July 4
As I was riding the route I said many
times, "If I never see this stretch of road, hwy 26, Riverton to Casper,
Wyoming, again, that would be too soon!”
What a Day! Breakfast was served
at 5 AM so we could get a head start on the heat and wind. I pedaled on out of town by 5:30 and it was
already in the mid 60's. Wind wasn't a
problem for the first 20 miles. As I
passed through the small town of Shoshoni, I made a pit stop and bought a
chocolate candy bar - for later. It's a
good boost of caffeine when needed.
Then it all began. The wind, the
heat. Our first SAG stop was at mile
34.7 on a dirt pull off. Everyone there
when I stopped was pretty low key and quiet.
Looked like it was gearing up to be a repeat of the second half of
yesterday's ride, and we were trying to get ourselves mentally psyched up for
the loooong ride to Casper.
It was so barren, absolutely no change, mile after mile, in the
scenery. Low grasses, low sagebrush, and gently undulating terrain to the left
and right of the road. The road stretch
on endlessly. The road surface at this
point was pretty good. Ten foot wide
berms. That seems so strange to have
this low traffic, big wide road and wide berms. And back in the mountains the
berms are sometimes 8 inches on one side only. (Straight up the mountain on the
opposite side)
When I get home you'll see the photo I took - I'll post it - of the
sign on the road entering the town on Moneta.
Population: 10 Welcome to small town USA. This was at 42 miles into the ride and I wasn't doing much but
staying as low as possible, down in the lower handlebars, all tucked in, and
head down, just looking at the road up to five feet in front of me I was in a low gear spinning as easy as I
could to try and get through the 40 + mph winds. It was so difficult I was trying anything to re-invent my
ride. I put in one ear piece to my
little radio and was listening to a Casper radio station. I hated it when they would get to the
weather report: 101 degrees by the afternoon.
They were playing all kinds of patriotic music. I liked the marching band music and would
think back to my high school days in the band, playing my black licorice stick
(a.k.a. clarinet), and marching downtown Wahpeton in the 4th of July
parades. It did put a little, tiny
little, bit of pep in my pedaling. But
then at 10 AM a repeat show of Rush Limbach came on, and I couldn't bear to
listen to that for three hours. It was
the only station I could get in out there in the middle of NO WHERE!! I rode around a dead rattle snake. Hey, hadn't seen one of those in a couple of
days. . . I was drinking water every
couple of minutes, hoping it would last until the SAG at mile 62.2.
The wind just got stronger and stronger, I was near tears. I kept telling myself that this wind was NOT
going to overpower me, but it did. I stopped and just cried out, "I can
not go one more mile. This is too
hard." Others would pass by,
hardly looking up, just the usual greeting, "Hi, Sara, how ya
doing?" We were all in the same
boat, struggling and trying to remain focused.
I stopped and thought I really hope someone is praying for me RIGHT
NOW! I had my cell phone in my bike
bag, and the only number I have programmed in this new phone is my home phone
number. I press "1" and it
rang home. I thought if Paul was home I
would ask him to Pleeeeeese say a prayer.
It went something like this:
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaa, I can't do this, I can't move through this wind,
there is nothing to see, I'm all alone out here!" He said he would say a prayer, and I got
back on my bike and made it the next four miles into the SAG. Fourteen other people had dropped, like
flies.
When I got to this place, Hilland, WY population 10, I was really
hurting. There was a cafe/bar, mom and
pop owned, that was serving sandwiches.
I went in and ordered a hamburger thinking some lunch would help revive
me and I could better make a decision what I was going to do about
continuing. The owner called out to his
wife to make a hamburg. She went in the
back to which was their private living quarters to make this burger. I think she had to first go out on the back
30,000 acre ranch and kill the steer first, because it took a very long time to
get this sandwich.
It did give me a chance to look around the place while I sat in the
only two booths in the place. Right
next to the booth was a glass display case full of rattlesnakes! All of them preserved by taxidermy, coiled
up and their fangs showing. I could
have bought just the rattler tail for ten bucks. The sign read, "Hat Pins $10.00" I thought maybe I could stick it on my
helmet as a souvenir of the wild, wild west.
No, thanks.
I finished my sandwich and a cool orange Popsicle and it was a
tough decision, but I was going to try it from the 91 mile spot on into Casper
the last 30 miles. I filled my three
water bottles, putting one in my bike bag, and filled my waist pack hydration
bag. I poured water on my head kerchief
and put it on my head under my helmet and wet another kerchief and put it
around my neck. I set out.
Lo and behold the wind calmed down and the going went a lot
better. Fr. Jim came up along side me
and said, "I can't believe it, it is like the Red Sea has been parted for
us." Meaning this reprieve from
the wind was a Godsend. Hotter than
hell.
Oh, I stopped at place that was called, Wyoming's Hell's Half
Acre. It was a strange sight out there
in the middle of nothing to see this geological formation. It was a very deep gully with steep ragged
rock that rose up to a plateau. At one
time the Indians rounded up buffalo down there. I didn't linger long because stopping in the heat was almost
unbearable.
At least when the bike is moving along I get some air moving around
me. I plastered more sunscreen on
me. But it was pretty bad at this time
because my legs and face were full of grit, and rubbing the lotion around in
the grit was yucky.
As I was pedaling along I came up along side of 3 black steer
grazing on the grasses. I looked over
at them and to entertain my self a little I shouted out to them, "Mooooo,
moooooo." They all looked up and
if they were probably thinking, what is that insane thing out there riding that
blue steel camel? But just then a
little animal came running up to the fence and it was a baby antelope. It was so cute and it ran along the fence
making a lamb/cat noise. It was brown
with big ears, and it had white spots.
I stopped to take a picture, but then it quickly turned and ran
away. Sure was a cute little animal,
and didn't seem afraid when it ran along the fence trying to keep up with me.
Slowly the miles were behind me and Casper was closer. As I climbed one last long gradual hill,
when I crested it the scenery changed dramatically. I could see Casper Mountain and a long range of mountains. This is a ski area that people use in the
winter. And big white fluffy clouds
were forming in the sky up ahead over the town. It was forecast to rain in the evening. When I got about five miles out of town it was like I entered a
spot of sweet relief. I had come under
the cloud covering, and what a cooling reprieve it was over my body.
I rolled into the Holiday Inn that sits right along side of the
Platte River. It was about 4:30
PM. I could hardly get to the room fast
enough to shower and go to the whirlpool. I was so hungry after that very long
hot, hot ride.
Many people just didn't make it all the way today and used common
sense and rode all or some of the way in today. One fella is in the hospital getting an IV as he didn't drink or
eat enough. A day off tomorrow. Very needed rest.
I saw a postcard
back in Riverton. It had a scenic
picture of Wyoming and it said on the bottom, "Wyoming - Not for
whimps!"
We bikers are not
whimps! The hotel clerk said this morning it was 101 degrees yesterday
afternoon. I felt every degree on my
body! Really, it is quite amazing how
we just recover right away. A shower,
and we are ready all set and nary a complaint and we are ready to go for
another adventure the next day.
I will go to the
library and send my journal to Paul.