When we got up this morning our water bottles were frozen and so were we! Leah at some point in the morning ended up in our tent trying to get warm. The camp host's nickname was John Denver and he even sings. Hummingbirds were attacking our bright colors and our bike Flags. And it was really strange. We went over Willow Creek Pass which was a 6 to 7% uphill grade. Very difficult! Here's how a typical day goes... fence row all day long, prairie dog, praire dog, dead prairie dog, dead prairie dog, a tree, Sagebrush, Sagebrush, Sagebrush, Sagebrush, sagebrush, horses, Sagebrush Sagebrush, sagebrush, cows. Oh yeah, and always uphill it seems! One day Leah said look I'm getting tan, I said no that's Road grime! Here's what else happens... Sunscreen, bug spray, and keep repeating every few hours. And no shower. We went 40 miles today.
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We made coffee and oatmeal with our jetboil stove for breakfast. Now Leah's tire was completely flat but we had made it to Camp the night before safely. It took some time to fix because we had to replace not only her tube but also her tire. Then we hiked down to the river and Leah got in and explored a little. We didn't leave to ride till later that morning. We camped near the only water pump and met a neat man named Dennis Crocker. Before we left camp we met another guy named Brian. Later in the day Brian passed us while he was looking for a cell signal to make a call. He stopped and gave us cold water and Gatorade. It was refreshing. We crossed into Colorado today yay! The mosquitoes have been horrible!!! Last year we never needed our bug spray and this year we've already had to buy more. We were out running storms all day but never got rained on even though we saw lightning and heard thunder. The storms were all around us and we had also gone around the forest fire. When we got into Walden, Colorado we set up camp in a city park and had supper at a nice restaurant. Walden was the hub for all of the firefighters and the schoolyard was covered with tents from the firefighters. Once again it stormed during the night. We only went 29 miles because of the storms and forest fires.
Today was the 11th anniversary of Bob's stroke. Who would have thought 11 years later we'd be biking across us? Just a little differently than we had originally planned. We ate breakfast at a cute coffee shop called Lollipops. It was sprinkling a little when we tore down the tents and then at the restaurant it poured really hard. When we left breakfast the rain had stopped. We found a rustic place to eat lunch called Bear Claw and once again it rained while we were eating. We had only seen one other biker today. After lunch Leah and I switched bikes and I felt her back tire was low. We were trying to Pump It Up but the pump wasn't working right for her valve stem. We prayed that another biker would come along and 2 minutes later a biker showed up who had a sag which means support and gear following him. He had a full size pump and got us up and running again. His name was Paul from Michigan. Those were the only two bikers we saw the whole day which is unusual. We camped at a USFS United States Forest Service Campground. It was off-road 2 miles down a dirt road. At points I had to pull the bike up the hill. When we finally got back to the campground there were bear warnings! Leah said I'm done. I want to go home. There was no cell service and no showers again. Just as we finished setting up the tents a terrible wind and rain storm blew in. We never really got supper that night. Around 10 p.m. we got up and ate a couple snacks and went to bed. We went 44 miles.
We left Pronghorn Inn at Rawlins, Wyoming and ran into a little construction. Then we had to ride on Interstate 80 for 15 miles. The shoulder was wide but there was debris and steel belts which cause flats on bikes. We prayed for no Flats and we made it safely. Not the most enjoyable place to ride. The next Road we went on there were old cars from the twenties, thirties and forties passing us. They had on matching outfits, goggles and head gear. Many of them would honk and wave as they went by. It was fun to watch them. When we got into Saratoga, Wyoming we ate at a restaurant called Dukes. It was great food. Then we went to a Natural Hot Springs but they were so hot it was hard to get in. We also went in the river. This was kind of like our shower! Haha! At this point it was getting late and we decided we better head for the campground which was at a lake. Suddenly the sky started getting dark and we got lost. We ended up on a private road and there were two Ranchers who let us cross through their property to get to the lake. We actually went along their fence road ... Off roading. They were waiting to shoot a horse. When we got to the camp we rushed to set up the tents and the rain and wind started! We rode 46 miles today. Today we stayed in Rawlins, got a motel and took a zero-day which means we didn't ride. However, we still have several miles going from the campground, to a Walmart , to lunch and then to the motel called Pronghorn Inn & suites. We did laundry and finally got to blog!
We left Muddy Gap knowing there was another big climb. For a 20 mile section it was some of the worst road we've rode on. The traffic was heavier with big trucks and it was scary. The temperature was in the nineties. The mountain looked so close yet 20 miles later we still hadn't reached it. We crossed the continental divide two more times today and rode on a plateau for a while. When we got to Rawlins which is a bigger town, Leah said it's civilization again. And we finally had cell signal after several days of not having anything. We went to Pizza Hut for supper and another cyclist joined us who we had talked to on the road during the climb. Then we made reservations at a KOA Campground and he also stayed there. Later in the evening three other bikers who we had seen three days earlier stayed there also. They had a guitar and a ukulele. Leah brought her ukulele. We met two sisters Carrie and Julie traveling from Minnesota to Utah by car. They offered us fresh strawberries which were yummy. We had an extremely nice visit with them and in the morning they brought us three large coffees, bananas, apples and oranges. Tom, the biker we ate supper with went to the store to get supplies and brought us cookies back. We got attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes today that wouldn't leave us alone. If Leah rode above 16 miles an hour she could out ride them but as soon as we stopped we were covered. When the sisters saw our mosquito bites and sunburn they gave us essential oils to put on. It really helped. We went 46 miles today.
We left Sweetwater and found Split Rock Bar several miles away at Jeffrey City, population 58. The food was great and we met several locals that were very entertaining. For more details ask us about this later. The bar was original and we were just happy to have real food, not from our bag. We ate with a couple cyclist doing the Trans Am bike race. Amazing what they do. Leah was given a piece of pottery from one of the locals who has his own pottery shop called Monk King Bird Pottery . We went 42 miles and made it to Muddy Gap hoping to camp. The the only thing there was a convenience store. Camping was between the road and the gas pumps on a tiny strip of grass. Once again the winds were extremely high and I don't think our tent would have made it. We asked if there were any other options and the clerk told us there were two rooms in a trailer. We stayed there. They made us a fresh pizza for supper and while we were waiting there were motorcycle riders speaking German. I told Leah to go out and see if she could understand them and she came back in the store laughing. They were talking about her and wondered how old she was. I wish she would have answered them and told them how old she is. They would have been shocked!
Today we had a 6% uphill grade with extremely high headwinds . It was tough . The adventure cycling Maps said the winds could be 40 to 60 miles an hour. We have had no cell signal and no way to know the wind or temperatures. The view at the top was spectacular. We went 31 miles and there was no where to eat so we ate supper from our food bag. The campground was a park at a Mormon compound. Interesting. No showers.
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