79 miles ridden – 1555 feet climbed.

Today was a day of two halves – two totally different rides.

It started with a fabulous breakfast in the Cowboy Cafe – real American breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon which set me up really well. We had a momentary hiccup when the wind picked up and it looked like it was going to rain but we were heading to clear blue sky so off we went. The instructions were fairly straight forward – if you look at the picture below and remove information to do with stops etc it was basically 4 turns covering 79 miles:

The scenery was stunning as we descended from the foothills of the mountains into the wide open flat lands. Red rock weathered in unusual lines interspersed with small farms and houses and the meandering Wind River. Did I mention the tailwind?  The first 60 miles or so we had an incredible tailwind that gave us a non-pedalling cruising speed of about 18 mph which we of course topped up to an average of about 25 mph which was fabulous after the last days of climbing. It even blew us up a hill. 

The last 20 miles however were altogether different. The impact of a storm in the mountains was very strong cross winds (about 35mph gusting at 55mph) which slowed us right down and required us to ride at an angle of about 70 degrees to compensate and even then there were a few occasions where it gusted so strongly we were all a bit worried. Fortunately at its worst we were only about 8 miles out of Riverton so we made it in. No one spoke for about 20 mins but as we ate lunch and sugar levels lifted smiles returned although the final half mile from Dairy Queen to the hotel was still challenging.

By the time we went for dinner at 5PM the sun was out, the wind had fallen, and it was 91F/33C. It’s 7:20 now and apart from the late dinner shift everyone has gone to bed. 5:30 breakfast tomorrow and a 120 mile ride through nothing lies ahead of us. I feel numb at the prospect which I guess is progress from the beginning of the trip, but Friday is a rest day which we are ALL looking forward to.

Such is the scale among us of Saddle Interface Friction Issues currently that there is a black market running in Band-Aid hydro colloid adhesive pads and Butt Balm. It is actually the most common topic of conversation after the weather as no one is interested in discussing bikes anymore. By the way thanks to Wayne Owide for the Butt Shield!!

We have now cycled 1242 miles – that’s a third of the trip. Remarkably my legs are fine but I intend to spend my rest day either standing or lying on my front but before that I need to think my way through what the lady on the front desk at the hotel referred to as ‘120 miles of emptiness and tumbleweeds’. So far I have come up with it being like the Dunwich Dynamo night ride except less interesting and with the darkness of night to distract me from monitoring my Garmin. Whatever – I get a day off and hopefully a massage.