Day 20 – Jeffery City, WY to Rawlins, WY

Miles today – 67

Total Miles – 1238

The stay at our motel last night was “interesting” as I described yesterday. Before we retired for the evening, I was charged with killing as many of the mosquitoes that I could locate in the room. Here are some pictures of our accommodations so you can get a real feel for the place.

Here's a picture of Kenneth (Sweden) on the left and Mathew (Netherlands) on the right.

We also met Paul and Tom from Cincinnati.  They were kayaking buddies and decided one day that riding across America might be fun.  So, here they were following the Adventure Cycling Association Transamerica route eastbound like me.  Paul was riding a recumbent bike pulling a trailer.  He was struggling a bit with the hills and wind but seemed to be managing.  Tom was on a more traditional bike with panniers.  I left them after breakfast and don’t know if I’ll see them again.

Jeffery City was a boomtown after the discovery of uranium.  At one point there were over 5,000 residents…now there are 50.  Donna and I had an early breakfast over at the Split Rock Café with Mathew and Kenneth.  They were heading west and at 8:00 am I started east toward Rawlins.  It was a beautiful morning and the weather was perfect. I was down to a light jersey very early.  I had a friendly wind at my back so covered the first 25 miles in two hours including some stops.  There is a rock outcropping called Split Rock.  Pioneers moving west used this as a landmark on the Oregon Trail because it could be seen for miles.  It is estimated that over 500,000 people used the Oregon Trail when coming from all points east to lay claim and settling the west.

My bike route turned south and started a gradual climb.  Now the wind was in my face…wind in my face while pedaling uphill…not my favorite combination but it builds character so I dropped to the lower handlebar position and forged on.  The map showed that I would be crossing the Continental Divide twice today which indicates more climbing.  At the end of the day I would have crossed the Divide five times in three days.  For those who may not know, the Continental Divide is a series of mountain ranges that extend from Banff, Canada to New Mexico.  The Divide is defined by water drainage.  Geologists determined that if you poured a bucket of water on the west side of the mountain it would flow eventually to the Pacific Ocean.  If you poured the water on the east side, it would flow to the Atlantic. Occasionally, we ran across a group of cyclists riding radical mountain bikes and learned that they were in a race on mountain roads that are on the crest of the Divide.  They were racing in teams of two and we met teams from Italy, US and UK although there were more.  We learned today from a local Rawlins resident that a friend had found both members of the Italian team on a dirt road near Rawlins.  One rider was on the ground and both were suffering from heat stroke.  She took them both to the local hospital.  As I said, it was hot today.  Good thing I know how important it is to hydrate…drink early and often. I fill my water bottles at every opportunity.

We were also warned that we were riding through rattlesnake country.  We should be careful when leaving the road to watch were we stepped.  I didn’t see any snakes today and that’s just fine with me…I’m not a big fan of snakes in general.  I did see pronghorn elk today.  One ran along the road beside me for awhile then darted across the road behind me.

I was thinking about my time with the cyclist I have met from Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands.  When you are on the road, you tend to become friends very quickly.  There is no time for pretense because you will spend a brief time and then probably never see each other again.  It occurred to me that we are all ambassadors and that how we treat each other will create lasting impressions that represent our countries.  None of the cyclist I had met so far had ever been in the States before and they were now encountering its diversity in a dramatic way.   All of them commented on how many Americas there really are and how different rural, suburban and city America is.  I look forward to meeting more international friends along the way.

David

June 24, 2009