109 miles in 9.25 hours – Max Speed 26mph
I woke up in the middle of the night because it was FREEZING. I put on all of my layers and got back into the bag and tried to shiver myself to sleep. When I woke up the next morning it was still cold as sin out, but it was at least sunny and looked like it would be a nice day. But I knew from looking at the forecasts that this wouldn’t last.
I set out while it was sunny and after riding through the college town of Laramie (pretty cool place), I immediately hit a massive hill.
I like Laramie already.
Actually a popular gas station around Wyoming. Seriously.
Another popular gas station/convenience store. I don't know why, but I really like this name (unlike the Kum and Go, which just made me uncomfortable).
I knew this was coming, it was the final pass out of the Rockies. I climbed and climbed, and then, suddenly, hit the top. I decided to do another little climb into the rest stop at the top of the pass to take some pictures. It was still freezing out while I was up there. And the bugs were horrendous.
Woo Hoo!
A better sign at the top in the rest area.
'Did you say Abe Lincoln?' 'No! I said Hey Blinkin!'
The Lincoln Highway seems to be a recurring theme for me. And don't think I am even close to done with it either.
Information on the Lincoln Highway.
I talked to a few more people up there, including a nice guy from the Quad Cities for a while (Illinois side). While talking to many of these people, I get the ‘I wish I had done that when I was your age’ or ‘I wish I could do something like that’ a lot. Here’s the thing: I didn’t train for this, it doesn’t require a ton of money, equipment, or anything else. You just have to want to go do it. I am a firm believer that when people say they really want to do something like this, they are lying, or else they would. I understand that some people have these annoying things like ‘family’ and ‘jobs’, but really you can still do a long weekend ride if you want. I mean, you don’t have to do the two month long 4200 mile adventure like I am, you can take small pieces at a time.
Anyway, I got going and had the worst decent into Cheyenne of my life. The pass was at 8600 feet, and Cheyenne was at 6000 feet. Sounds like it should be easy right? Well when I got there it literally didn’t feel like I descended a foot because of the number of rolling hills and a headwind that started on the pass.
Clouds, Mountain, Car
I guess that means I am getting closer.
Eastern Wyoming
I rode through Cheyenne, which was a cool town also, and stopped for lunch. While I was there I talked to some kids (probably like 14 years old) who wanted to know if I lost a bet and that is why I was riding. Haha. I told them I had not, but they still couldn’t figure out why someone would ride their bike when there were cars and planes and stuff.
I got back out onto the highway and rode for another few miles before some threatening clouds rolled in, so I stopped at a truckstop to wait them out. Truckstops are another great thing about riding on the interstate. They are generally every 50 miles or so, have some decent food (high in calories anyway), clean bathrooms, and a general store. Once there was a break in the clouds I got back on the bike and started hauling.
I got to the small town of Pine Bluffs, and once I got there, was shocked to see that there was a restaurant open (it was about 6pm on the 4th of July).
Saw this beauty just outside of Pine Bluffs. I have no comment.
I ate there, gratefully, and then set off again towards Kimball, where I knew there was an RV Park. I crossed the border into Nebraska, and as soon as I did the sky opened up.
I just love how it isn't possible to put a sign on a back road in the west without it being shot to pieces by people with shotguns.
I looked above me, saw that I was right on the border of the rain clouds, and booked it.
I got out of the rain and felt better, and since the wind was from the East, and I was going East, I assumed the clouds would wander off. Instead they kept on following me at a slow and leisurely pace, like the killer in a horror movie. I cursed the physics of rainclouds for making no sense, and picked up the pace again to try to gain some distance. Around 12 miles into Nebraska I saw a state campgrounds on my left. I checked it out, saw it was $7, so I got a spot. I got the tent all set up and unpacked before the rain came again. I got to watch some fireworks that people had brought to the campground, and then climbed into the tent to sleep as the rain returned.
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