOTALS	19	630.9	9:55	3:10	13:05