Steve's TransAm Adventure

Today we packed up early and hit the road at 0530 in an effort to get a many miles in as possible before the wind picked up.  I had prepared breakfast sandwiches yesterday, so we rode for about an hour before we stopped to eat.  The wind did pick up around 0730, so we put about 26 miles behind us before the west wind started to pick up.  It would steadily increase all day, but never got as bad as the day I was riding into Lander and needed to get picked up.  The scenery is getting more varied and awesome as we go farther northwest in WY. The painted rocks and Wind River Wyoming’s Mt. Rushmore Flowers along the road Red Rocks area and the Wind River Brian and I took turns pulling, which made it much easier.  There were gusts, but not like before.  The wind speed picked up to a steady 15 mph with gusts of about 30 mph and was generally a headwind.  When wind is gusting I prefer a headwind because it is less exhausting than leaning in to a crosswind and t...

Brian’s wheel was not in yet, so I decided to take a second rest day in Lander.  The Gannet Peak sports shop assured us it would be in today, and they were right.  Brian has his bike back!  As for me, my continuing saga of finding the right bike seat continued.  After riding the Specialized saddle I bought yesterday, and doing some research on-line, I was not confident that I had found the right fit yet.  In a moment of uncertainty, I went back to Gannet Peak and asked to test ride the Brooks Cambria C15 (they did not have a C17, which is wider).  This is the model made of  rubber, instead of the traditional leather.  They did not have the traditional Brooks leather saddle that is the gold standard for touring cyclists.  That is probably just as well because it takes a few hundred miles to break in the Brooks leather.  The Cambria still did not fit right.  I kept questioning and second-guessing myself.  Finally I asked if they ...

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...