Just one of those days

STATS

Lander, WY to Dubois, WY

Miles: 75 miles
We decided to start a bit later than our 3 AM wake up alarms being that we were indoors. The comfort of a futon in a dark basement was the exact restart I needed to shift into high gear. I packed up and hit kitchen for some breakfast. I prepared hefty pancakes, sunny side up eggs, and french pressed coffee for Tim and I. Jen had left the night before, so unfortunately I couldn’t offer to make her my secret boxed pancake recipe. We took our time eating, but eventually had to will ourselves onto the bikes for our 75 mile day ahead.

We left around 8:15 AM, which seemed pretty late for what we were use to. I was feeling pretty well-rested, so the first 10-15 miles of rolling hills were routine. The first break was Fort Washakie, where we resupplied with snacks and dinner. Fort Washakie was within or close to the Wind River Reservation. Worth mentioning, Sacajawea’a grave site was here. For those that forgot, she was a woman who largely helped the Lewis and Clark expeditions. I thought that historic site was incredibly neat.

We pushed up another respectable hill, and quickly were reminded of why we should have left early in Wyoming. HEAD WINDS. We pushed through 10 miles of this before our second break. It’s so absolutely defeating when you know where the wind is coming from and you see the road for miles head into that direction. I still haven’t figured out how to handle the winds mentally though, so I say to myself just focus on ten miles at a time.

We finally hit our third break, and snacked in the comforts of a rest stop. I watched the American flag blow free in the wind, but looks away when I realized I’m going in the opposite direction. Our next stop was 11 miles away, and there would be a convenience store to hopefully grab some coffee in. I put my headphones in, cranked up some head banging songs, and got to work. Tim took the lead, and I just admire how he cuts through the wind with such power. I’m always impressed. I began to struggle with about 5 miles left, and kept cursing at myself for not leaving earlier. I also middle fingered the wind again, it makes me feel better. I alway laugh after the fact though because it’s so dumb. I saw the Sinclair gas station about 3 miles away, and again put my head down again and just pedaled. I smiled at Tim when we arrived because I knew it was lunch and break time. Food make Bobby happy. I’m on a blueberry bagel kick recently, so I lathered one in peanut butter and munched hard. I came to the conclusion that sticking around until 6 PM for the wind to die down was worth sitting at the gas station for four hours. Tim pushed on, God speed. I stuck around and sipped on coffee in the store, striking a conversation with the convenience clerk here and there. She allowed me to charge up my devices and connect to wifi to make calls and entertain myself until the wind died down.

Just as I was wrapping up, a man came up and offered to buy me a beverage or snack. I politefully declined, but several seconds later he came back with a yellow post-it note that said, “One free 16-ounce blizzard. – Daryl” Turns out Daryl owns the Dairy Queen in Jackson, Wyoming!! I jumped with joy and bear hugged the man. I walked out to his car because his buddy had just picked up a seven week old puppy! I had to snap a picture and thank them on the blog. I’m looking forward to seeing Daryl in a couple days for the blizzard! Once they left, I gathered all the grit I had and hit the road. The sky was gorgeous, and I actually haven’t ever ridden this late to notice what the clouds and mountains look like under the falling sky. The wind was still there, but only around 10-15 mph instead of 20+mph. What kept me going though was how stinkin’ gorgeous Wyoming is. I feel like it’s a combination of all unique aspects of the states into one state. The pictures do it justice, I can’t begin to attempt to explain its beauty. The wind eventually was down enough to get moving, but I was noticing something interesting when shifting. Suddenly when I started climbing a nice size hill, my chain popped off and I instantly thought I heard a snap. I was hesitant to look down because the noise I heard almost definitely meant something was broke. To my surprise though, the chain was fine. I dirtied up some fingers because the sun was falling, and I still had 10 miles to go. When I got to the top, I shifted into a higher gear, and that’s when I noticed the damage. My derailer cage was bent and damaged, which stopped me from being able to shift into higher chain rings. What’s this mean you ask? My bike went from a 18-speed to a 6-speed, and I couldn’t pedal faster than 13 mph. For perspective, I usually hit 30 mph going down hills and average 16-20 mph on flats. At this point, I just needed to get to town. So on the lowest gear I could, I coasted down hill and hilariously pedaled as I hit the flats. Imagine sitting on a exercise bike, setting the gear to as high as possible, and pedaling as fasts as you can. That was me.

I eventually made the ride to Dubois, where Tim let me into the church. Being so fed up with the day, I quickly made dinner and attempted to fix the damage. I realized that the surgery I needed to perform could prove worse if I can’t fix it, and with +4,000 feet of climbing tomorrow, I’m happy with what I have. The next bike shop was 100 miles away, so I stepped away, set-up my pad and bag, and slept. These types of obstacles will happen, and learning how to handle the difficulties of the trip will only better me for tomorrow.

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