Ride Report: 57 Miles, 1,591 Total Miles, 14.9 Avg mph, 2,497 Ft. Climbing, 4,177 Calories, 3 new friends.
Distance wise, today's ride was a bit shorter than the norm, but it's pretty much inevitable out here. The next town of any substance is Rawlins - which is waaaay to far to try and cover in a day. There are two other intervening "towns", Muddy Gap (I'm afraid to ask) and Lamont. When viewed on Google Maps, neither is more than an intersection, though Muddy Gap has a convenience store to offer. And that's it. Here at Jeffrey City, there is a restaurant/bar, a motel, a church and a pottery studio. The pottery studio displayed both "OPEN" and "CLOSED" signs when I passed it on the way into town.
But let me bore the reader for a moment with a brief discussion of climbing versus elevation gain. When one examines the ACA maps for today's trip, there is approximately a 1,000 foot elevation gain between Lander and Jeffrey City. This will prompt the observant reader (or at least those not already sleeping as a result of this discussion) to inquire as to the 2,497 feet of climbing noted in the ride report. This difference is easily explained. Sig and I went up hill a lot and then we went down hill a lot. In essence, the hills between Lander and Jeffrey City mean that we gained only 1,000 feet in elevation but had to climb 2.4 times as much to earn that overall elevation gain. So - now ya know.
Other than that, the only other noteworthy item today was the forecast. It was supposed to be hot again. As a result, Susan and I decided to get up and hit the road earlier than the usual 0800-0830 start time. Sig and I were out the door and on the road by 0700. Happily so since this meant that I rode an hour in temps in the low 60s early in the day. That as opposed to riding another hour later in the afternoon when temps were above 90 degrees. Though I hate mornings, it seems to at least have been a wise decision. With the boring stuff aside, on with today's pics...
This was the view shortly after leaving Lander. A relatively wide river valley bordered n both sides by the scalloped hills the reader can see in the distance. Other than both the river and the valley becoming narrower, this was pretty much the view for the day.
An action shot from the road. This pic was taken on a closed course with an (almost) professional driver. Do not try this at home.
I think I mentioned that the river became narrower as we rode today. Of necessity this means less available water. Trees are lonely in this part of Wyoming. Sage brush, however, apparently breeds like bunnies.
So, there was only one hill worthy of mention as a climb today. This is the ridge we had to get over to get to something approximating Jeffrey City's elevation. I think the top was actually about 250 feet higher than Jeffrey City - which we lost as we went generally down to get there. Looking at the ACA map I had it pegged at 5 miles. It turned out to be 5.17 from the river at the bottom and consistently ran between 4-6% on the way up. Not terrible, but the temps made it a might less than pleasant.
Part way up I found Susan. By now, the consistent reader will know that she stops more frequently on climbs to keep an eye on me. And to force food into me. I took the opportunity to continue the series of experiments on the Oreo Effect. (OE - my research partners insist that I use the acronym. It's apparently a science thing.) Continuing the theme of the four main food groups, today's group of choice was fruit. Since we happened to have a couple of peaches lying around doing nothing, we asked for volunteers. This one dedicated his body to science. The verdict? It was actually quite yummy. I think I'll have my attorneys at the Hostess Cupcakes division contact the people at Oreo and recommend Peach flavored fillings. The royalties should be a nice supplemental income in retirement.
This is a view part way up the climb. As I hinted at earlier - not the most difficult of climbs, but a hill is still a hill.
This was the view from the top. while difficult for the reader to see unless the pic is enlarged, there are snow capped mountains in the background. It was really quite a beautiful sight - in a dry, sage brush sorta way.
Having reached the top, Susan was there with The Rig and calories. This time masquerading as vanilla ice cream and fresh blueberries. Did I marry the right woman or what? My apologies to the three new friends (who will be mentioned later) if you happen to be reading this post. If I said that it's not like this every day, would you believe me?
This is Garrett. He's riding a route of his own design and headed West. At this point in his ride he's completed just over 3500 miles. I'm only the second tourer he's run in to during that time. He hails from Iowa (Des Moines I think?) and just graduated from college. When I asked if his Mom was OK with the trip, he said that he was supposed to call every but hadn't been able to for 30 hours due to poor service. I steered him to the pullout at the top of the climb some 11 miles down the road since both Susan and I had service there. If you're Garrett's Mom and happen to be reading this, he's doing fine and you did a good job raising him. But know that neither Grand Teton Nat'l Park nor Yellowstone have cell service. That's a good 3 or 4 days of riding.
Once in Jeffrey City we immediately headed for the Split Rock Bar and Cafe. Susan sidled up to the bar - I followed along. It was really an interesting place. The lady in the pic is Lisa. She waited on us and then stayed around to chat with us for an hour and a half after she got off shift. She and her boyfriend Kevin run the motel. They were kind enough to let us boondock in their motel parking lot and even gave us the password to their WiFi so I could post today's events.
As a side-bar, we learned a lot about Jeffrey City from Lisa. The town boomed with the rocket age in the late 1950s. It was never incorporated and was always a uranium mining camp. It boomed thru the early 1980s but by 1986 (according to Google) 95% of the population had left. Let's do the math. Rocket age + uranium boom = nuclear missiles. Early 1980s + "detente" = no more new nuclear missiles. No more new nuclear missiles = uranium bust. Geopolitics at the local level in a nutshell. See The Thin Blue Ride for all your educational needs.
Oh yes - I ordered this - along with two additional cans of Diet Pepsi that I quaffed. The burger was perfect. It had that "old griddle" taste. The fries were hand cut and freshly fried. Perfect!
This guy wandered in shortly after his owner when someone opened the door to leave. I didn't catch his name, but the dog's owner said the dog charged for pics. Since I didn't have any cash on me, I asked him to send me a bill. I think he looks fine with that.
So, the reader has already met one of the three new friends (Garrett). These are the other two. That would be Bernard on my right and the reader's left. He's from the Netherlands and is riding the country this summer. On my left (the reader's right) is Cynthia. She's from Denver and works in marketing. She quit her job to ride the T/A this summer and plans to get back into marketing when she's done. We met at the bar/cafe when they pulled in shortly after we did. Cynthia named her bike Blucifer (note the color). Bernard thought it was odd that women name their bikes. I was forced to tell him of Delta and Sig. But in my defense, Susan named Sig.
And then there was this guy. He's a 7x6 (if ya don't know, ask a hunter) and charged for pics too. This is me paying the tab.
So there ya have it readers, a day in the life of Brad and Susan on The Thin Blue Ride.
Till next time.
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