Wyoming: Part 2

Thursday turned out to be quite an adventure. 108 miles between Gillette and Sheridan were on the agenda. After watching others change their flat tire over the past few days, I realized I had a flat as I was getting ready to move my bike from it's parking spot in the hallway. The new tube exploded while I was pumping it up. That has to be some kind of record: two flats before even getting on the bike. Somewhere before the 1st rest stop (if my memory is correct), I had a third flat. I was riding by myself at the time but others were close behind and soon there was quite a crowd. Greg's eagle eyes found a small piece of glass and a wire in my tire which me removed and I made it the rest of the day with my tire intact.

The scenery has changed since we got out of the Black Hills. The hills are still there but there is very little vegetation other than different types of grasses and prairie flowers. There were times when I felt like I was in North Africa in the spring minus the cactus. Then during one of my bathroom breaks (over the hill and behind some of those grasses), I did discover a small cactus.

Around mile 38 of our ride we came to a red light with a sign requesting that we wait for the pilot car. We had received a text message from the support van that it would come pick us up and ferry us across the 5 miles of mainly dirt. One of the topics of conversation during supper was how everyone had gotten across. Some of those at the front had asked a man in a pickup pulling a 5th wheel trailer if he could ferry them across. The bikes went in the trailer and the riders in the back of the pickup - which is legal here in Wyoming. One rider with me went across with the pilot car. The support van and trailer came back and transported 4 bikes on the bike rack, 2 in the van, and 1 in the trailer. About the same time a supervisor came with a pickup taking the 4 remaining cyclists. I have been impressed with and grateful for the kindness of the construction workers in Wyoming. A few days before they allowed us to ride on the "closed" side of the interstate and advised us where to ride so we could avoid the nails and here they helped us get across and area that was impassable to road bikes. (And they cut our 108 mile trip down to 103.55.)

After the 3rd rest stop, Melissa had a flat. Once again I asked the question of the day, "How many people dressed in orange does it take to change a flat?" Melissa, however, has the best small pump which actually allows one to get a good amount of pressure into the tire.

By this point, Leah, Melissa, and I were in back with John and John, the sweeps of the day. We came into a valley that was like an oasis. What a difference a creek makes! It was a beautiful valley and as we rode along at a pretty good clip we saw some deer, an osprey watching over its young in a nest on top of a pole, and a hawk that was being attacked by a couple of smaller birds. Along the route we caught glimpses of snow covered mountains through the distant haze. We learned later that the haze is actually smoke from forest fires in Canada. We had plenty of time for good conversations which always make the miles go by more quickly. Before this trip, 100 miles seemed to be a huge undertaking. Now it is just another adventurous day in the saddle which happened to take 9 hours due to all our stops (6:47 actual pedaling time.)

Our home for the night was in the Presbyterian church. We were given the run of the place, and since I was on the dinner crew, I helped fix some tacos to feed this bunch. There were very few left overs. My mat was laid out in a corner of the sanctuary, and I was asleep a few minutes after laying my head on the pillow despite much laughter coming from the hallway.

This morning we rolled out of Sheridan about 7:00. I ended up in a group with Gerry, John and Everett and for the first 20 miles, it seemed like it might be a long day. The crosswinds weren't strong but they were enough to slow us down and we all seemed to be feeling the effects of the 100+ miles covered the previous day. At the first rest stop I heard Everett encouraging his legs to wake up and telling his saddle, "Stop hurting my butt". Shortly after we started up again he declared his legs awake and he was happy to be up front for awhile. A decent climb took us up to the Montana border and the obligatory photo op. By the time we left there the group had grown to 9 people. The climb continued leaving Everett and I lagging behind. We fought hard to catch back on the tail of the group and the rest of the ride was very enjoyable. We rode at a comfortable 17-19 mph in a pace line. That meant that I was actually in the front taking the wind for about 5 minutes every 20-22 miles. Everett, Lydia and Gerry can manage to cycle and sing at the same time and they belted out some tunes along the way.

We arrived in Hardin, MT about 1:15, given plenty of time to shower, take a nap, and catch up on these posts. We are staying at the high school. The wrestling mats will get the prize for being the softest floor we sleep on and the home-ec classroom is a great kitchen to use to make our supper.