Saturday 27 August 2011 Day 2 of the 6'th week. Day 37 on the road
We should be enjoying the journey through the Tetons and Yellowstone but instead we are all concerned about the Hurricane that has its crosshairs on our hometowns.
We crossed the Continental Divide a few times and entered Montana.
117 Miles
6314 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 40-70 degrees
Day 36 Moran, WY -> West YellowStone
Friday 26 August 2011 Day 1 of the 6'th week. Day 36 on the road
We should be enjoying the journey through the Tetons and Yellowstone but instead we are all concerned about the Hurricane that has its crosshairs on our hometowns.
We crossed the Continental Divide a few times and entered Montana.
117 Miles
6314 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 40-70 degrees
Only this was received...hmm
We should be enjoying the journey through the Tetons and Yellowstone but instead we are all concerned about the Hurricane that has its crosshairs on our hometowns.
We crossed the Continental Divide a few times and entered Montana.
117 Miles
6314 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 40-70 degrees
Only this was received...hmm
 |
| Be Beary Aware.. |
Day 35 Dubois, WY -> Moran, WY
Thursday 25 August 2011 Day 7 of the 5'th week. Day 35 on the road
Today should be the shortest travel day we will or have had on the tour.
The availability of motels in the Yellowstone area is the reason for our short day. Knowing we had less than 50 miles to ride we did not get moving too quickly in the morning.
We still woke by 6AM but did not rush to get out the door as usual. And once on the road we did not push.
A couple miles out of town we ran into a cyclist with a fully loaded mountain bike with knobby tires.
His name was Mike and he lives in New Zealand.
He traveled here to ride the Great Divide off-road route from Canada all the way to Mexico!
Only 10% of this 2500 mile route is on a paved road. This was one tough dude.
A few more miles down the road we stopped at a store for some water and met three motocross riders that were doing the same 2500 miles off-road trip by motorcycle.
What a pounding that has to be - day after day.
They carried extra fuel and supplies on their bikes. The incredible part is that two of the riders are over 60 years old and the other is over 50!
More tough dudes.
The skies threatened to rain on us for awhile in the morning but it never happened. The wind was not a big factor today as we were in the mountains.
We had basically one big climb to a little over 9500’ that took a few hours to complete.
You begin to notice the tinner air as you cross over the 8500’ mark.
Not bad but noticeable.
48 Miles
3351 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 75-85 degrees
3216 overall
91.88 MPD ave
Could be spotty cell coverage today as the team heads up the hill into Grand Teton National Park.
Today should be the shortest travel day we will or have had on the tour.
The availability of motels in the Yellowstone area is the reason for our short day. Knowing we had less than 50 miles to ride we did not get moving too quickly in the morning.
We still woke by 6AM but did not rush to get out the door as usual. And once on the road we did not push.
His name was Mike and he lives in New Zealand.
He traveled here to ride the Great Divide off-road route from Canada all the way to Mexico!
Only 10% of this 2500 mile route is on a paved road. This was one tough dude.
What a pounding that has to be - day after day.
They carried extra fuel and supplies on their bikes. The incredible part is that two of the riders are over 60 years old and the other is over 50!
More tough dudes.
We had basically one big climb to a little over 9500’ that took a few hours to complete.
You begin to notice the tinner air as you cross over the 8500’ mark.
Not bad but noticeable.
48 Miles
3351 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 75-85 degrees
3216 overall
91.88 MPD ave
Could be spotty cell coverage today as the team heads up the hill into Grand Teton National Park.
Day 34 Riverton, WY - Dubois, WY
Wednesday 24 August 2011 Day 6 of the 5'th week. Day 34 on the road
About 55 miles outside of Dubois, WY we came upon a cyclist pulling a loaded “bob”. A bob is a small trailer you pull behind your bike with your gear instead of the panniers that we use. Each method of hauling has it’s pros and cons. We choose to use the saddlebags.
His name is Dave and he was a cool dude to talk to. If you think we are crazy for riding cross country this guy has been riding for over a year and has covered 9000 miles so far. Retired from the Air Force he swapped airplanes for a bike. He uploads his journey to YouTube daily and has a big following. He pulled out his HD video camera and asked us a few questions about our trip for upload to his site.
His site is on You Tube and is called Three Wheel Journey.
At a small store we ran into a FEMA employee, Mark who was helping with the rebuilding of roads washed away when the Wind River overflowed its banks on the local Indian Reservation. The conversation started as he asked us about our cross country adventure. When we told him we started in Connecticut he asked if we lived near New London where he spent time as a cadet at the Coast Guard Academy. He knew a good friend of Ken’s also. It is a small world.
Just as were enjoying the sunny windless day a thunderstorm rolled in over the mountains and with it winds gusting up to 40 mph. That is enough to blow us right off the shoulder of the road and it did! We could not believe the perfect day was now going to be spoiled by wind and rain. Well it did not rain on us and after about a couple hours of strong winds and dark skies it disappeared. This was Mother Nature reminding us not to take her for granted.
While we were battling the wind a motor home pulled off the road in front of us. It was a couple touring the country with their two dogs. They stopped to see if we needed any cold water to drink or anything else they had onboard. Once again good people doing good things for others.
They have a blog of their journey as seen through their two dogs Daisy and Gabby’s eyes.
http://www.daisyngabby.blogspot.com/ Check out the site.
Our day ended in a western style town called Dubois. A real interesting little town with good food and nice places to stay. We secured a nice little cabin for $105.
The waitress at the restaurant got a chuckle when we placed our order. First it was tacos for an appetizer. Followed by three dinners and salads and along with our dinners and extra dinner to split. After polishing that off we ordered deserts with extra ice cream. It is nice to be able to eat all that food and know you will burn it off the next day.
Mountains for breakfast tomorrow.
79 Miles
4332Feet of Climbing
Temperature 85 - 90 degrees
3168 overall
93.1 MPD ave
"Manuvering, Ahead full.."
The plan is to make the town of Dubois tonight. About 85 miles out.
Should be Hot, Dusty, Dry and barren today. Perfect day to spin the pedals..
Today’s riding conditions were truly spectacular. The temperature was reasonable and the wind was nowhere to be found. Yesterday we were wondering why were even doing this bike insanity and today we glad to be riding. What a difference a day can make.
Instead of creeping along at 8mph suffering we were able to travel at 15-18mph with ease. It is how it is supposed to be. The bleak landscape was replaced with mountains striped with layers of reds and browns. 
About 55 miles outside of Dubois, WY we came upon a cyclist pulling a loaded “bob”. A bob is a small trailer you pull behind your bike with your gear instead of the panniers that we use. Each method of hauling has it’s pros and cons. We choose to use the saddlebags.
His name is Dave and he was a cool dude to talk to. If you think we are crazy for riding cross country this guy has been riding for over a year and has covered 9000 miles so far. Retired from the Air Force he swapped airplanes for a bike. He uploads his journey to YouTube daily and has a big following. He pulled out his HD video camera and asked us a few questions about our trip for upload to his site.
His site is on You Tube and is called Three Wheel Journey.
At a small store we ran into a FEMA employee, Mark who was helping with the rebuilding of roads washed away when the Wind River overflowed its banks on the local Indian Reservation. The conversation started as he asked us about our cross country adventure. When we told him we started in Connecticut he asked if we lived near New London where he spent time as a cadet at the Coast Guard Academy. He knew a good friend of Ken’s also. It is a small world.
Just as were enjoying the sunny windless day a thunderstorm rolled in over the mountains and with it winds gusting up to 40 mph. That is enough to blow us right off the shoulder of the road and it did! We could not believe the perfect day was now going to be spoiled by wind and rain. Well it did not rain on us and after about a couple hours of strong winds and dark skies it disappeared. This was Mother Nature reminding us not to take her for granted.
While we were battling the wind a motor home pulled off the road in front of us. It was a couple touring the country with their two dogs. They stopped to see if we needed any cold water to drink or anything else they had onboard. Once again good people doing good things for others.
They have a blog of their journey as seen through their two dogs Daisy and Gabby’s eyes.
http://www.daisyngabby.blogspot.com/ Check out the site.
Our day ended in a western style town called Dubois. A real interesting little town with good food and nice places to stay. We secured a nice little cabin for $105.
The waitress at the restaurant got a chuckle when we placed our order. First it was tacos for an appetizer. Followed by three dinners and salads and along with our dinners and extra dinner to split. After polishing that off we ordered deserts with extra ice cream. It is nice to be able to eat all that food and know you will burn it off the next day.
Mountains for breakfast tomorrow.
79 Miles
4332Feet of Climbing
Temperature 85 - 90 degrees
3168 overall
93.1 MPD ave
"Manuvering, Ahead full.."
The plan is to make the town of Dubois tonight. About 85 miles out.
Should be Hot, Dusty, Dry and barren today. Perfect day to spin the pedals..
Day 33 Casper, WY -> Riverton, WY
Tuesday 23 August 2011 Day 5 of the 5'th week. Day 33 on the road.
And now "The Rest of the Story" - Wyoming handed out another severe beating to the Outlaw Spandex Gang once again. A sustained, unrelenting torturous 20 to 35+mph head wind punished us from the moment we hit the road.
Our bikes were loaded down with extra liquids due to the distances between watering holes. We were told not to expect any services for almost 100 miles. The extra weight made the wind barrage that much more enjoyable as we climbed the hills against it. As we tried to pedal up the hill the wind kept trying to shove us back down.
Even with the extra water the heat and hot wind blowing on us made us consume much more water than we expected. Our skin was sandy feeling with salt from our sweat. When we rolled through the town Power River Ken stopped at a house to ask for water.
Like the other two towns we went through today there are no stores, gas stations or stop signs.
So far we are not impressed with the scenery in the state of Wyoming. All we have seen is grasslands and weeds. Nothing else.
I hope it will improve because the locals say the stiff winds are here to stay.
Put today on the top of the same list of crummy days as that yesterday is on. We were on the bikes just under 14 hours arriving at our motel at 10:30PM after some fine dining at Wendy’s Hamburger.
What we thought was low clouds on the horizon was actually smoke from large brush fires in burning in Dubois and Jackson Wyoming. The setting sun was partially obscured by the low smoke.
Our wagon train is headed for both of these cities and road closing could be a concern.
123 Wind Blown Miles
3780 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 85 - 95 degree
308993.6
Riverton, WY is the destination for the day. More than 120 mile day. The team is underway on Pedal Power this morning. Makin miles. They each have about 2 gallons of water onboard. Lets see. 2 gallons X 8 pounds = 16 pounds. 50 pounds of "stuff", 20 pounds of bicycle, 180 pounds of human = about 275 pounds into a 25 MPH wind for 10 hours. Now that should burn some calories..
And there are some of those "Lumps" to contend with towards the end of the day. Nice when you can get bonus points for windy miles...
Day 32 Lusk, WY -> Casper, WY
Monday 22 August 2011 Day 4 of week 5. Day 32 on the road, Pedals Down...
It was a tough day for the riders of the Wild West Tour. Maybe Wyoming does not like the three urban cowboys dressed in their tight spandex shorts and fancy shirts riding into town on their metal ponies. Whatever the reason we received a beating during our 12 hours in the saddle. The hot sun was blaring down on us and the wind blowing hard in our faces.
This peculiar part of Wyoming looks like a barren wasteland of dried grasses and weeds. Other than a few prong horn antelope there is really nothing interesting to look at as the wind pushes you backwards. Even the antelope are not that exciting anymore because they seem to be everywhere. All you really want on a day like this is for the day to end and get off the bike.
Late in the afternoon we came upon a huge wind generator farm. We would have enjoyed the giant turbines a lot more if we had approached them with the wind at our backs pushing us swiftly by. Instead it seemed to take forever to finally reach the 400’ tall spinning pinwheels as we crept up the ridge at 8mph.
Looks like we can expect more wind and heat tomorrow according to the latest weather forecast. Like I have said before what determines the distance traveled each day is the availability of a place to sleep. Today the space was 113 miles. Tomorrow it looks like it will be over 120 miles. Hopefully it will be more enjoyable.
One other thing. We see some “bumps” off on the horizon….. does anyone know what these bumps might be??
113 Miles
3980 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 85 - 98 degrees
It was a tough day for the riders of the Wild West Tour. Maybe Wyoming does not like the three urban cowboys dressed in their tight spandex shorts and fancy shirts riding into town on their metal ponies. Whatever the reason we received a beating during our 12 hours in the saddle. The hot sun was blaring down on us and the wind blowing hard in our faces.
Late in the afternoon we came upon a huge wind generator farm. We would have enjoyed the giant turbines a lot more if we had approached them with the wind at our backs pushing us swiftly by. Instead it seemed to take forever to finally reach the 400’ tall spinning pinwheels as we crept up the ridge at 8mph.
Looks like we can expect more wind and heat tomorrow according to the latest weather forecast. Like I have said before what determines the distance traveled each day is the availability of a place to sleep. Today the space was 113 miles. Tomorrow it looks like it will be over 120 miles. Hopefully it will be more enjoyable.
113 Miles
3980 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 85 - 98 degrees
Day 31 Somewhere in Nebraska -> Lusk, WY
Sunday 21 August 2011 Day 3 week 5
Today our little wagon train entered the least populated state per square mile in the continental USA, Wyoming. Only Alaska has less people per square mile. Back home in Connecticut the population density is over 738 people per square mile, Wyoming less than 6.
We do not expect to find a Starbucks on every corner out here. We may not even find any corners!
Because of the limited population we need to be sure we have plenty of water between cities.
The day was actually uneventful and somewhat short, only covering 76 miles. We did have to negotiate 12 miles of unpaved roadway in the morning leaving the High Plains Ranch.
The 45 miles of off-road riding we have done in the past 2 days has made a mess of our bikes. The chains, sprockets and frames all had a coat of Nebraska dirt covering them. When we arrived in Lusk, WY we stopped at the local coin operated car wash and gave our machines baths.
Tomorrow we have a 110+ mile day planned and with plenty of climbing.
76 Miles
3358 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 70 -95 degrees
Today our little wagon train entered the least populated state per square mile in the continental USA, Wyoming. Only Alaska has less people per square mile. Back home in Connecticut the population density is over 738 people per square mile, Wyoming less than 6.
We do not expect to find a Starbucks on every corner out here. We may not even find any corners!
Because of the limited population we need to be sure we have plenty of water between cities.
The day was actually uneventful and somewhat short, only covering 76 miles. We did have to negotiate 12 miles of unpaved roadway in the morning leaving the High Plains Ranch.
The 45 miles of off-road riding we have done in the past 2 days has made a mess of our bikes. The chains, sprockets and frames all had a coat of Nebraska dirt covering them. When we arrived in Lusk, WY we stopped at the local coin operated car wash and gave our machines baths.
Tomorrow we have a 110+ mile day planned and with plenty of climbing.
76 Miles
3358 Feet of Climbing
Temperature 70 -95 degrees
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)