2024 Reno Road Meet - September 21, 2024

[cl94]

Never too early to announce for 2024, right? And since we're in the 2024 fiscal year in Nevada, why not announce what may be the first road meet in Northern Nevada?

Date: September 21, 2024, 11 AM
Lunch location: Brothers Barbecue, 618 S Center St, Reno, NV 89501 https://www.bbqreno.com/
(If you don't want barbeque, there's a great chicken place next door, plus nearby fast food options).

Potential highlights may include:

• Downtown Reno and the arches
• Lincoln Highway history and old alignments
• The Galena Creek Bridge, the largest cathedral arch span in the world
• The historic wagon roads leading to Virginia City
• Stunning high desert and Sierra scenery

[li]The ghost town of Boca and nearby abandoned US 40[/li][/list]

Time is TBD. I'm open to options. When we hold this will determine what can be seen. If there's enough interest, we could also throw this out to 2 days.

Why am I announcing so early? Curious what people have interest in seeing. There's a lot worth seeing here, so the tour may work best if tailored to only hit some sites.

[Max Rockatansky]

Obviously I'm interested given I'm 4 hours away taking a direct route.

[signalman]

Having never been to Reno (only passed through on 80 but didn't exit) this interests me. Too far off in the future to commit but pencil me in as interested.

[A.J. Bertin]

Gosh I would love to attend this... but with all the travels I have planned so far for 2024, it's very doubtful that I'd be able to swing it.

[jpi]

I would like to keep this in mind but will see, there may be alot of changes coming down the pike for Steph and I next year but would give me a chance to finish off counties in Utah and Nevada

[roadfro]

I'm down to attend, given I live here!

[cl94]

I added a date poll to this thread so people can express opinions about potential dates. I am still thinking Fall 2024 and listed every weekend in both September and October.

My target for this was always late September or October, to balance weather with day length and ease of getting around town. I will not announce a date until late winter/spring 2024 at the earliest, both to give people time to express opinions and to make sure the meet doesn't conflict with any festivals, etc. that would close roads and eat up hotel rooms.

The meet would likely focus on Old US 40/ the Lincoln Highway and items along it. There is a lot worth seeing, and it wouldn't be hard to detour to check out area construction projects such as the work on US 395 and SR 445 if they've progressed significantly. Certainly enough for a meet along/near just 40/80 between the CA/NV line and Lockwood. But if people would rather do something around Carson City that focuses on Tahoe and the work in downtown Carson, I'm totally willing to do that next year.

[Brandon]

Voted for 4 (9/7, 9/14, 9/21, 10/19); however, I would suggest September to avoid snow in the Sierras for anyone who wants to cross them.

[roadfro]

I'm not going to cast a vote since I live in Reno and I'm really open to any of these, but commenting that I would prefer earlier dates. Work travel tends to crop up in later September or October that sends me to Vegas for a little bit, and those dates won't be set before the meet date would need to be set—but ultimately, I think I can finagle that travel around whatever weekend is decided.

[Scott5114]

I may well be in Las Vegas by the time this happens. If so, this would be a great first introduction to Northern Nevada for me.

[moabdave]

I voted, but again, I live in this area, so I can attend anytime provided I'm not away on vacation or business.

[getemngo]

I don't know if the poll is closed, or if you did not allow people to change their answer, or if I've just forgotten how forums work.

I voted for October 26 only, but it now appears that October 12 and 19 are available (and actually preferable) to me.

[Alps]

I don't know if the poll is closed, or if you did not allow people to change their answer, or if I've just forgotten how forums work.

I voted for October 26 only, but it now appears that October 12 and 19 are available (and actually preferable) to me.

I can't go, so I voted for those two dates on your behalf

[Scott5114]

Looks like I'm definitely going to be in a position to attend this, so long as it's not the weekend of October 19th (I was gifted tickets to a show that day, in the complete opposite direction from Reno). September would be ideal.

As for what to see—of course anything road related is great, but I'm also interested in seeing some of the sites related to Nevada history. Since I'm new to the state I'm soaking that stuff up like a sponge right now.

[SSOWorld]

I boosted September because I have alternate plans (yurp) and wanted to save the Sierras.

[Techknow]

Also interested and I voted for September. I haven't visited or driven to Reno yet so it's a good opportunity for me to clinch I-80, at least in California.

[cl94]

Thanks to everyone who has voted for a date. As of now, it looks like the middle 3 weekends of September are winning. I'll nail down a date in the first half of March, so try and get your votes in within the next 7-10 days if you have not yet voted and want to.

After some thought and discussion, I'm narrowing the scope to cover the I-80/ US 40 corridor around Reno. Plenty to fill an afternoon and a mix of old and new. Carson City and Tahoe are distant enough that they can be their own meet a couple of years down the road, hopefully when there isn't mega road construction along US 50 like there will be this summer.

What will this meet include? Lots of Old US 40, including at least one abandoned segment, possibly an abandoned interchange, and a large selection of the oldest road and rail bridges you'll find anywhere in Nevada. There will be a ~1-mile walking tour of downtown Reno that visits several road/rail/historic points of interest in a small area, so please know that will be happening when you decide to attend. I'll also get you a "before" drive along the Nugget Viaduct before that gets reconstructed in the coming years.

[jeffandnicole]

I *should* be able to go.  And being that every date is currently open with no real benefit of one weekend or another (looking at hotel and airline pricing currently, at this far out the pricing is basically the same), I just picked all the September dates.

[oscar]

I'm semi-interested, since I spent a lot of time field-checking the Reno road network last time I was out there in 2021. If I do the Bakersfield meet, that might soak up my 2024 quota for cross-country trips (though I did two last year). So I didn't vote on dates, though mid-September seems reasonable.

The walking tour is a bit of a worry (which you should wait on, until it's clearer that I'll attend). Right now I'm using a three-wheel walker to overcome my balance and lower-back pain problems. That slows me down a little when I'm on the move, but I'd also want some short rest stops where I can sit down. Cobblestone or other rough walking surfaces would make me miserable, though I don't recall seeing much of that during my brief walks in downtown Reno.

[cl94]

Noted the concern about the walking tour. I have it in there because it's the easiest way to see both Reno arches and the downtown bridges due to lack of free parking (and, well, the free lot we'd be using is also a good place to leave cars for a carpool), but feeding meters is always an option.

As a related note, I'll put this out now: if ADA accessibility is a concern for anyone, let me know anytime between now and a few weeks before the meet and I will make sure the tour is accessible to all. I have plenty of "backup" stops that are still interesting, but would involve step-free access and short distances. Biggest concern I have is the abandoned segment of 40, but there is one with flat access.

[cl94]

Based on how the voting looks and scheduled events in Reno/Sparks, I'm looking at September 14 or 21 as the date of the meet. September 7 is the balloon races and September 28 is motorcycle rally weekend. There seems to be a strong preference towards September dates over October, but I will caution that September sometimes has a late heat wave and smoke may be an issue if fire season is bad. Snow will be a non-issue in this timeframe (for the elevations we'll visiting, at least) and rain is unlikely as well.

Regarding the walking tour, we do have a way around that if people are willing to feed meters, but a couple of other stops will involve some amount of walking.

Any final thoughts before I pick a date?

[cl94]

I have settled on September 21 as the date of the meet. Meetup location/time TBD. Early thoughts for potential lunch locations are the restaurant at Club Cal Neva (the last inexpensive casino restaurant in town), Brothers Barbeque, and the Reno Public Market. As far as I can see, there is nothing major going on in the region that day, which means parking (and hotels for anyone staying the night) should be easy to come by.

There will be a decent amount of walking here, though it will be mostly flat and I guarantee it'll be worth it. Most of the cool road stops in Reno require a little walking, especially anything downtown, but we will have time to take it slow. Not saying we couldn't figure out ways around it, and it won't have as much walking as the 2019 Newburyport meet, but there will be several blocks of walking (mostly if not entirely paved) spread throughout the tour. Giving fair warning now because walking isn't for everyone, but it's really unavoidable if we want meet pictures at the iconic road spots (the arches and river bridges). At least one abandoned road, plenty of old bridges (one soon to be replaced), some Lincoln Highway history, and maybe even the region's big ongoing projects.

If anyone needs ideas for things to see/drive in the Reno area, let me know and I'll be happy to provide. Some of the best driving roads and most scenic places in the country are within a short drive of Reno.

[cl94]

Facebook event for the meet has been created: https://www.facebook.com/share/c7q4JGmGebN4ccAy/

[SSOWorld]

I'll be near the world's largest Erector set (a.k.a. Tour Eiffel) at the time of the meet.

[cl94]

A very rough itinerary has been drafted. This is draft and subject to change, particularly the end of the meet. I still have a lot of details and background info to add for the stops and each leg of the tour, but I wanted to get something out there this month.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1haJL3BIm31idr8oOpscooBEDO40Od66coTYrpMYrWVE/

We have a few options at the end of the meet and I am willing to change up the last couple legs to see what people are interested in. Currently, I have our final stop before returning to our cars at the Geiger Lookout Point, an old WPA picnic area south of town with views of Reno and Pleasant Valley, including the Galena Creek Bridge. Other options include a visit to an abandoned section of NV SR 33 (today's SR 445) and the SR 445 widening project, bridges, views, and an abandoned interchange along I-80 east of town, and Alt US 395/I-580 in Pleasant Valley to get a closer look at the Galena Creek Bridge and the near-ghost town of Washoe City.

If anyone would prefer one of the above options, let me know. We are getting a couple of abandoned alignments elsewhere on the tour, so the idea with the Geiger Lookout was to mix it up a bit.