RENO, Nev. (AP) — Jan Bennett endured food poisoning, hail and near misses with tornado weather on her solo bicycle ride across the entire 2,220-mile (3,572-kilometer) Pony Express Trail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California.

The former cycling road racer from Dallas, who made the trip as part of her effort to map out a bike-packing route along the historic trail knew it wouldn't be easy.

But she wasn't fully prepared for her toughest challenge yet in a remote piece of terrain in northern Nevada, where the climb was too steep and rough to ride and water was scarce.

More than 1,7...