July 8, 2024
Day Twenty-four: Wheatland, Wyoming to Torrington, Wyoming
I was tired from the two back to back 100 mile days. I also didn't sleep well, in part because the cough had returned in the night. I might have to buy more Nyquil. I've already used two bottles on this tour.
So I decided to do a relatively short day, 50-something miles to Torrington, which would be the last Wyoming town.
I dawdled in my room for a while. I checked out the mediocre hotel breakfast, the highlight of which were the "Chef Pierre" individually wrapped Danishes. I have never seen these anywhere except at the continental breakfasts of mid-priced hotels. They are surprisingly good, and I took several of them with me for the road.
It was almost 9:00 when I finally rode away. I looked around the sleepy Wheatland downtown for a few minutes. There wasn't much happening.
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I left town on WY-316, also known as Antelope Gap Road. There was almost no traffic.
A pickup truck pulling some sort of farm equipment approached, and then turned around and pulled up beside me. We both stopped.
The driver, a middle aged man, asked "Are you riding through?"
I replied that I was riding to Torrington today, and he proceeded to give me several dire warnings about the condition of the dirt road which the state highway would transition to in several miles. He described the rockiness, the roughness, and the steepness of the road.
"The Harley guys who come through here for Sturgis try it, and they always turn back."
I told him that on my mountain bike, with its tough tires, I could ride virtually any rough dirt road.
And also: "I DON'T TURN BACK."
He looked dubious. "Well, I guess you can walk it if you have to."
I thanked him for the information, then he turned around and I continued on.
The road was paved for several more miles, although its condition worsened slightly after the "End of State Maintenance" sign.
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My map showed that pavement would end in about a mile. I fortified myself for this by eating one of the Chef Pierre Danishes from the hotel.
The pavement ended. The gravel was rough and rocky, and the descent down to the dry creek bed required a lot of care. The guy in the pickup truck earlier had described all this very accurately.
The road was rougher, with some annoying washboard sections, as I climbed up from the dry creek.
There was some sort of Christian camp out here in the middle of nowhere on this terrible road.
After that, the washboard was terrible - as bad as any in my memory. I weaved all over the road trying to avoid it. I was most successful riding on the very edge of the road, in the soft dirt. It made for very slow progress.
I could see ahead of me that the road looked different. It was blazing white in the sun. But I couldn't tell if it was gravel or pavement.
Finally I reached it, and was very happy to find that I'd finally reached the paved section of the road.
I did a long, fun descent into the valley below. I was in an agricultural area now - hay and corn. But why no soybeans? I've seen lots of irrigated fields of corn on this trip, but no beans.
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I stopped in Lingle, population 468, and went into Ty's Pit Stop, a convenience store with a few tables to sit at. I bought a large fountain Diet Pepsi and a lemon lime Gatorade and sat down. As is my custom, I did some people watching, and conversed with the store employees, in this case a young woman and a woman about my age. The young woman was not old enough to sell alcohol, so when someone came in to buy beer, she shouted out "Alcohol!", and the older woman would appear to complete the purchase.
An old man driving an RV walked in. He seemed confused in general, and confused specifically about where he was. He asked the two women, "How do I get to South Dakota? What town is this?"
They told him he was in Lingle, "L-I-N-G-L-E". Spelling the name of the town for him did not seem to help. He seemed surprised to learn that he was in Wyoming.
I observed him walk back to his RV and spread out a big Rand McNally road atlas across the steering wheel. Old school!
I asked the two employees if they had any lodging recommendations (or warnings) for when I stopped for the day in Torrington. The young woman immediately answered "The Cobblestone Hotel". The older woman named one of the cheaper, older, and poorly reviewed mom-and-pop motels. The young woman expressed surprise at this recommendation, but the older woman "I stayed there. It ain't so bad!"
I left the friendly store and took a few photos of Lingle. It seemed pretty nice.
I headed out of town on another empty state highway. Scenery was pleasant but unexceptional.
I arrived at the outskirts of Torrington and turned onto a busy US highway through town for about a mile. Nothing looked too interesting except a massive grain elevator.
I've basically given up both on camping as well as searching for cheap lodging on this tour. I checked into the Cobblestone, another nice mid-price hotel. There was a supermarket a few blocks away, and I walked there to purchase half a gallon of chocolate milk and two liters of Diet Pepsi.
Back in my room, I ordered a pizza from Dominos.
Some will scoff, but I believe this diet is keeping me going on this tour.
Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 1,553 miles (2,499 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 10 |
Not a big fan of V-8 juice, but I should try it on a bike tour.
5 months ago
5 months ago
I did mention the descent down Goshen Rim -
but there is no way to tell conditions from year to year.
Sorry about the washboards.
5 months ago
5 months ago
5 months ago
Unlike "The Harley Guys" the guy in the pickup truck told me about, I did not turn back 😉
5 months ago
It you do venture from Laramie, Medicine Bow might be worth checking out. The old hotel is interesting.
5 months ago