June 27, 2019
Day Eighteen: Cody, Wyoming to Basin, Wyoming
I was very tired after yesterday's long ride, and slept much later than usual. Once I got up I decided to do a short day today, and get a little work done before I rode out. So I did some tech support for one of my software products, then went outside to find that it was the hottest morning in a while. For the first time in days I didn't even put on the arm warmers.
It was busy in Cody. 90% of the billboards during the first quarter mile of riding this morning were about guns, for whatever reason. I was of course sorely tempted, but finally decided against spending $39 to fire a "Gatling Gun."
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I stopped at the first gas station and loaded up on snacks for the ride - M&Ms and Payday bars. The woman working there asked where I was riding, and was unusually interested in my route. She pulled out a worn map of the area and insisted on tracing the next day or two. Most people I meet are not interested in the back roads I favor (they often ask if I'm riding on the interstate), so her interest was refreshing.
I rode through Cody, and then, at the outskirts of town, stopped at my first McDonald's of this trip and had a breakfast sandwich (without the meat) and hash browns. Some business dudes were having a status meeting at the next table over from me, discussing sales quotas or some such stuff. I'm glad I don't have a job where meetings are required, whether in an office, or at a McDonald's.
I entered a hot, dry, windy section. I was riding on the shoulder of a pretty busy highway, but as usual in Wyoming, there was a wide shoulder. Unfortunately there was a lot of truck tire debris which I had to avoid.
After a while I turned onto a gravel county road for five miles to the little town of Burlington (population 288.)
I wasn't expecting much out of Burlington, but there was a very, very good bar and pizza restaurant there, "The Burlington Place." It's owned by a young couple from Wyoming who'd apparently left the state for a while, but came back to open the business
As with the lady at the gas station earlier, they were interested in my route, and provided some useful info. I was the only customer in the place in the middle of the afternoon, and was enjoying the conversation, but I eventually forced myself back out into the heat and wind. I was still tired from yesterday's ride.
I was on a low-traffic country road now. I passed through tiny Otto, where there wasn't much of interest except an abandoned old church. It was windier now, and even though I theoretically was descending, it didn't feel like it.
As I rode into Basin (population 1,285), I noticed a stocky little boy riding his bike on the sidewalk. He was nine or ten years old.
"Mister, I like your bicycle!"
"Thanks."
"Buy why are you riding it on the road?"
"Well, that's where you're supposed to ride it."
He informed me that he had been instructed to ride on the sidewalk, and, before catching myself, I briefly argued with the child, telling him that "bicycles are vehicles in all 50 U.S. states, and have the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicles, and blah blah blah."
I then reversed this pedantic course, telling him that of course he should ride on the sidewalk until he was older.
He asked where I was going, I told him, and after he expressed some doubt whether such a long journey on a bicycle was possible, asked me where I slept at night. At that point I realized I was directly in front the shabby motel, and told him "Here, tonight."
The motel was crappy but the price was right. The old woman who owned the place was a little bossy, and tried to tell me which of the two beds I should sleep in, of all things. Clearly I was going to use the bed that was located 12 inches from the air conditioner on such a hot day.
I walked to the small downtown and had large chocolate milkshake, which was my dinner, then bought some soft drinks at the gas station, then retired to the motel where the small air conditioner struggled mightily to keep up with the high temperatures.
Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 1,406 miles (2,263 km)
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