Day 22 - May 12

Coming at you from Rawlins, WY.  Here's a quick re-cap of the past day and a half:  After leaving Walden, CO about 4:00pm on Day 21 headed north toward the Wyoming border.  I found an incredibly beautiful campsite along the North Platte River - 5 miles south of the border (sorry, no pictures allowed at this computer).  The camping couldn't have been better.  I awoke on Day 22 to sunshine warming my tent at 6:30am.  I was up and ready to go.  The only mishap at this beautiful camp was my Camelbak leaked during the night and I had about a quart of sticky Gatorade in my tent.  No reason to cry over spilt Gatorade - even at 3:00am.  I cleaned it up - the best I could and went back to sleep.

I set out riding after packing camp on Friday morning, May 12 and headed for Rawlins, WY - 93 miles away.  I knew from the maps that it was mostly flat with the occasional hill.  If I didn't have any wind I felt I could make it.  Well, betting on no wind in WY is like betting that you're not gonna get wet in a swimming pool.  Windy Wyoming.  Beautiful....but windy.  I rode as hard as I could for 10.5 hours today, into heavy headwinds and crosswinds all day - and eaked out a 9 mph average.  At times, my bike wouldn't even coast downhill because the headwind pushed you uphill.  During a 20 mile stretch of a brutal crosswind - where you rode leaning sideways - the wind took my caution flag that was on my trailer.  It had been there for over 1000 miles and at one point I looked back to check on everything and it was gone....somewhere in the last 10 miles.  Needless to say I was not pleased but I wasn't about to go back to look for it.  It's probably in Kansas by now anyway.  Despite the wind, I listened to some music to take the roar out of my ears.  Johnny Cash and The Allman Brothers were the inspiration I needed for this ride.  After a long day, I arrived into Rawlins right at dusk. I found a Taco Bell on the edge of town - I was very hungry.  Taco Bell was closed.  No, the restaurant was closed but the drive through was open.  OK then, I'll take my bike through the drive thru.  Got a funny and surprised look from the Hispanic kid working the cash register.  I asked him how he like living in Rawlins.  He said there wasn't much to do and the wind blew all the time.  I said I knew what he meant.  I picked up 10 tacos at the drive thru and a cool beer at the convenience store and checked into the Day's Inn across the street.  I have to admit that I was very pleased that Rawlins didn't offer any camping so a motel was my only option.  I looked forward to a shower, shave and a bed.  The lady at the Day's Inn said that it would be $84 and there were 3 high school track teams there so it may be a little noisy.  I rolled my eyes but what can you do.  She must have felt sorry for me after hearing about my day's journey because she gave me the $54 high school rate.  It's sunny and blue sky outside today.  I've had the continental breakfast here at the motel and I'm ready to ride again.  All I need to do is load up my gear and I'll be on the road by 9:00 or so.  As I look out across the motel lobby - the U.S. and Wyoming flags are flying on the motel's flagpole.  And yes, they are flapping in a stiff breeze.  I guess I'm in for another windy day of riding in Wyoming.

Windy Wyoming. Beautiful....but windy.