I had heard from other P2P veterans that after 2-3 weeks, you begin to lose track of time and I guess it makes sense. When you do the same thing day after day after day, it’s a lot easier to forget which day it is. This morning when I woke up, I had pretty much forgotten that it was Sunday.
After yesterday’s assault on Big Horn Pass, I was concerned about taking on the 108 mile ride to Gillette, WY today. But after getting a good night’s sleep and some pretty decent leg recovery, I was ready to go after our early breakfast at the local Perkins Restaurant this morning. One thing I have learned is to always have my super light Patagonia wind/rain jacket stuffed into my back middle pocket on my jersey each morning. I keep it there until you can get a good sense on how the weather will turn out each day – if its nice weather, the jacket go into the laundry bin in the van at the first SAG stop. But it’s always a good idea to have it nearby.
The day started with a few decent climbs out of Sheridan and I think this was one of the most scenic first halves of any of our rides. On the way out, we got a great view of the Big Horn Mountains and were impressed with yesterday’s climb. The wildlife along this route was plentiful – I can’t tell you how many wild turkeys we saw but these fowl were huge and feeding in some of the fields we passed by. From a distance, we also spied a few pronghorn antelope and mule deer and more than a few grouse and prairie chickens on the side of the road. One unexpected sight was a deceased porcupine that met its end last night in the middle of the road.
After 2 SAG stops at mile 18 and 40, the topography began to shift from rolling agricultural land with interspersed trees to high desert scrub and more rocky soil. We passed through the town of Clearmont where a few of us stopped for a quick pee break because our lunch spot at mile 63 was going to be roadside with no facilities. This road must also be a favorite of motorcyclists because we saw quite a few pass by and more times than not they would give the low handed wave.
By lunch time, the day had gotten fairly hot in the mid-80’s and it was then that we began to notice some cloud formations coming together in the West behind us. Nothing at that point, however, would have indicated any weather issues later in the day. One of our guys uses the “Windy” app and he had been telling us to expect a decent tailwind later in the afternoon. Well, after a penultimate SAG stop a mile 80, the tailwind finally showed up – only it was in the form of a Wyoming wind and dust storm – with gusts up to 50 mph. At one point, we had such strong cross winds that we were literally getting blown out into the lane of traffic – but this was a very lightly used road and we weren’t too concerned with overall safety.
In any case, we had a slight curve on the road to the left and were then able to get the full tailwind at our backs – and we were flying. At one point, I looked at my GPS and my heart rate was a 72, I was generating no power (not pedaling) and I was going 29 MPH – I felt like an E-biker! So the last 15 miles or so of the 108 miles today were perhaps the easiest I’ve ever done, but we did have a final 175 foot climb to get into Gillette.
I guess we just had good timing and luck because a few of the riders behind us ended up taking shelter in a road side shed for 45 minutes and later took one of the vans in for the final 20 miles.
Overall, it was a good day. We all had dinner at local Mexican food joint across the street from Hampton Inn called Los Compadres – it was a good meal. So, tomorrow we have another 108 mile ride into Spearfish, SD – our 6th state! Our group is doing great and we’ve all become fast friends and we all get along well. Another P2P profile for you is married couple Matt and Krista from the SF Bay area who have had careers in Silicon Valley. Both early 50’s, amazing athletes and cyclists who can climb anything in half the time that it takes me.
So, the cycle will repeat itself tomorrow – only this time we will head to South Dakota!