Day 18: Saratoga to Rawlins WY

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 west, here is an alkaline flat, which apparently is poisonous to cattle.  The sediment is dissolved limestone that accumulates due to evaporation.  We saw sevaral of these over our northern leg, and all were dry.

Alkaline flat
13 miles after we turned left we came to the town of Sinclair.  Sinclair gas stations are prevalent out here.  Surely you remember Dino.  Dino was everywhere in Sinclair.

Dino the dinosaur

It is a company town with a group of once elegant Spanish colonial buildings built in 1925.  Apparently the inside of the Inn was once spectacular, but now it has been taken over by a Baptist church.  The area was deserted when we rode through.

The Inn

Fountain in the square in front of the Inn

Wyoming is a deep red state, and it is apparent.  Yesterday we met a couple in Riverside WY when we were getting lunch.  The man had recently retired from a job at a coal-fired power plant in Craig WY.  It was in the process of being shut down when Trump told them to fire it up again, in spite of it being unprofitable for the company to do so.  We talked alot about the low amounts of snow in recent years and the warmer temperatures.  When I asked him why he thought weather is changing, he scoffed about it being due to power plants and said it was a natural cycle.  I didn’t take it any farther, but it is scary that people don’t bother to look at the data.  Sinclair is in Carbon County….very fitting.

Billboard on highway on way to Sinclair

Just as we were arriving in Rawlins, Brian broke a spoke in his rear wheel (cassette side of course).  When he went to replace the spoke, he found 3 cracks in the rim.  This is really unusual.

Longer crack in rear rim

The next two days of the journey are long desolate stretches with no services.  There is too much risk in continuing with those cracks, so he is trying to get a ride to the nearest bike shop, which is 125 miles away in Lander WY.  It is on route, so I will meet him there in 2 days.  As if this wasn’t bad enough, Bill had been struggling with pain in his foot for a couple days.  He thought it was due to a blister, but today it swelled up.  He is pretty sure it is a stress fracture, which he has had before during his running days.  He is unable to continue, so he is looking for a ride to Laramie where there is an airport and a bike shop to pack and ship his bike.  In spite of the disappointment, he is very thankful to have ridden this far.  That is a lesson in resilience and positive thinking.  I will miss him and I hope that someday he will be able to complete his TransAm journey.  

So tomorrow I set off alone for the first time in 2,550 miles.  I have been fortunate to have good riding companions so far, and I will look forward to rejoining Brian in Lander.

Note: elevation scale is exaggerated. The ride was pretty flat


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