Monday, June 22 Day 16 Rawlins to Lander, WY 127 miles
I'm at our 9th crossing of the Continental Divide, early in the long ride to Lander. I was pedaling for almost 7 hours (8½ hours total for the ride including the stops), but we had many scenic spots along the way to keep it interesting. It was fairly wide-open horizon during the beginning, but the geological features became more dramatic and interesting as the day went on. I got far more fatigued today that I normally would have due to the lack of the middle gears on my bike; for much of the day, I had to use a higher gear than I should have been using, which pooped me out.
Here's one of the vast views ahead that we had during the first 40 miles. "Vast" is an understatement in Wyoming.
This was CD crossing #8, which I somehow missed early in the ride. I left later than
everyone else, and I must have been focused on catching up. When we
arrived later at crossing #9, I said it was #8 but Corey corrected me.
He said he would send me this photo he took of #8.
Once I caught up to the others, I rode with them. Here, Paul and the five guys from Maryland are in a paceline (love the shadows). After my neck surgery, I no longer ride in pacelines due to an increased risk of a fall, but if I ride behind I can get nice photographs of them!
This is at our 42-mile rest stop, at Three Forks, or Muddy Gap, a crossroads for the Oregon/Mormon Trail. Between 1812 and 1869, 500,000 emigrants took this trail to head west. We followed it ourselves for the next many miles northwestward.
I like this picture because you can see many of our group climbing the hill away from Three Forks. And, notice the barrier they can put down in case of too much snow or winds. We have seen those barriers at almost every exit or entrance to a populated area, or at a crossroads as this was. They were even on the onramps to Interstate 80.
My roommate, Ken Whiteside of Toronto. I believe he is our oldest rider at 71. I hope I can ride as well as he does when I am his age. You can see from his shadow that it was still early in the day. I departed Rawlins at 7:30 and this is at the 52-mile point, probably 11 am or so.
The Oregon/Mormon Trail passed through this valley, known as Split Rock. Later, there was a Pony Express station here too.
The story of our lunch stop was: Mosquitoes! They were THICK! I looked down at my leg upon arriving and smashed at least 10 of them immediately. My leg was a mosquito morgue. I quickly sprayed on mosquito repellent, and it worked! I was able to sit in that chair you can see off in the sun, and eat in peace. Where was everyone else? In the vans to escape the little pests. They thought I was crazy for staying out there, but the repellent really was working just fine.
This lunch stop was in Jeffery City, which was barely a town anymore at all. Just a few residents. However, in the late 40s and 50s, it was a bustling town of 30,000! Why? Uranium mining. As the cold war ended in the late 80s, so did the town of Jeffery City.
After lunch, our horizon ahead was still vast as in the lunch photo above, but then we climbed a long hill and this was our view from the summit. Very beautiful. You can see our road on the left, and also across the distant horizon from left to right through the center of the photograph. This was where the scenery got really interesting.
Another view of our road ahead (way down in the center of the photo), and it was stunning. We had a long, long descent at this point, ending at Mile 103. Only 24 miles to go!
Yet another view during that long descent. I was at about Mile 98 for this picture. When my odometer read exactly 100 miles, I had been riding for 5:17. The previous day when I reached 100 miles, my time was 5:06. These times are very fast for me, but it's due to tailwinds and more downhill than up.
One of our talked-about portions of the day was this many-mile construction area at about Mile 103. The sign says a 7-minute wait, but mine was 12 minutes - standing there in the sun. Then when the light turned green, it was quite a long section of rough road and bad smell from the tar and stuff. The road was rough and our whole bodies were getting jumbled, but finally it ended and I let out a huge sigh of relief when it was smooth again. We were so spread out, I went through this by myself, not with any other riders.
As I continued on during the final 20 miles, I caught this view of a snow-covered peak off in the distance. The views over the final 35 miles were stunning.
Another view of the cliffs on the right and our descent ahead.
With just about 8 miles to go, I saw something I hadn't seen all day -- WATER! It was a small lake, but there's a ski boat on it. Wyoming-ans make use of whatever water they can get!
After 126 miles, a welcomed sight! Just a mile to go to our motel. Lander is a fairly large city, and had all the amenities, such as a brew pub and great restaurants.
Bob and Susan walking down to the Cowfish Brew Pub and Restaurant.
Ken Whiteside and Susan Long memorializing that elk statue as we walked to the brew pub.
The new Lander Brewing Company was very upscale and crowded with locals. This photo of the old Lander Brewing Co was on their wall. Ken Whiteside treated everyone (I had their Jack Mormon Pale Ale.) We then had a marvelous dinner in our own room at their restaurant. I was starving after our long ride, and loved my pork shank prepared spicy southwestern style.
As a final touch to the day, Robert Massey treated everyone to ice cream! I had the featured Chokecherry ice cream and it was fabulous.
Tomorrow will be 75 miles to Dubois (pronounced DEW' boys). It gives us inspiration to think our distance is 52 miles less than today! Here is the map and profile: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7850019
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