Steve's TransAm Adventure

Today I took a rest day to recover from the intense amount of effort I put in yesterday fighting the wind.  I have been told by two local residents of Lander that the wind yesterday (and this year in general) has been unusually high.  After having breakfast with Brian I went to Gannet Peak Sports bike shop to replace my seat.  I am not willing to risk my McGuyver repair failing somewhere in the middle of nowhere.  I went in hoping to buy a Brooks classic leather saddle, but they didn’t have any.  Instead I bought a Specialized saddle.  They have done a lot of ergonomic research, so I decided to give one a try.  I also bought a (very expensive!) new pair of bike shorts with really good padding as extra insurance.  The next leg is 75 miles and I don’t want to be miserable because my sit-bones ache.   Brian had hoped that his new wheel would be in today, but it is now scheduled to arrive tomorrow.  I am going to take another rest day in Lan...

55.4 miles, 2099 ft ascent / 3029 descent , 12.4% max grade, 6:08 saddle time.  Starting elevation 5981 ft, max 6764 ft, min 5332, final 5357 ft. The weather forecast predicted that today would be windy, so I got up at 4:45 and headed out of Jeffrey City at 5:30.  I was not sad to leave.   An early start The wind started to pick up right away.  I was going roughly NW with the road alternating between west and north, and the wind shifted back and forth from SW to W all day long.  By 0730 the wind speed was up to 10 mph from the W, and it kept increasing as the day went on:  15, 17, 22, 27 mph.  It is hard to ride into a strong headwind, but when it is also gusting to 30 or 40 mph, you cannot get into a rhythm and are constantly shifting gears.  At times a strong headwind gust would bring me nearly to a standstill.  Gusting crosswinds are even more challenging.  I would lean into the steady W wind, then a gust would come along and blow the...

67.4 miles, 1753 ft ascent, 7.1% max grade , 5:32 riding time, max/min elevation 7227/6184 ft. This morning I had breakfast at the Hampton Inn, and then said goodbye to my riding companions a I headed out for the first solo day of my entire tour so far.  I was sad to leave them behind, but also looking forward to re-joining Brian in Lander WY.  At about 7:20 am I started heading north with little to no wind.   The view headed North The very long straight roads are intimidating to me.  We don’t have anything quite like them in Maryland.  It feels like I will never reach the end, but then I do.  The scenery changed from grass and sagebrush prairie to bare dirt spots. The appearance of dirt and sand patches in the prairie I crossed the Continental divide twice today, which makes at least three times so far.  I was told that this route will cross multiple times.  Just a note to those of you with pickup trucks, don’t use black rubber tie-down straps if...

41 miles, 1329 ft ascent, Max grade 6.9%, 3:15 saddle time, max elevation 7008, min 6490 ft This morning we had breakfast at a really nice farm-to-table restaurant, the Hen & Harvest.  I had Crème Brûlée French Toast and it was delicious.  We started the day at an elevation of 6791 ft and ended at 6755 ft, so basically as flat as it gets in this part of WY.  The challenge today was WIND.  We started the day with a 9 mph wind from the SSE with gusts of up to 17 mph.  Since we were traveling north, it was a really nice tailwind for the first 20 miles.  But then we turned west and were faced with a 22 mph SW wind with gusts of up to 39 mph.  This tells the story. Speed for north and west segments On the westward leg we formed a pace line and took turns pulling for 2-mile increments.  Normally I would not follow closely behind a loaded touring bike, but it really decreased the overall effort. To add to my continuing narrative on drought in the wes...

66.6 miles, 2100 ft ascent / 3377 ft descent, max grade 7.5%, Max elevation 8129, min elevation 6799 ft. Today Brian, Bill and I meet for breakfast at 0630 and were on the road by 0730.  We knew we had a long day ahead, so we wanted to get an early start.  The wind picks up during the day (and changes direction), so it is wise to start early.  Today, however, the route was downhill with a tailwind for the first 50 miles!  We lost 2700 ft of elevation between Willow Creek Pass and Saratoga.  We rode through a wide open valley with the Rockies in the distance. Riding away from the snow capped peaks After awhile we could no longer see the snow capped peaks.  I didn’t take many photos today because I didn’t want to stop on a good downhill, of which there were many!  Also, the surrounding pastures and mountains are of such a scale that it is hard to capture them in a photo.  Even a panorama doesn’t quite capture it; you have to see it.   We crosse...

60.7 miles, 3094 ft ascent, 10.6% max grade, 5:45 saddle time, 8099 ft final elevation, max elevation 9683 ft Today Brian and I got a late start (0915) because the breakfast restaurant did not open until 0800.  We had a charming waitress and the food was good.  We headed east following the river until the route turned north and followed Coyote Creek up into a beautiful valley. View East from Hot Sulphur Springs There was an extensive fire in the area we were riding through 4 years ago, so we rode through about 22 miles of burned area as we made our way up to the headwaters of the creek.  It was very encouraging to see how the trees and shrubs were coming back. Burned trees and new growth Regeneration of the forest The grades leading up to Willow Creek Summit were gradual (5 to 7%) with flat areas in between, which made for an enjoyable ride (until the last couple miles where the grade kicked up).  On the way up I came across this interesting rock formation…it almost ...