Day 1: Dubois to Riverton

July 9, 2024

Today is by far the longest day of the tour. I wanted to get an early start, but can't because I have to return a U Haul truck and the office doesn't open until 8:30.

I had breakfast at the Village Cafe, then returned the U Haul truck. After taking a couple pictures I was on the road at 9:05. Very late.

Cowboy sculpture in morning sun. Kinda resembles John Wayne.

I ate dinner here last night. The burl posts are rare.

The riding was easy for the first 10 miles. Steady downstream. The remainder of the day had rolling hills with less of a downhill gradient. Fortunately the steepest grade was only 4%

Red rocks east of Dubois. Nice layer cake photo.

The scenery is also quite good for the first 20 miles east of Dubois, with many views of red cliffs and a few views of the Wind river.

Not far east of Dubois I entered the Wind River Indian Reservation. I pedal all the way across the reservation, about 40 miles. It's the homeland of Eastern Shoshone tribes. Western Shoshone tribes have their homeland at the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in Idaho.

I pedaled about 40 miles in the Wind River Indian reservation.

I enjoyed the red rocks and the clear blue sky. The temperature was steadily rising. Today had a high of 90F which is about normal.

I was surprised that insects were an extreme nuisance during my first rest stop at 6500 feet elevation. I got many bites and used Picaridin insect repellent on my legs and neck for the first time in years. Hopefully this will only be a problem at the highest elevations where the snow recently melted.

Looking back at the red rocks and Wind river.

US 26/287 consistently has a wide paved shoulder, with a rumble strip near the fog line. The shoulder was quite clean. No gravel, tire shreds, etc.

The Wind River mountains are just to my south. I passed several large creeks that flow out of the mountains. Snow is still melting. The creeks have a big flow.

Looking upstream at a big creek that flows out of the Wind River mountains. A stereotypical High Desert River scene.

Same creek looking downstream towards the Wind river.

This area of the reservation is called Crowheart.

I stopped for a burger, V-8, and tea at the Crowheart Trading Post. It's one of only two stores on today's long route. The second store is 18 miles west of Riverton.

Crowheart Trading Post. The flag shows my headwind.

The name Crowheart has a gruesome origin. In 1866, the Shoshone and Crow tribes fought a battle over control of the Wind river valley. The Shoshone tribe won. In the war dance afterwards, Shoshone chief Washakie displayed a Crow Indian's heart on a spear. Chief Washakie was known as a fearless warrior, but he was wise enough to NOT fight with well-armed white settlers.

I had a headwind for most of the day, so progress was slow despite the downstream trend. This was a very long day. Much longer than I prefer.

Bull Lake creek also flowing out of the Wind River mountains.

Near the halfway point of today's route is a major highway fork. I went left on US 26 to Riverton. TransAmerica cyclists go right on US 287 to Lander. I spoke to another cyclist at the highway rest area 1 mile before the fork. Neither of us was pedaling the TransAmerica route. He was pedaling west and had gone through Casper, Wyoming which is not on the TransAmerica route. He rode a cheap Walmart bike, started in Virginia, but was staying in motels much of the time. He started today at Hampton Inn in Riverton. That motel stay might have cost more than his bike!

The TransAmerica bike route goes right on US 287. I went left on US 26.

I enjoyed the wide open scenery today. Visibility was good and there's seldom anything in the landscape to obstruct the views.

This seems to be the Crowheart logo. Similar to a cattle brand, maybe.

The final 30 miles to Riverton are outside the Indian reservation. Once again I saw conventional farm buildings.

One of my most vivid memories of the day is that the highway is extremely wide, but passing vehicles always crossed completely into the oncoming lane when passing me. Instead of staying in the lane and passing 6 feet away from me (a perfectly safe distance considering the rumble strip), they pass 18 feet away and make deafening sounds when their tires cross the center line rumble strip. 100% of passing vehicles made deafening rumble strip noise when passing me. I didn't feel like they were doing me a favor. Wyoming is the least-populous U.S. state, and my theory is that people in Wyoming have an exaggerated sense of necessary personal space compared to most of the country. Many motorists waved at me and I waved back. Standard behavior in sparsely populated areas.

St. Edwards Catholic church in the middle of nowhere.

I was counting down the miles coming into Riverton, exhausted from such a long day with a headwind. Heat and traffic weren't a problem because it was so late in the day.

Population of 11,000 makes Riverton, Wyoming the second largest town I will see during this tour. I didn't spend any time looking around town because I arrived so late. Finally got to the Super 8 motel on the north side of town at 7:15 PM.

Near my motel I stopped to look at an interesting sculpture that depicts a friendly meeting between a native and a white fur trapper. They are sitting in peaceful poses passing a peace pipe, with knives on their hips to ensure mutual self-restraint. Interesting imagery.

Sculpture showing a native and fur trapper passing a peace pipe.

Dinner was very good Singapore Noodles at Chopstix Asian Bistro. I felt really beat up at the end of the day. My left shoulder was sore for some reason. My feet were sore.

This is the longest day of the tour but I started well rested after 3 days of driving. I wish I could start an hour earlier and I wish I had a tailwind. The high of 90F was pretty much normal but the next several days are forecast to be much warmer.

I'm sleep-deprived after 2 bad nights at 7000 feet elevation. Riverton is only 5000 feet elevation, so I should sleep much better tonight.

Distance: 81.7 miles
Average Speed: 10.5 mph
Ascent/Descent: +1320/-3115 feet

Today's ride: 81 miles (130 km)
Total: 83 miles (134 km)

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Kelly IniguezSpeaking of WalMart bikes - on the Great Divide page on FB, in Silver City, NM a man needed a 29er tire. WalMart didn't have any, except on a fully built bike. He bought the $165. bike just to get a tire!
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3 months ago

Wayne EstesTo Kelly IniguezSilver City had two bike shops when I passed through many years ago.
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3 months ago

Jeff LeeTo Kelly IniguezI assume that was a very, very low-quality tire on the WalMart bike, if the entire bike was so cheap.

On my recent tour, several men were puzzled that my tires last so long. They seemed to think that bicycle tires only last a couple of weeks. I assumed they were buying extremely low-quality tires from WalMart or someplace like that.
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3 months ago

Jeff Lee"Wyoming is the least-populous U.S. state, and my theory is that people in Wyoming have an exaggerated sense of necessary personal space compared to most of the country."

I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense.
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3 months ago