We were really pleased to make it to Steamboat Springs early so we could get some work done on our bikes. They’re in generally good shape, but the hard riding in harsh conditions had taken it’s toll on them, so new brake pads, new chains, and wheel truing were in order.
Today was a tough day. We had most of our miles on pavement, and the total elevation was not so bad, but the climbs really took their toll on us and we were very happy to end the day in… Colorado?
As you can see from Strava below, we were sorta right on the border. We stayed in a cabin at the Ladder Ranch, where they said for sure that they lived in Wyoming, but I got the impression that if we tripped and fell the wrong way, we’d land on Colorado soil. Well, no fanfare, no nice sign, but I’m calling it. We made it to Colorado 🙂
I promised y’all some videos of day 7 when I got a chance. Unfortunately, it can take a long time to upload on hotel WiFi, but I managed to get a few going so you can see what a fun and frustrating day it was. I consider this one of the great days of the tour. Very rewarding when all was said and done.
After yesterday’s mega 126 mile day, we decided to take a rest day in Rawlins, WY. The most strenuous thing we did was ride 2 whole blocks to the Taco Johns for lunch. As they say, nothing to see here, move along.
Day 6 (120 miles)
We planned on making this a 70 mile day. It started with a hard climb coming out of Atlantic City followed by some smooth downward sloping gravel. The roads were nice and we moved pretty quickly. about three hours in Paul wanted to stop for lunch and I proceeded forward while he ate. After coming by the oil field the roads started to incline and changed from smooth to rock garden surfaces. The path took us to the top of a few of the mountains in the basin and it was really worth the price of climbing this inclines. Later there was an abandoned cabin and I stopped there to check it out and the map orientation. At that point, I found out that the courses plugged into our bike head units was different than the bike route navigator app on our phones. Paul and I were planning to link up at the camp site and both of our head units didn’t even have a course that would bring us to the camp site. I took my phone off of airplane mode and found that there was a pretty good cell signal. I called and text Paul, later sent a note to his inReach to let him know that our courses weren’t the same as the app on our phones and that we would have to navigate on the fly to get there. No problem, we both figured it out and got the the camp site with little wasted riding.
Once at the camp site, Paul suggested continuing on to the next town and camping there. I felt great so we proceeded, then decided to go to Rawlins. It turned out to be a lot more riding than I should have taken on so early in the ride, but we made it. We decided to take a down day in Rawlins to recover and will proceed to Colorado after day 7.
Day 5 (87 miles)
Today was all about great roads, until it wasn’t. We started out fast going slightly downhill in smooth pavement. Later the road turned to gravel, but still remained relatively smooth. Later, the roads got more bumpy with washboard surfaces. My bike was jiggling and I felt wetness (like rain) striking the back of my thigh. It turned out to be sealant from my rear tire. The sealant plugged the tire, but running across the washboards kept opening up the hole. I inserted a couple tire plugs and gave the tire a few minutes to let the sealant cure where the hole was plugged. It managed to work so even though some sharp piece of gravel punctured the rear tire, it held up for the rest of the day. This was the longest day of riding we’ve had on the tour so far.
Later we ran across a rest station and were filling our water bottles when the attendant came by and asked us if we knew anything about a bunch of boxes of baby food left at the rest area. It turned out that the attendant was the brother of the bed and breakfast owner in the town where we are spending the night. He recommended the Wild Bill’s bed and breakfast, then when we got into town, Paul was flagged down by the owner’s wife and she made sure we got to the bed and breakfast just fine. This family is working to keep this business going.
Day 4 (31 miles)
We planned to make it a short day and end the ride at Pinedale to resupply in preparation for crossing the Great Basin. The ride was mostly downhill and at a low level of effort. Felt great to take it easy with a smile active recovery day. We ran across Jerry in town and he told us he blew out a tire where we were purifying water with him a couple days ago. He had to flag down some guys on ATVs and ask for help getting into town. Interestingly he told us this story just after Paul decided to purchase a spare tire for his bike.
As part of our resupply planning Paul called the adventure cycling association and confirmed water supply locations in the basin so we could identify how much water to bring each day when leaving Pinedale. Each of us will be carrying about 2.5 gallons.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing, doing laundry, shopping for food and bike/camping dingledangles.
What a day! I’ll get this out of the way first, I did a personal longest ride today of 126 miles, from Atlantic City, WY to Rawlins, WY, by way of the Great Basin of Wyoming. It wasn’t supposed to be that long. We planned on doing 77 miles to the A&M reservoir in the basin, a small reservoir put in place to support local wildlife, but due to a variety of reasons, we decided to push on. At first we were supposed to push on to a site less than 10 miles away, be before you know it, we decided to go all the way to Rawlins. It was a long day, but in we got to take the next day off, so I think we’re doing pretty good.
As far as the Great Basin is concerned, there are a differing opinions about this place, but I quite enjoyed biking here. It was peaceful and quiet most of the time, save for the wind, and the expanse of the sky and the land were breathtaking. I got a chance to ride along the tops of some hills that highlighted the openness and gentle beauty of the surroundings in a way that those walking or driving would be hard pressed to experience.
And there were some total surprises today, big and small.
First, small. At this one moment in time, Bud Light was the best beer in the world. Trust me, my beer loving friends, if you were there at this place and this time, you would agree.
Then, big. The maps were wrong. Though I say in the video, “the maps my brother made, ” it is totally not his fault. He got them in good faith off a reliable source on the internet, but it just so happens that they wanted to go a different direction than the ACA maps for this one section. I had been using them for weeks and there was no problem, they just went off script here for some unknown reason. This took us on a journey of discovery through the Great Basin. When all is said and done, it turned out to be an enjoyable diversion. Sometimes it works out like that, unplanned trips can be very cool.
And weird. Freaky weird. Like, Blair Witch weird.
But this is what most of the day was like. Flawless sky and biking on a fun mix of hills, flats, and, yes, even tail winds.