Finally, some mountains to look at!

Just one of the many views from this morning!

Certainly one of the best parts of Wyoming so far has been the drastic change of scenery. If anything that’s what’s been keeping my legs spinning all day long through the horrible head winds and ever ascending terrain. People warned us about the winds when we were as far back as Nebraska and we just kinda laughed and brushed it off. There have been times when people told us “big hills, no towns, you’ll never find water, you’ll probably die” only to find an oasis with waterfalls, ice cream, and girls in Bikinis. So unless someone seems like a frequent traveler or like a cyclist, we’ve learned to take their advice with a grain of salt.

In the last couple of days we’ve reached an altitude of 6700 ft about a 2500 ft gain. Tomorrow we get to cycle up our first mountain pass of 9500 ft, something which im excited for but dreading at the same time. It’s colder (which is a nice change) but its also much harder to breathe. Even hills that up until now I laughed at make me sound like the creepy weezing kid from middle school. And the worst part of all, the constant head wind that has you fighting up hills also has you fighting down hills just to maintain a very, very unfortunate pace of 12 mph. Very sad to anyones standard.  Like I said though if it weren’t for this amazing scenery, mountains mountains and mountains! Wyoming would have been so far my least favorite place of the trip. Like I always tell Marcus, “If we’re going to get our asses kicked by these mountains we’re going to at least have a nice view to go with it” which is definitely makes it not so bad. Maybe I should revise that though, since I’m definitely the one that gets most of the “ass kicking”, Marcus- skinny and fit- me..not so much.

Yesterday we left a town by the name of Shishoni in hopes to reach Dubois (103 miles) by the end of the day. Unfortunately for us we had a headwind of about 25 – 30 mph all day through the “wind river mountains” and slugged slow as time through about 80 miles of terrain. For the past few days my knee has been acting up so the extra stress on it didn’t make me happy at all. So there I was again attempting a 100 mile day on a tiny bike seat with a sore bum and an inflamed knee. 

We finally ended the day in a town called Crowsheart in the middle of the Indian Reservation (is that politically correct?) which consisted of a few houses scattered across the valley and one store which had closed an hour and a half earlier. Our friend Tom warned us about being on the “res” (ervation) and going out after dark, so its been a continuing joke between Marcus and I to “watch out for the Reds on the res” as bad as that sounds.

 Last night we had to put his warning aside and sleep on the side of the road somewhere because it had started getting dark and cold before we could get to Dubois. We decided spend the night under the local volunteer fire departments pavilion, we didn’t think anyone would mind. Plus we figured we could keep an eye out for any night invaders trying to steal a fire engine or something.

Cycling with a view

Before bed I chugged down a coke and fell asleep faster than a little kid in the back seat of the car. It used to be kind of sketchy sleeping in a strange place without the FEELING of safety and comfort of a camp ground. I used to take forever to fall asleep and would check out everything that made a sound that i wasn’t familiar with, just to be safe. Then one night in a campground we heard several gun shots in the not so far distance which of course ignited some serious imaginative scenario playing in my mind. I rested that night by telling myself that it was probably just the construction workers working on the road we had seen earlier, but that’s just what i told myself.

On this trip I’ve realized how important sleep is. A restless night means a horrible next day because that day usually starts at 5 am. I think 99 % of the time in a situation like sleeping in some random woods, abandoned lot etc etc nothing bad will happen, and if it does you shouldn’t spend your time waiting around getting stressed about it. Take it as it comes (if it ever does). A tent, a camp site, is really just provides for a false sense of security. Who designates them safe from weirdos and wild animals? Just a thought I had this morning after a good good sleep ready to tackle another day :)

PS- the coolest part of my trip so far has been the last 30 miles we’ve cycled. The most amazing views of canyons, snow-capped mountains, and rolling plains. It’s definitely something that everyone should get to appreciate before they are confined to a retirement home. Ill post some photos (which doesn’t do the views justice at all!)

Tomorrow we’re off the the Grand Tetons. Can’t wait!