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Day 17
Rolling Rest Day

ROUTE:  Dubois to Riverton WY DISTANCE:  79 Miles WINDS: Light tailwinds for the first half and light headwinds for the second half
WEATHER: Sunny.  Cool, 53 at start and 88 by mid afternoon in Riverton TERRAIN: Dropping most of the day...rolling at best TOTAL CLIMBING:  1400 feet...but we dropped over 1900 feet from Dubois to Riverton...swwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeet!!!

DAILY REPORT:  Happy 4th of July...we woke to beautiful skies and a promise of a great day in the saddle.  First order of business was a breakfast at the Cowboy Cafe about two doors from the motel.  They could only hold about 40 people at a time so we were prepared for a couple of waves to breakfast.  They couldn't serve many at a time but they really served a great breakfast.  It didn't take too long to cycle people through and get us on our way.

Today was our bicycle decorating day...the riders were in a festive mood as many adorned their bikes and themselves with red, white, and blue decor to celebrate Independence Day.  Marv won first prize with his balloon decorated recumbent with Jennifer taking runner up honors on her portion of the triple...even though she slept through the photo that won them the honors.  They had to ride with their decorations to the first SAG to be judged by our panel of unbiased judges.  I think a couple people carried their decorations and put them on their bikes just before getting to the SAG...but no matter, the mood was there.

For all those who are following our progress and thinking about riding with us someday, eat your heart out...you're missing a great ride now!  Just when we think we've had the perfect day, along comes a day like this.  Everyone really enjoyed today as the terrain dropped overall from Dubois to Riverton, we had light winds, and moderate temperatures...not to mention the scenery.  The departure out of Dubois was spectacular...I was sweep and I spent all morning hustling to catch up with the group after stopping to take photos.  The early morning shadows on the weathered landscape made for some beautiful photo memories of our trip (left). 

Our route today was highway 26 all the way to the motel in Riverton.  Ninety percent of the time we had a nice shoulder and the traffic was almost non-existent.  Most of the day we followed the Wind River Valley that provided greenery for pastureland...that and large ranches were the scenery of the day for the early portion.  As we got closer to Riverton, we found ourselves in high desert with sage and sparse population.  The only town, if you could call it that, between Dubois and Riverton was Kinnear and it only had a population of 44.  When I stopped at their small convenient store, I think half the people who live there were in it.  You've got to love solitude if you live out here.  I really love riding through this area, but I don't think it would be too much fun to have a steady diet of this type of riding...only 1 paved road through here.

I always tell the riders to take their time and stop and smell the roses on this ride.  One of the best things we do is stop and chat with the locals during our day.  I've met some of the neatest people in some of the most out of the way places, but there are some places that we just should avoid...like the one to the right.  The sign is enough to scare me away! 

Everyone was in good spirits at the end of the day...the riding has just been too good.  They needed an easy day before tomorrow's tough 120...tonight they need to rest because no matter how good the winds might be, 120 miles will make them ready for the day off in Casper...but that's tomorrow...tonight we feast and rest.  As I sign off, we are getting hammered with a severe thunderstorm and lightning that blew in about 7:00...don't mind at all if it's over by morning.  See you tomorrow.

        

DID I REALLY SAY THAT?:

"It's nice to be able to breathe again...the oxygen molecules are closer together at this altitude."    

"Bring on Casper!!!!"
"Yeah! I'm going to go pack my horse."

"Yesterday when we were in the pick up truck being shuttled through the construction, I had a weird sensation when the wind was coming into the back of my helmet."

"Think if I eat enough of this ice cream it will last me to Casper?"
"Don't worry, they have more in Casper."

 DID I REALLY DO THAT?:

If you've been following for awhile, you know that the Miller family is riding with us and the father is Mike and the oldest son is also Mike.  Yesterday, Steve was talking to the son and was asking how they were dealing with people getting them mixed up when they were traveling together to which the son replied, I usually don't have a problem, I go by Derek.  Oops, wrong son.

DID I REALLY SEE THAT?

Jean, Colleen, and Cindy had their own 4th of July parade down main street of Dubois at sunrise.  As they passed by I heard one of them say, "We're not going for the win, we are just going for the website!"

Our winning entry complete with colorful balloons and plenty of stars and stripes...the Marv machine.

Daco's entry of his factory paint job, didn't pass the contest guidelines...but he did ride it from Dubois.

Gerard was a possible contender until we found he had only wrapped himself in colorful decor a quarter mile from the SAG...it was the fact that he had tied his legs together that gave us a clue he hadn't ridden all the way from the motel this way.

Karen took this shot of me coming out of the Wind River Canyon.  Beautiful rock formations.

Great deco Deb...too bad the judge didn't drink coffee or your bribe might have worked.

With all the weather that may be blowing in tonight, we had Karen's helmet modified with a weather Doppler radar. 

Got milk?   Or SPF 2000?

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