Thursday, July 06, 2006
Day 18 - Casper, Wyoming - July 6th 2006
Weather: Sunny (good tailwinds most of the day) Location: Casper, Wyoming (from Riverton, WY)
Miles per day: 122.67
Average miles per hour: 15.10 (a great average with the help of tailwinds)
Elevation climb:
Blizzards/Ice Cream to date: 13 (very little access to food all day)
Flat Tires to date: 1
Here on the edge of Hells Half Acre (see photo below), a tempting business opportunity! Most of us were expecting to have a Buffalo Burger here but were disappointed. We then spent twenty minutes calculating the number of cars/trucks coming by and developing a marketing plan. Somehow, I don't think my next job will be here.
Hells Half Acre - the picture really doesn't capture the barreness of this area. The view from my potential new restaurant!Six weeks ago I had hardly ridden a bike more than 5 miles. I am astounded that I could possibly say that riding 122.67 miles today was so easy but its true. I loved every minute of it. I was cruising along at a very pleasant rate of 15.10 mph - quite a fast pace for myself (of course, I must admit the luxury of the Tailwind). Although, my body is now well rehearsed for the daily challenge.
Last night, there was trepidation of the next day - we were told there were strong possibilities of Headwinds (nasty to ride in) combined with our longest distance day (120 plus). This could be really tough. With a 4:00 AM alarm, I bolted out of bed to ensure an ontime departure at sunrise. I was on the road at 5:34 AM with some apprehension but it quickly turned to confidence as I realised a few facts:
1- we had a TAILWIND (giving me 3-4 mile push).
2-The total elevation climb for the day was minimal compared to previous days.
3- I was energised at the thought of a rest day tomorrow.
The day literally was a long breeze!
The scenery remained desolate. We passed Boysen State Park with a nice lake but then it turned to arid climate. There were no trees, no vegetation, no decent roadside stops for the 120 miles. NOTHING! Occasionally, there were oil drills scattered about. We passed towns with populations of 10 or 20 every 30 miles or so. Wyoming is one of the least populated States with about 500,000 people in total. It is remote and desolate.
Roadkill was present everywhere (over 300 I would estimate for the day), if you didn't see it you could certainly could smell them. On a more positive note, there were occasional sitings of live antelope, cows and rabbits.
We managed to find one road side stop - it was very old. It was selling food with questionable sell-by-dates along with stuffed rattlesnakes (odd combination). I opted to skip eating at this foodstop. We then stopped at Hells Half Acre - an amazing site. It was a 'badlands' like canyon where it was believed Indians pushed Buffalo off the ravines for food. It was quite a spectacular site - I have tried to capture it with photos but concluded that the photos probably would not do it justice.
We then pedaled another 40 arriving into Casper.
