ROUTE:
Landers to Rawlins, WY |
DISTANCE:
94 miles |
TOTAL CLIMBING:
2820 feet |
Click here for
Garmin
ride data
(This is cool
if you like lots of data! It may take a few seconds to load but you can hit play
and time compress our ride. )
DAILY REPORT: The
weather report predicted a windy day. It would start at 10knt and increase to
20+knts. Sunny day w/ possible thunder showers in the afternoon.
We
got up a little later than what I wanted. Ideally we would get out before the
wind really got howling but sometimes things just don't work out the way you
want. We knew we had a 40 min drive for Skip to drop us off where we started
yesterday some 30 mile outside of town. We needed to get gas and stopped just at
the edge of town. It turned out that the attendant was power washing the
driveway and Skip talked him into allowing us to use his power washer to clean
the car and trailer......it had been awhile and Skip wanted to make sure we
looked good while driving down the road! It turned out that the attendant was
prior service US Coast Guard and had been injured/shot while doing drug ops in
the Caribbean. Thanks for serving your country!
So the long and short
it was 1000 by the time we got on the road. Through out the
morning the 10 knt wind was on our starboard (right) beam (side) to just aft
abeam and getting stronger. To really take advantage of the pace line we
basically had to ride abreast of one another which is somewhat dangerous with
the width of the shoulder and the rumble strip. We talked safety several times
but the gusting wind made things unpredictable. On one occasion the boys touched
bikes but thankfully no one went down. There definitely was an adrenaline rush
though for the boys and exchange a few choice words to one another!
In
the morning we came across a number of horses and colts along the road. We
decided to stop and take a look. they seemed friendly enough so the boys went
over and were ultimately able to pet them. Skip showed up shortly there after.
John really wanted to make friends, so he went back and got some water for them.
They seemed to appreciate the H2O.
We stopped for lunch
at Muddy Flats. By then the wind was really howling and the boys were getting
tired so it was good place to stop and recuperate. Granny Carole and Grandpa Bob
were also there. Skip had found a nice bit of shade under some Whispering Aspens
at a DOT building. By now the wind was gusting up to 25-30 knts (yep the calibrated
sailors eye!) and our road had shifted directly into the wind. The boys were
anything but enthused to ride another 50 miles into Rawlings!!
After lunch I told
them to "Cowboy up and lets go!" Skip initially was driving along the
shoulder of the road acting as a wind block. We tried that for a couple of miles
but ultimately decided that it was too unsafe and sent him on ahead to our next
water stop. For the next 35 miles we had gusts of winds that shifted from ahead
to the beam; gusts of wind that would nearly push the bike out from under us! We
really had to be careful that we didn't get pushed into the traffic that was
going by. As predicted we got a few showers but it wasn't too significant and we
dried out after 5 mins or so.
We
crossed two more continental divides today. That now brings us up to six
crossings so far. We are now seeing a lot more bikers. Some are going from East
to West and others like ourselves are going West to East all taking different
variations of the TransAmerican Route. We met Andrew who was from KY and was
also doing a charity ride. There was also Paul from Northern England. A very
friendly chap. They both started from Astoria, OR on 19 Jun. They were amazed
how far we traveled since we left Silverdale on 28 Jun. Today we have traveled
over 1300 miles so we are officially a quarter done w/ our ride. Hard to
believe!!
We
checked into the Quality Inn of Rawlings around 1730. Long day. Took a quick
shower and went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. Granny Carole and Grandpa
Bob were also staying in the same hotel. Tina the hotel receptionist gave us
some free dinner and breakfast pass to help support the Riding4Hope Team which
was very nice. At the end of dinner, the Grandparents surprised John and James
with a birthday cake and cards. It was very sweet of them. They will have headed
back to FL on Sunday and wanted to celebrate their BDay a little early. Their
actual BDay is 31 JUL. Interestingly for at least the last five years, the boys
have not had a BDay at home. They have always been on some Boy Scout adventure
and have celebrated their BDay at some cool places ranging from the National
Jamboree to Philmont. I guess this summer will be no different.
I did have a
electronic casualty in which my Blackberry no longer would play music through
the ear piece. It appears that the plug has failed on the device. It will be
over a month before I can get a replacement from the Lab and the lack of music
for the ride was not an option. So this evening I went out in town and found a
cheap MP3 player I could use. Unfortunately the store I stopped at had only 1G
version so I expect I'll be listening to a number of repeating songs since the
device can only hold 500 songs or so which I will easily go through over ethe
course of a day's ride.
Tomorrow we will be
leaving WY and entering CO. That will make state #5 and will obviously include
the major climbs of our entire ride. Now that sounds like fun!!
Thanks for joining
us.....ride safely......and keep the wind to your back!!
The Riding4Hope Team
(David, John, James & Skip)
Signing out 7/14/09; 0150
YOU DON'T SAY:
John - "Did I say I
don't like hills; make that I don't like hills and wind!"
James - "So you mean
to tell me we are going to be fighting the wind the entire day?!!"
Skip - after lunch with
wind howling through the canyon "Hey I went up ahead before I
selected this spot for lunch. On the other side there is no wind. I
promise!"
David - "The only
thing that would make this wind more enjoyable would be if we were
riding in the rain." That happened 30 mins later.
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DID I REALLY DO THAT?:
Prior to dinner Skip had
ordered a beer and was taking his time enjoying it. He was three quarters
done w/ his beer when he looked down and saw a fly floating in his beer.
Skip replayed "Oh man, I think a fly just landed in my beer."
David replied, "Yep, I guess you should have been drinking a little
faster and you would have had that problem."
![](images/d16_beer.JPG)
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PHOTOS OF THE DAY |
Every morning we do a preride photo op. Some days the boys appear to be
happier than other days. Today they are pensive about the wind! |
Split Rock was a major navigation land mark for the early settlers on
the Oregon Trail. At the base of Split Rock for a time there was also a
Pony Express coral back in the 1860's.
|
Riding into Muddy Flats. This is how we spent most of ride today next
to one another because of the strong cross wind.
|
Skip at his finest. Although he doesn't personally own a cell phone;
has been putting them to good use on this trip. He has been instrumental
in acquiring us free lodging in support of the Riding4Hope Team. |
You would be like this too after following one another for nearly 100
miles. Leave me alone...I need my space!!
|
Everyone having a nice plate of baby back ribs. They was a lot and they
were quite tasty. It is amazing what the boys can pack away after a long
day of riding! |
More
photos on Facebook Album
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Tomorrow
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