Miles – 68
Ave Riding Speed – 3-25 mph
Hours Start to Finish – 8.25
Weather – Sunny and 91
We missed the fireworks on display put on by the local fire department last night. Once we got situated in the church basement we were simply to tired to stay up or fight the mosquitos. We hit the floor at 8:30pm.
I rolled over a couple times once it was light out and finally got up when I heard Kim wrestling around the room. It was 6am and we planned to hit the Split Rock Café & Bar again for breakfast. Isabel said she would be open at 7am, after milking her goats. We skipped the morning shower and got to packing and taking and drinking our supplements. We rolled our bikes up the back door exit ramp at 7:15am and rode back into town to the bar. The gang from Nashville, staying at the motel, whom we met yesterday, was already working on their dinner plate size pancakes. They looked awesome and I hear they tasted even better. Kim ordered a cake and bacon and ordered my usual, eggs sunny side up with hash browns, bacon and toast. Of course, it was delicious also.
The Nashville gang, Rusty, Mary Ann and Wayne departed to hook up with the other couple they were riding with and heading to Rawlins also. Mary Ann was driving the sag-wagon for the group, so the riders are supported.
We finished our meal and coffee and got to know Isabel a little bit. Come to find out, she is the person supporting the church biker facility. She took over the responsibility from the guy who passed away about a year ago. She’s a giver and has seen a lot over her years. We thanked her for her kindness and keeping the church and the bar open, and for the great food. Before departing I snapped a picture of Kim and Isabel and she reminded us to travel safe and stay on the shoulder, as someone was hit on their bicycle about a mile out of town a couple weeks ago. We hit the rood heading east on Hwy 287/789 at 8:30am.
A couple miles out of town we caught up with John and Dana, part of the Nashville gang. They had just recovered from an early morning flat tire. We rode up and introduced ourselves while riding. We said we’ll see them in Rawlins, as we’re staying at the same place.
23 miles into the day we came into Muddy Gap. It’s a gas station at a “T’ in the road where Hwy 220 goes northeast and Hwy 789/287, our route heads southeast. We pulled in and the whole Nashville gang was standing outside enjoying a little snack and we chatted a bit. Kim grabbed a Gatorade, water, jerky and Fig Newtons and we rejoined the conversation outside. They all departed while we refilled our water bottles and drank the Gatorade. We departed and ran into Mary Ann at the gas station entrance. She asked if we needed anything and we were back on the road.
I was teasing Kim about grabbing more water and thought she was overdoing it. I should have learned by now that she is mostly, always, right. We always go through all the water we have and we did again today.
11 miles up we came into Lamont. It looks like it used to be a town, but there was nothing open. The ride up to this point was going pretty going well. Rolling ups and downs pedaling through the wide-open Wyoming country. A couple mile out of Lamont Kim and I were riding side-by-side on the shoulder and I pointed to the mountain in the distance and said, “I think that’s our climb we’ve been looking for.” I estimated it was 15-miles further in the distance. It was actually 17 miles in the distance.
As we approached the climb, estimated to be about 800 feet, coming out of the valley, it seemed to grow in grade. The sun was hot, little wind, and we were feeling a little drained. We road about half of the initial climb that we could see and then walked about a quarter-mile further. We then decided we could ride it and mounted our Kona Sutra for the big push up the hill. Around the next corner we saw a tuck pulled over to the side and road up to see if they were ok. It was a young couple with their young sun returning from a camping weekend and their truck just quit on them. The young man was fixing sandwiches while they waited for a friend to come and get them. He offered us cold bottles of water and we thanked him. Oh, that tasted good! The water in our bottles was closer to hot then cold. When we finished our water, their friend pulled up behind us, so we moved on.
This climb seemed a little different than previous ones. The rest of it was straight and you’d think you’d be hitting the top over the next hill, but once you reached the next hill, it kept going. In our heads it seemed endless. Finally, we reached the Continental Divide, just over 7,200 feet and made a gradual descent. The last 10 miles of the day, into Rawlins, just seemed like we were never going to get there. My riding jersey was soaked with lines old sweat salt all over it and Kim was asking if we’re there yet.
At 3:30pm we saw the city of Rawlins and our hotel off in the distance. Upon approaching the hotel, I spotted a grocery store off to the side and we pulled in. Kim made the mistake of letting me go in while she watched the bikes. I grabbed some fruit, Kombucha, salsa, chip and pickles. We stood outside the grocery store and ate the fruit and drank the Kombucha. Then we headed to the Hampton Inn and check in.
We couldn’t decide on what to do for dinner as there wasn’t a sit-down place within a mile, but Walmart was just across the street. We settled on a trip to the grocery store for the fixings for tuna fish sandwiches, grapefruit, carrots and dip. On the walk back Kim wondered out loud if the gas station sold any beer, as that sounded refreshing. We walked through the door, with our groceries in hand, and found that they do sell beer and other beverages. We settled on White Claws.
Once we got to our rooms we ate, showered and Kim went to the first floor to do some laundry in their coin operated machines. My daughter Hayley called Kim’s phone and I picked up the Facetime. She and the rest of my family were gathered at my sister, Terri’s, house for the July 4th celebration. It was great that Kim and I got to see my parents, our children, our grandchildren and family members.
We’re now sitting in our room and both of us are on our laptops writing and getting caught up with everyone. It’s a rest day tomorrow and then we head for Colorado and map #6 of 12 of this journey.
❤️❤️❤️