The Thin Blue Ride - Part 2 Day 36 - Riverside, WY to Rand, CO

Monday, July 15^th, 2019

Ride Report: 66 Miles, 1,794 Total Miles, 16.2 Avg mph, 3,219 Ft. Climbing, 5,199 Calories.  Max speed today was 47.1 mph.  Which, by the way, was a hoot.  I don’t think this is a new record for the trip as I believe there was one mountain in Oregon where I hit 47.2.  I will check and verify to sate the reader’s prurient interest.

OK - I'm back. Sorry for the 24 hour delay.  When I typed that up we didn't have service.  But I checked today and the actual high speed was 47.5.  So - I was in error.  don't tell your children.

As we’re getting closer to Breckenridge, both Susan and I are eager to get there as early as possible on the Wednesday the 17^th.  This for a couple of reasons.  First, we get to see Kelsy and Parker (KnP).  Second, both the bikes need some work and I’ve arranged with a shop there (on the one day when we did have cell service recently) to take the boys in for tune ups.  The net result of this desire on our part will be to stretch the remaining riding days (as I did yesterday) in order to shorten the trip from Kremmling to Breckenridge, thus arriving earlier in the day.  We do that by riding past our destination, setting up for the night where we can, and starting early the next morning to have more ride time.

This plan ran afoul of Mother Nature today when we had about 10 miles to go to reach Rand.  A thunderstorm intervened.  As it happened, Susan and I had arranged to meet half way between Walden and Rand.  When the rain hit, I had about two or three miles of wet riding before reaching The Rig.  Once I went in, I didn’t come out for an hour and a half.  We’re in the mountains – it would rain, stop, the roads would start to dry out, repeat – about four times.  When the roads finally dried out for the last time, I took off and ten miles later was in Rand.  We talked briefly there and agreed to ride about half way up the pass to the Continental Divide before calling it a day.  And that’s where we sit now – on a United States Forest Service (USFS) road about a hundred yards off Colorado 125, which is the road over the pass.

Thankfully, the view changed late today, though the terrain in which we were riding didn’t.  What this means is that the real mountains came into view again.  This is good because it means that I get to look at something other than sage brush covered hills.  This is bad because we’re intentionally heading toward these mountains in order to go over them.  But this is the way of things on the T/A.  One of the tourers I met today responded with this when I asked how bad the pass to the Continental Divide was, “It’s a mountain.  It wasn’t as bad as some of the others.”  That pretty much sums it up.  On with today’s pics…

Yesterday’s stopping point meant that the first thing on the agenda was a four mile climb ranging between 4-7%.  Not my favorite way to start the day.  Frankly, I’d rather eat oatmeal for breakfast.  But as you can tell by the pic what with the road running out in the valley below the crest of the hill, it’s gonna be a fun descent.

The sign didn’t lie – it was 7%.  The bonus was that it was relatively straight.  This meant that I could get down on the bike to avoid as much air resistance as possible and let gravity do its thing.  The result was the previously mentioned top speed of 47.1 mph.  The observant reader may notice something different about me in this pic.  The safety conscious reader will wonder where my helmet is.  I think the answer to this last question is obvious.  It’s in The Rig.  I forgot to put it on.  Susan forgot to notice. What with no cell service, I couldn’t call her and she was long gone by the time I noticed. But her failure to notice only lasted until I met her at the Colorado line at mile 17 of today’s ride.

This was my reaction to my own stupidity.  I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten my helmet.  I included this pic for the clueless reader.

Sig wanted this one included.  He couldn’t wait to get going.

I’d been seeing these for some time now and wanted to wait for a great pic before posting.  I think this pic is great.  The entrance made out of pine logs, the white gate, the buildings centered in the gate, the hills in the background.  Just great.  BTW – they don’t ponder creek names much in these parts.  It was a creek.  It was big.  It’s a ranch.  Its near Big Creek.

And related to ranching...  I went past one pasture today that was filled with black Angus.  Not unusual along this section of the T/A.  But as I got closer, I noticed that they were all bulls.   Now I'm a ways removed from my farm days, but I recognize a bull when I see one.  There must have been 150 of 'em.  What on earth does a rancher need that many bulls for?  Yes, yes, yes - I know.  I took particular note of that part of biology class.  What I'm getting at is the size of the ranches in these parts.  I mean, how many cows can one bull "service"?  Whatever that number is, multiply it by 150 and you'll know how many cows that particular ranch has.  Wow!

And just 17 miles into the ride we arrived at the Colorado border.  Time for the obligatory pic.  I have several of these from riding BAKs over the years.  Some even have sagebrush in the background.  So far as I’m able to determine, they’re interchangeable.  The reader may be wondering how many states we’ve ridden thru.  The answer…

…is FIVE.  It dawned on me today that when we hit Kansas, I won’t know what to do.  I hold the camera with one hand and have only five fingers on the other hand.  Kansas will be state 6.  And what of all the states that follow? I recruited Susan to help out today.  This is just an audition.  She seemed to handle the responsibility well, but can’t commit without checking her Teamster’s contract regarding secondary employment.  If that turns out to be a problem, I’ll just have to take off a shoe and work with what God gave me when we hit Kansas.

OK – the ones in the distance are the real deal – and they’re starting to make themselves known.  We’re headed straight at ‘em.  No fear left in any of us any more when it comes to mountains.

A close up of the same bunch of characters.

Oh yes – we stopped in Cowdrey (aptly named) for lunch.  A lunch made more difficult by virtue of what the reader sees all over the ground in this pic.  That, my dear readers, is none other than cow poop.  That’s right – cow pies strung about the main drag thru town as if, well…a bunch of cows had just “passed” thru.  My brother in law, Chris, says that’s the smell of money.  I dunno – all I know for certain is that I had to look twice at my sandwich before taking a bite.  Susan says I should have paid an equal amount of attention to where I stepped on the way into The Rig.  The highway outside town was in the same condition – and for a good distance.  For my part, I was just glad it wasn’t a rainy day…

This is Theo.  He’s from Boston and has a limited amount of time left to finish his ride this summer.  Though we met on the T/A, he’s not been on it for his entire trip.  He aims to get to Glacier National Park and points West before he has to call it a ride and return to real life.  As always, we had a nice chat (in which I warned him about the construction on I-80) and headed our separate ways.

When I saw this scene I just had to stop and take a pic for Susan.  I hope the reader appreciates it as well, but you all weren’t my target audience with this one.  Check out those yellow and purple flowers in the foreground.

They’re getting closer…closer…  Somewhere in there with the big boys is Willow Creek Pass.  There are really only two major passes left in the Western half of the T/A.  Willow Creek is one and Hoosier Pass is the other.  They will require three more riding days.  But lest the reader forget, once we make it to Breckenridge, we’re taking two Rest Days before tackling Hoosier Pass.

Stay tuned.

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 2 Day 35 - Rawlins, WY to Riverside, WY

Sunday, June 14th, 2019

Ride Report: 70 Miles, 1,728 Total Miles, 16.0 Avg. mph, 2,385 Ft. Climbing, 5,125 Calories.

As Ride reports go, this one is largely unremarkable.  It’s what the reader doesn’t know that makes it stand out.  I’ll fill ya in.  When we left Rawlins it was early and the wind hadn’t kicked up.  But by the time we reached Walcott Junction 23 miles later (By using I-80 no less, more on this below.) the wind had, in fact kicked up.  Worse yet, was generally coming out of the south.  So, quite naturally, at Walcott Junction we turned South into what was, at best, a quartering headwind of 16-20 steady and gusts to 25.  This according to “AccuWeather” so it’s suspect, but still, it was windy.  When side gusts move me a couple of feet - it’s windy.  This went on for the better part of 40 of today’s 70 miles.  Oh - and the route was generally uphill.  Wonderful.  So - the reader can see why I’m (justifiably) enamored with that 16 mph average.  Delta and I earned it today.

Oh - and for you Google Maps fact checkers, I rode about 10 miles past Riverside in order to take 10 miles off tomorrow’s jaunt to Rand, CO.  That was gonna be about 71 miles and the extra miles today chopped it to a manageable 61.  Why?  Another uphill course tomorrow - all day.  We’re now officially in the run-up to the Colorado Rockies and Hoosier Pass.  The route profile for this section of the T/A is just amazing.  I’ll include it below for the reader’s perusal.  Blah, blah, blah - on with today’s pics...

The small town of Sinclair is just East of Rawlins and provided today's stroll down memory lane.  It's the late 60s, DDT are just three letters strung together at random, I'm maybe 9-10 years old, Downs had a "fogger" mounted on the back of the City pick-up truck to "fog" for mosquitoes.  Me and my buddies used to ride behind the pick-up in the "fog".  Now take a look at the truck to my left.  Yup - same thing.  And just to bring the nostalgia to unprecedented levels, I got lost in Sinclair and had to turn around and go back thru the "fog" again.  Just like old times. And to my kids...  If you're reading this; getting rid of the extra toes was really not a big deal - you were little and prolly don't even remember it.

And pretty soon I figured out why the town was named Sinclair.  The refinery was huge - and smelly.

These were right across the street from the refinery.  Delta was aghast when I explained to him that automobiles drink this stuff.

It was also at Sinclair that the T/A route joined I-80 for a 13 mile stretch.  Hey, it's literally the ONLY paved road to get to where the route needs to go.  The unfortunate part was that 6 miles of it were under construction.  As a result WY-DOT (I could have fun with that, but refuse to do so) moved WB traffic to the EB lanes - our lanes.  On the positive side, we had a 12 foot shoulder to work with when the trucks zoomed past.  WY-DOT was kind enough to lower the speed limit to 65 in the construction zone.  On the down side, there were three bridges with only 6 foot shoulders.  When we reached those I looked for a break in traffic and we sprinted across in order to get back to the wider shoulders as soon as possible. I must say - all the drivers were respectful and gave us as much room as they could.

Delta took this shot maybe eight miles or so after we turned into the wind.  As for me, I was glad for the break - I needed a rest.  I included this pic because one thing about it reminds me of Kansas - ya can see forever out here.  Well, that and Delta insisted.

Though I didn't ask, Susan shortened the first stretch into the wind from eleven miles to nine.  I was glad to see her and The Rig.  Plus, this is just a great shot. The section immediately after we turned into the wind was the most brutal part of today's ride.  I checked my splits on that section (I run 5 mile splits on my Garmin) and they were the slowest of today's trip at just under 20 minutes each.  The proficient reader will do the math and realize that we barely averaged 15 mph on those two splits.

And in keeping with the theme of meeting new and exciting people on the T/A, this is Tyler.  I met him just North of Saratoga, WY.  He flew from Cincinnati to Denver where he got on his bike and headed for St. George, UT where he will start his college career.  He had been working as a trucker to make enough money to go to college and study computer science.  He had quite a touring history having done Canada, several other parts of the US, etc.  He said he was headed for Rawlins and when I told him about the construction on I-80, he decided to take dirt roads along the river to get there.  Just like that.  OK...

Today'a obligatory snack pic.  When I showed up at the rig after talking with Tyler, Susan had a hand stirred, fresh blueberry shake ready for me.  She's become both adept and quite sneaky about getting calories into me.  While I was eating this, Susan saw a rather large jet land near Saratoga - a town of 1,600 people.  We were both surprised.  But sure enough, Google Maps showed they have an airport.

Speaking of which, the airport was a going concern.  There were two good sized private jets readying for departure and one single engine turbo prop.  I've no idea what generates all this traffic in and out of the Saratoga airport, but have obviously missed something.

But I didn't miss everything...

This was right across from the airport.  Prolly a rental car for the bigwigs on the private jets.  Yes - for the humor challenged reader, those are round bales where the tires should be.

All day, baby...

And this is Eric - he's from Fruita, Colorado.  Yes - it's a real place, just West of Grand Junction, CO.  He was passing by when I stopped for a break in The Rig, so I hailed him and asked if he'd like an ice cream sandwich.  So far - no refusals.  Anyway, he was on his first day of a rather circuitous route of his own design and intended to do 5,000 miles in about three months.  "You don't do it all at once.  If you ride 50 miles a day, at the end of a hundred days you've gone 5,000 miles."  Well - there is that... This wasn't his first time touring either.  We chatted with Susan inside The Rig for about 20-30 minutes and then went our separate ways.

This is a shot from one of the more elevated portions of today's route.  In all honesty, I forget precisely where I was when I took it.  But it is beautiful - in a way only Wyoming can pull off.  Given the sameness of the countryside and the flitting from town to town, it's almost inevitable that I lose track of where I am.  Mostly I ride till I see The Rig. If Susan ever gets lost, the reader may never hear from me again.  And no - don't call her with suggestions.

Finally, I think I said earlier that we're in the run-up to the Colorado Rockies.  The reader who clicks on this pic and opens it will be amazed at the elevation gains depicted.  Further, the run-up to either of the two major climbs of this section of the T/A are: 95+ miles for Willow Creek Pass (the first big hump on the chart)  and approach 80 miles for Hoosier Pass (the second big hump).  Wow.  That's a lotta uphill riding.

We shall see how it all shakes out.  As always, tune in here for the facts and nothing but the facts.

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 2 Day 34 - Jeffrey City, WY to Rawlins, WY

Ride Report:  67 Miles, 1,658 Total Miles, 16.7 Avg. mph, 1,837 Ft. Climbing, 4,107 calories.

Considering that Sig and I crossed the continental divide not once, but twice, I think the average speed listed in the ride report is, well, pretty darned good.  At times we had a tailwind, at times crosswind and at times headwind.  It was pretty much an average wind day (at least in my experience) here in Wyoming.  The same was true of the scenery - it was...average.

I also learned something this morning.  Susan doesn't always understand what I'm telling her.  I walked out of the bathroom this morning and pronounced that it was a good thing the tube of toothpaste was almost empty because I threw it away.  She inquired why I might have done so, since there was still perfectly good toothpaste left in the tube.  I told her it was all wet.  She wanted to know why.  The answer was obvious, "Because I rinsed it off."   Susan: "What? Why would you rinse it off."  Me (Sighs): "Because I dropped it in the toilet."  Sometimes it's like twenty questions to get her to understand what I'm telling her.  I just don't get it...

But back to today's real fun - the ride to Rawlins...

Once we cleared the cloud of mosquitoes lying in wait at Jeffrey City, this was the view.  This was no mean feat, the mosquitoes were both numerous and aggressive.  At one point they pulled me off Sig and into the ditch to feed.  Sig came in with both handlebars swinging and extricated me, following which we rode like the wind to escape.  It's like they're the winged monkeys from The Wizard of Oz or something.  BTW - this was pretty much the view all day.

This is "Split Rock".  Hence the name of the bar/restaurant at which I dined yesterday afternoon.  It was apparently a marker for everybody from the Pony Express to emigrants headed West back in the day.  When we headed South out of town this morning, it was visible in the distance for probably 10 miles.  Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.  (Hey - I was busy riding.)

OK - I admit defeat on this one.  I think it was just yesterday that I said I had a fairly good idea how these geologic formations come to be, but this one has me stumped.  Any geologists out there wanna help out?   At first glimpse from a distance I thought it was a man made structure.  Obviously not.

Then at some point before lunch, Susan forced this upon me at a brief stop.  This, boys and girls, is strawberry rhubarb pie WITH ice cream.  After how she dealt with that mouse, I wasn't sayin no...

Wyoming just has an eclectic mix of rock formations.  This granite intrusion was in the middle of a plain with a river running thru it.  Perhaps I should have paid more attention in Geology 101 back in college.

As I said earlier - two crossings of the continental divide today.  This was number 1.  I'd like the reader to believe that it was a big deal, but not so much.   The grade getting there was pretty shallow and only went on for maybe 5-6 miles.  But hey - it's still a continental divide.

Then it was break/experiment time.  This time with the last of the remaining four food groups: grains.  This would be basil spaghetti - made, I'm sure, from thoroughly processed wheat flour.  My lab assistant (Susan) found it left over in the fridge.  But a grain is a grain regardless of its form.   Pretty darned good!

I believe that at this point I can declare an end to the OE research.  While the research still has to undergo peer review in the American Journal of Nutrition and Food Science, early indications are promising.  I think it safe to give my readers the inside scoop - so long as you all don't go out and buy Oreo stock.  The OE is the real deal.  It appears that Oreos do, in fact, improve the taste of everything.  The lab has been contacted by the American Medical Association.  They're wanting to glom onto our research and make some specific recommendations as to the MDOI (Minimum Daily Oreo Intake).

Back out on the open road, there was this.  It may be difficult to discern from a distance, but it looks like this entire section of the Earth's surface was uplifted on one end.  The "pasture" just takes off at an upward angle.  I can't imagine the forces necessary to make this happen, but there were several examples of it as we neared Rawlins.

And just to illustrate the sameness of the scenery (for 67 miles) today I proffer the following two pics...

I stopped...somewhere...to take this pic of where Sig and are going.

I then rotated 180 degrees and took this pic of from whence we had just come.  This is like that game you played with two photos as a kid.  How many things different can the reader find.  Clouds don't count.

Susan found this marker on the route today.  It tells the story of mines that formerly dotted the hills near Rawlins and provided a mineral used to make red paint, well...red.  They were quite proud of it.  Used by permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.

The scenery finally changed today on the run-up to continental divide #2.   Note the road snaking up the hill in the distance.  Once again, not particularly challenging.  The first mile ran 6-7%, but thereafter no more than 4% with much of it in the 2-3% range.  But it did run on for 6 miles.

Six miles later, we found the obligatory sign.  Number two for the day.  After this, it was a (mostly) downhill jaunt of 9ish miles to our overnight stop - the Wal-Mart in Rawlins.  When Susan got there, a semi had just taken the spot where she wanted to park.  She sent me over to inquire as to whether the trucker was going to overnight there or be leaving shortly.  I caught her giving him some sort of hand signals as I pedaled over and when I got there he told me he'd be leaving shortly.  As he pulled out about 20 minutes later he drove right past The Rig and gave Susan a thumbs up.  I'm tellin ya - marry a Teamster.

But speaking of the trucker, he seemed to be a good guy.  As I was just getting there to talk with him, what can only be described as an aged, homeless cowboy got to him first.  Lest the reader doubt my description, this is him in the pic below...

Ya had to see the inside of the back of the van.  The guy was homeless.

As it turns out, he wanted to tell the trucker that when they do...whatever is is they do with their air brakes that makes them screech...the screech sounded just like a female puma in heat.  How he came by this observation I've no idea, but he seemed particularly intent that the trucker should understand this fact.  I left them conversing about this unusual, but interesting, oddity involving air brakes and returned to The Rig.  Shortly, the trucker broke away and headed into Wally-World.  When he came out, he loaded his purchases in His Rig, and shortly returned to the Cowboy's van and gave him a plate of food.  Like I said, good guy.

And finally, this...

Having reached Rawlins, WY we have now completed map section 5.

And while I know that I've provided the day's destinations in the title of each post, I thought the reader might like an overview of section 5.  Click on the pic to enlarge. 

Till next time.

The Thin Blue Ride - Part 2 Day 33 - Lander, WY to Jeffrey City, WY

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.