DAY 17
Riverton
Distance: 79 Miles + back trip of 3 miles to breakfast Climbing: 1200 feet somewhere Winds: Tailwind most of the day and pretty kicking late in the afternoon
Weather: Sunny and warm...44 departure and 88 at destination Terrain: Overall dropping but rolling

TODAY'S TALES: 

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 helping winds for a while, and moderate temperatures...not to mention the scenery.  The departure out of Dubois was beautiful...I was in the van all day and spent all morning bouncing around the group to take photos.  The early morning shadows on the weathered landscape made for some beautiful photo memories of our trip.  At one point we dropped into a red rock canyon that was eye popping.  Sometimes it's hard to ride through an area like this without running off the road.

Our route today was highway 26 all the way to the motel in Riverton...a navigational dream even for the most navigationally challenged.  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.

Everyone was in good spirits during the day...the riding has just been too good.  They needed a relatively 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.  Hopefully we'll have favorable winds, but whatever, we'll ride.  See you tomorrow.

 

TODAY'S RIDING PHOTO RECORD

The first few miles were along the Wind River Valley with painted weathered rock formations to our left.

We then dropped into a red rock canyon with beautiful vistas on both sides.

The climb out of the canyon provided beautiful scenes behind the riders.

So much for the red rocks as they got higher out of the canyon...the top provided beautiful formations if the riders took the time to turn around and see them.

After we got to the high plateau, greener vistas were abundant.  They had 6 inches of hail here just 3 days ago.

The closer we got to Riverton, the more the terrain became dry with more scrub vegetation.  Even the golf course didn't have grass in the fairways.

OOPS?

This morning Gordon brought his luggage down and put it in the truck...as a habit, he left his bike in his room.  His roomie also brought his bike down and closed the door...with all their keys inside the room.  That usually isn't a big deal, but here in this one horse town no one comes to work until 7 or 7:30.  We were riding to breakfast...well everyone was riding except Gordon.  Luckily, the office was open when we drove him back from breakfast.  He wasn't too far behind by the time he got back to his bike.   

OTHER PHOTOS AND SUCH

After 16 days in the saddle, Garth was in the market for one that was a little more accommodating than the one on his bike.  Only thing Garth, the horse is extra.

Howie and Liz found some new friends in Kinnear.  Cole and Kimberly helped them pass the time in their small town.  Folks are just friendly out here.

"Hey Mike, watch this!"  #*&^%$#$%^&*#

What a surprise we got today...our good friend and alumni Jenny Moshak showed up in Dubois...a long way from Knoxville if you ask me.  She just happened to be in the area...yeah right.

They have some strange critters out here.

Doc was taking no chances this morning at breakfast...he was prepared if the air conditioner ran amok and if the food started to fly he was definitely going to prevent a head injury.

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