After a good night’s sleep which was much needed, Lisa Marie and I sat down for a nice breakfast before embarking on today’s journey. The majority of today’s ride is downhill approximately 3,000 ft. But there will still be over a thousand feet of climbing. Yay more downhill. The morning temperature was what I always anticipated as I traveled west. I woke up to 41 degrees. When I planned the average low temperature for most of the US in the morning was 51 degrees with the exception of getting into the altitude out West when it would hit 41. I would say the first week it followed the plan. After that it has been nothing but higher than average temperatures all across the US. The Heat wave has touched every part of the United States. I am so glad I am nowhere near the southern border with temperatures rising into the one twenties. Heading out of town there was only one way to go only a couple of turns to navigate to get to the next large town. I had more miles planned than what eventually I was able to do. Knowing that Lisa Marie was there I’m trying to plan additional miles and see what the day brings. When I was traveling solo I couldn’t afford a mistake. That mistake could cost me my life. Rolling out of town the downhill started. Oh what a joy. It was a good thing today’s route was mostly downhill because the 17 mph headwinds were in my face for almost thirty miles. I still made great time. There were several difficult climbs, but nothing like yesterday.
I met a local runner Paul who challenges himself every year to run to Wyoming and back. He said that was a 7 Mile round trip from his cabin. (he lives 3.5 miles from the border). If I had to guess he was somewhere between 65 and 70 years old and he sure was cruising along. Go Paul! After about 40 miles in I met an east bounder (coast to coast) named Tim. He and his wife traveled from their home on the East Coast to start in Oregon. He mentioned that the shipping company lost his bike and he was forced to buy a brand new one on the West Coast to begin his journey . He was trying to cross the country in about 40 to 45 days. That meant he was riding approximately 100 miles a day. No thanks!! I don’t want that kind of structure. Too many things can happen with the weather, wind, and fatigue.
Lisa Marie and I played Hopscotch along the road as she was able to find little turn offs to read her book and wait to see me pass. Today I was drinking far more than I did yesterday. I’m pretty sure part of my problem yesterday was I did not eat or drink enough with the altitude. Even though I probably drank two gallons of water yesterday it clearly was not enough. The shoulder along the road was nice and wide. At times I wandered between the shoulder and the road. Lisa Marie was wondering why. The shoulder for many miles was dark blacktop. The road with some type of surface that seemed like blacktop but it was significantly lighter. That meant the reflected heat coming back to me was greatly reduced out on the road. Because the traffic pattern was very light and I was able to look in my rearview mirror to see any one coming, I was able to move in and out of the shoulder to avoid the fast moving traffic. About 50 miles in we entered a small town where we took some time to have a nice sit down lunch at a super cool little bar and grilled called the 307. If I judge the book by the cover I never would have walked in. The inside and the food were fabulous. And I learned that 307 is the one and only area code for all of Wyoming. So now you know. Getting back on the bike and traveling remaining miles of my planned journey I quickly realized that it was going to end short of the destination planned. While we were sitting eating our lunch the Crosswinds picked up to a point where I almost was blown off the bike three times. I have no way of knowing what the gusts were but they were clearly over 25, if not 30 miles an hour. I plotted a gps location of where we will start in the morning. The winds in the morning are nonexistent. Tonight we ended in the Hot Springs of Saratoga for a long awaited anniversary celebration that I missed while I was solo riding over a month ago. Lisa Marie and I enjoyed a wonderful Italian dinner which is what this town is known for. I was told by multiple sources that this tiny little restaurant that we ate at was a destination that people traveled over 100 miles to go to. It was a great end to a great day. Happy belated Anniversary.
Insights from Lisa Marie
This morning, we left Walden early, so Norm could beat the heat. After having breakfast at the little restaurant, we started making our way towards Encampment Wyoming. This time is much more flat with lots of open spaces, especially after we crossed over the state line into Wyoming. All I saw was lots of ranches with cattle horses and sheep. As I drove for miles, I and would see the same ranch name encompassing hundreds of acres. The fun thing today, was we got to see some wildlife. Also, instead of hitting a squirrel running across the road, as we are so used to in Michigan, it was a prairie dog. But he made it safely to the other side. We had a great lunch at the 307 pub. I laughed when I saw the population sign for Riverside. The number was 66. Our server at lunch told us there are more cattle than people. I can believe that after what I saw. Norm seems to be doing ok With riding during the morning, however after lunch, he was going to attempt to ride some more but we stopped after 6 miles. The wind was brutal coming across the plain and the temps were at 98 and climbing. I’m glad we made it to Saratoga where we stayed at the Hot Springs resort. We enjoyed some time in a little private TeePee hot spring pool and a wonderful dinner at Bell’s in town.
