July 18, 2006
Day 47: Lander, WY to Dubois, WY
75.37 Miles, 7:09:46 Ride Time, 10.69 Average Speed, 33.3 Maximum Speed
I was out of the motel by 7:30, riding out of Lander on the road I came into town on - US 287, which my maps indicated I would stay on for days.
The first five or so miles out of Lander were easy enough - wide shoulder, light traffic at this hour, only a slight climb - and then I entered the Wind River Indian Reservation, which I would stay in most of the day.
The next several miles were notable for having the most broken glass littering the road's shoulder that I had seen so far - in weeks, if not the entire trip. I dodged lots and lots of the glass, and stopped several times to check my tires when I thought I might have run over some of it. After no flat tires the first 2,700 miles, and two in just the last few days, I was now paranoid about getting a flat.
I stopped in Fort Washakie, about ten miles into the Indian Reservation, for a snack break. Not long after that, I caught up with Bill Lowe, who is riding from his home in Fort Tallahassee, Florida to Oregon (he has a journal here).
We rode together for much of the day, which was enjoyable; Bill is a very nice guy. As usual, it was fun swapping stories with another cyclist who has been riding the same route. Apparently, Bill even stayed at the "Hog Barn" in Guffey a day or so before (or after) me - his story about that was funny...
Not longer after I met up with Bill, we started riding along the (all too appropriately named) Wind River. Usually, when I study the map in the morning before riding, and notice long sections where the the road runs parallel to a river or creek, that's a Good Thing; it means there won't be any major hill climbing in those sections. Today, however, the wind was so bad along the Wind River, that I would have welcomed a mountain to climb if it meant I could escape the wind.
After we stopped at a country store in Crowheart (where we encountered a rare friendly dog - friendly only because we weren't riding our bikes past him, I suspect...), the wind got extremely strong, undoubtedly the worst wind I've experienced in the 47 days I've been riding across the country.
As we inched closer to Dubois, fighting the brutal wind all the way, we started seeing the Red Rocks I'd been looking forward to all day. They are pretty spectacular.
I was running low on water, and was ready to get out of the wind and heat, so I pulled ahead of Bill about 12 miles from Dubois. I soon met and passed Gordon and Wendy, and Mike and Gloria; as I passed them I shouted out something along the lines of "Don't you love this wind?!" I suspect they were not amused...
As I rode into the outskirts of Dubois, I was greeted by a sign which read "Welcome to Dubois - Valley of the Warm Winds". I guess that when what you've got to work with is unrelenting wind THAT NEVER EVER STOPS, you make it your slogan.
I was more than ready to quit riding for the day, so I stopped at the first motel/campground at the outskirts of town, but no one was in the office - Aaargh! I rode another 4 miles into the town itself, where I stopped at the first motel there, only to find that they wanted way too much for their room, and it wasn't air conditioned. I rode on a few blocks, and decided to stay at the Trails End, which was more reasonably priced, and had wireless internet access. Alas, it wasn't air conditioned either (I had asked a few people in town, and they said that air conditioning was rare in the area), but at least it was right on the Wind River, so I did have hopes of a cool breeze through my window.
After I got showered and changed clothes, I rode my bike around the town, which actually seemed charming - tourist oriented, but in a low-key way, not a "tourist trap" sort of place, which I hate. I stopped for a milkshake at a soda fountain, walked into the bookstore next door in search of a USA Today or Wall Street Journal (no luck, but the ladies at the store were nice), then got some soft drinks to take back to my room, which had a refrigerator.
I rode over to the KOA campground which was near my motel, but I didn't see any cyclists. Later I had dinner at the place next door to my motel, then went back to my room, and tried to figure out tomorrow's destination. I decided I would try to make it to the Grand Teton National Park. So far on this trip, I've almost never worried about getting motel reservations - I've always just shown up in town and found something. Now, as I studied the map, I realized that there were very few places to stay in both Grand Teton and Yellowstone parks. I called the couple of places listed, and was dismayed to hear that all the rooms were booked. It looked like I would have to camp tomorrow.
I went to bed soon after, but had trouble falling asleep because it was so hot - ironically, after the heavy winds I fought all day, the cool breeze from the river outside my window never really materialized.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 75 miles (121 km)
Total: 2,944 miles (4,738 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |