Headline of the day: Strong winds

Sunday, June 21   Day 15  Walden, CO to Rawlins, WY    110 miles

I had to laugh at this sign on Interstate 80. Strong winds possible? Here I was after about 7 hours since we departed Walden, and we had experienced extremely strong winds all day long -- and then this sign says they're "possible"? hahahaha  It was especially funny because at the time I saw this sign, I was riding INTO about 25-mph headwinds. Luckily, the winds were helpful most of the day -- for about 80 of the miles.

It was a bright, sunny day to begin (with strong tailwinds), and I got this great shot of Bob and Susan Long.

The road ahead was as straight as those late yesterday, but at least we had some hills to break up the monotony.

At the 22-mile rest stop, we crossed into Wyoming. Since my tour ends Wednesday, this is my final state, whereas the other original five have Montana, British Columbia, and Alberta yet to reach. Oh, and check out the landscape ahead. It typifies most of what we saw today, although we did ride through some areas with rivers and trees and more to see.

This decrepit cabin struck me as representing this part of the old west. You wonder what its history was?

Something besides cows! I associated these horses with the movie The Horse Whisperer since, in the end, Robert Redford releases his horse to a wild herd in ...Wyoming.

Lest anyone forget, after many more miles up the road, it looked like... THIS!  The good part was, we still had a strong tailwind. My average speed was about 21.5 mph at this point, which tells you how strong that wind was.

Such a delightful thing to finally see - water! All those days in Colorado with all that water, and now I rejoice to see a little. This is the Encampment River in Riverside, where we had our 2nd rest stop at mile 49. Just prior to this, for about 10 miles, the winds became headwinds and we slowed way down. Fortunately, in Riverside, our road turned right and it made the winds tailwinds again.

Here's a photo of the Riverside rest stop, and you can see we had a little greenery.

At mile 68 we had our lunch stop, and it was really windy. The food items kept blowing away. Dennis made me a hearty ham and cheese sandwich, and I got all refueled. No photos from the lunch.

When I resumed my ride, the winds were favorable and pushing me along at a fast clip. This marker notes the Overland Trail and the Platte River crossing, 1861 to 1868. I rode over the wide and fast-moving Platte River as I was leaving the lunch stop in Saratoga, but they were doing road work and routing us by in a single lane, so I couldn't stop to take a picture. It looked very nice, that river.

When I got here, the fun of riding with a strong tailwind was over! As you can see, I reached Interstate 80, where I had to turn west, directly into the wind.  Rawlins was still 22 miles away. At that point, I had an average speed of 20.5 mph, which again indicates how strong the day's tailwinds had been. I had been excited about getting to ride on The Lincoln Highway for a short distance at this spot. However, at the rest stop just under the freeway there, Paul said he had scouted ahead and the Lincoln Highway was left in disrepair, and we could not ride on it. So, instead of that, we would ride on Interstate 80 from here.

I should mention that my front derailleur was still no better, so I still was without the use of many of my middle gears. However, on this day, with the tail winds, I was comfortable using the higher gears available to me. And, with the strong headwinds at the end, my low gears suited me. Thus, I did not really need the middle gears today that I could not use.

Other than having to ride into the strong headwind, riding on an interstate is not bad at all. The shoulder was wide and smooth, and the big semi trucks would always provide a welcomed push of air as they zoomed past. Some big rigs would move over to the left lane to give me extra room, but I would think "No no, stay in the right lane and give me your push!"

After 15 miles on the interstate, I got off at the town of Sinclair, so named for the huge Sinclair Oil refinery there. The town has only 453 residents. This historical marker explains how it originally was the Producers and Refiners Oil Company (PARCO), and they built this impressive Parco Inn. And the city was named Parco. But in 1934, they sold to Sinclair, who changed the city's name to match the new name of the oil company.

This is the final lonely stretch of road into Rawlins. I was no longer helped by the passing big rigs, so this was the most difficult stretch to ride again the wind that by now was gusting up to 30 mph. But it lasted only about six miles. I was glad to finally be done with the ride! I had been out for nearly 8 hours, and riding for 6 hours.

The reward! Corey and Bob Long brought these to Ken's and my room (I don't recall if I ever said in my blog that I'm rooming with Ken Whiteside), and boy, were they refreshing! I love the name too, since we will soon be riding in the Grand Tetons.

Our dinner was at a Thai restaurant, and what a welcome change that was! We split up the group, since the five Maryland riders wanted to eat where there was a TV so they could watch the final rounds of the U.S. Open golf tournament. They are all huge golfing fans.

Tomorrow is a 125-mile day to Lander. We are optimistic that the forecast calls for much cooler temperatures and, more importantly, far lighter winds (4 to 10 mph). And, the winds are supposed to be favorable for our northwest direction ride. We hope that forecast will hold up!

Map and profile:  http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7849963