Nevada’s Route 50 was once considered a dangerous passage with “no points of interest.” But a group of intrepid cyclists changed the narrative, turning the open highway into a grand tour capable of inspiring something akin to an epiphany. For Rene Linares, the idea of going on a 413-mile bike tour on the “Loneliest Road in America” seemed crazy, but he figured that even if he did it only once, it would at least give him the opportunity to see a side of Nevada most hadn’t. “People said there was nothing to do out there,” he says. “They think that it’s boring, that it’s the desert. It’s all a matter of perspective.” The lack of passing motorists might qualify the road as lonely, but its banks are littered with herds of sheep, wild horses, antelope, and elk. Central Nevada has one of the lowest levels of light pollution in the Lower 48, which gives a clear view of the Milky Way every night, a view that inspired Linares to have what he calls “conversations with God.” What was once consid...