Coast to Coast Bicycle Adventure: Thursday, July 5, 2012

Rawlins, WY to Riverside, WY (66 miles)

Believe it or not, rain is in the forecast. It is very dry around here! But, the day started in the 60's with only a couple clouds in the sky. On the road by 6:00am, I had to face a 66 mile day. It warmed into the 90's and there was not rain prior to arriving at the destination.

The route took me through a sparsely populated town of Sinclair. But, I discovered that although the population was slim, there was a huge oil refinery on the edge of the community. It is the original refinery of Sinclair Oil (you know, the gas station with a dinosaur on a green sign). Outside of town, the maps called for me to ride on Interstate I-80 for about 13 miles. Although it was a bit eerie feeling at first getting on an interstate, the ride was on nice smooth wide shoulder and the early time of day saw very little traffic. Apparently it is OK in Wyoming for a bicycle to be on the interstate. No Problem!

The balance of the day was on a very long stretch of road that was high plains with very little to look at except sage brush and hot dry land. It make one want to sing, “Home, Home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play…” I saw some of both today. Good thing is the traffic was very light.

On long rides you have a lot of time to think about stuff. So today, we are going to have some story problems that I developed on the ride. Let’s see how you do:

Problem 1: A red pickup truck with a barking dog in the back is traveling North at 65 mph on Highway 130. A semi-truck pulling a by-product from the refinery is traveling South at 65 mph on Highway 130. Bicyclist T is also traveling South on Highway 130 at 12 mph (he has a headwind). So, what is the probability that the red pickup truck, the semi-truck and Bicyclist T all pass on the road at the same time?

Answer 1: The probability is nearly 100%, and none of the above slow down or move over. But Bicyclist T feels a bit of a chill as the draft from the Semi-truck pushes him sideways and a fright as the dog barks in one’s ear. (This scenario happens multiple times during any given day on a bike ride.)

Problem 2: Bicyclist T rides in a Southern and Easterly direction through Montana and Wyoming for a couple of weeks. What is the probability that Bicyclist T faces a headwind more times than tailwinds?

Answer 2: The probability is nearly 100%, that Bicyclist T faces a headwind more times than tailwinds.

Problem 3: As you face a head wind, how can you distinguish between the smell of a dead antelope, dead deer, dead fox, or dead bunny?

Answer 3: As they have all been baking in the sun for a number of hours, or days, they all smell the same….not pleasant!

OK…enough Story Problems for today.

The next cyclist meeting was Mr. Dave Myers from Naples, Florida. Unbelievably, Dave actually rode his bike from his home in Naples along a southern route, visited the Grand Canyon, Utah, Colorado, and now was riding into Wyoming. As if that was not enough Dave’s goal is to reach Anchorage, Alaska. I told him he was crazier than me. If you want to check out his blog: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?doc_id=9897

Just outside Saratoga, WY, two Westbounders were approaching. Kristen and Lee were from Washington DC and they were walking their bikes (not a good sign). Kristen was having mechanical issues and they plan to look for a bike mechanic in Saratoga (but I don't think one existed there but they plan to take a bus to the closest repair shop.) They were not having a good TransAm trip as they said they took a bus across Kansas due to winds and they were having other issues and took a bus from Pueblo to Breckenridge, CO. Bummer!

The Lazy Acres Campground in Riverside, WY was shady and nice. We cooked on the grill and hurried to finish as the rain started. Tomorrow we will leave Wyoming and enter Colorado.