July 4, 2006
Day 55: Muddy Gap to Lander
Too tired to care about what you people think about my website today. For future bikers, the Baptist Church in Jeffrey City is supposed to be offering accommodations, so that gives you a better option there. I heard rumors of showers. Don't know about food. It was a holiday and everything was closed when I went through, but it looks like a depressing place overall.
I knew I had a sweet downhill coming after Sweetwater Station, so I hurried there and didn't expect to see the store open, but it was, so I got some sugar and cold drinks to power me through the heat, went across the road to the rest area to rest, and dragged my butt back to the bike. I was tempted to stay there, but the promise of good fireworks lured me on.
There was in fact a great downhill, miles of coasting heaven where the mile markers just fly by, but the remainder of the 30 service-free miles was hot, hot, hot. And I was exhausted, so that didn't help my speed. I pulled into an RV park and had water, Pepsi, and an ice cream bar and found it hard to leave the shade, but everyone there assured me that the campsite I'd reserved at the edge of town was actually the best place to watch the fireworks, even if it did mean climbing a few more hills to get there. Ugh. I'm gonna have to take a day off after all this.
The campsite was expensive, but the holiday events meant I wouldn't be camping at the park, so I gratefully took the shade tree and shower. I'm not sure where the group is, and I'm too tired to mess with finding them. Everything is downhill from here, which means uphill to get back here tonight, so I'm not going any farther than the Pizza Hut a block away.
Yummy pizza and some Pepsi later, I was feeling better, staked out a spot along the ridge to watch the fireworks, had one of the best fireworks displays of my life in little Lander, and retired to my tent (two hours before the end of the 3-4 hour display) with a butt screaming for a day off and head full of fireworks and pride at having made almost 450 miles over mountains and hills in 5 days. Maybe that's just a bragging point, but this trip has helped me see what I'm capable of and fulfill some dreams.
Today's ride: 82 miles (132 km)
Total: 2,856 miles (4,596 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 3 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |