Day 40 - Rawlins to Saratoga: Gradual Uphill Into the Wind - Our New Theme Song - Off To See the Wizard

July 8, 2014

Day 40 - Rawlins to Saratoga: Gradual Uphill Into the Wind - Our New Theme Song

We were hoping for a repeat of yesterday.....the cycling powers that be didn't see fit to grant us that wish. We made it to breakfast at 5:30 am with all the oilfield workers, the hotel is home to many, and were on our bikes by 6am. Heading out of town we had about a seven mile ride to the little town of Sinclair. The problem was we could see it when we left......we knew it was going to be a long ride.

Jack wishing the view would change.....we have had several days of this "seeing forever" it is wearing us down. Will be glad to be out of Southwest Wyoming!

There were several trains coming, going and just sitting as we left town. The one that was just sitting was making the funniest sounds. Wish I could have recorded it. It was just on idle and was cracking, popping, hissing and grunting. Guess he was ready to go.

It seemed to take forever to get to Sinclair......we were on a " Gradual Uphill Into the Wind".

Sinclair Refinery.. Jack said the smell reminded him of his childhood in Oil City, PA.

Leaving the town we lost Hwy 287 and had to get on I-80. This turned out to be thirteen miles of torture. We were at a constant "Gradual (to not so gradual) Incline.....Yada Yada Yada!! Plus now you can see for 35-30 miles. The road surface was great, there were trucks and more trucks, however they were fifteen feet away, not a problem it just wore us down. I was ready to cut a leg off if that would end it. Jack said he just wanted to throw himself in front of one of the trucks!! Let's just say we didn't do well with it. Had we had a tailwind I am sure it would have been a different story.

If you look close you can see the trucks climbing to the top of this rise. We ended up there too but there was no payoff. Just more of the same for thirteen miles. Plus the exit was UP and beyond this!

Somewhere before Saratoga we saw the most interesting site of the day. We came to a marker for the Overland Trail.....need to read up. Just beyond the marker looking into the field beyond you could still see the wagon trail from the 1860's.

We finally arrived in Saratoga.....hot, tired and hungry. We asked some local teens if there was an ice cream shop and they directed us to Lolly Pops. Local homemade! They made old fashioned malts and shakes. We ordered one if each plus a sandwich each. The shake and malt were delicious. The sandwich not so much. Now we are over stuffed and it is 90'ish and we just do not have the sixteen more miles to Riverside in us. It took a little over five hours to get here. We are done.

This means that we will need to take a short day tomorrow...16 miles because the next day will be 50 miles of up!! In fact the whole week will be up....we are heading into Colorado! At least we hope the view changes.

View of our week!! We hope to be in Frisco by Sunday. Then we go off route to Buena Vista via Leadville over Copper Mountain to Jack's sisters cabin. Anne we are on our way and look forward to a couple of days by the River. You will also notice that we are now at 7,000 'ish ft and going to 11,000+. Hope we do ok with the altitude....we noticed it today again.

TransAm Race Update: Remember back in Idaho.......so long ago! We camped with Ricky and Steven who were doing the race? Well they finished today. 4,262 miles in 31 days! Way to go guys!! The winner Mike Mills from England finished weeks ago in 17 days 16 hrs 23 min. Amazing.....our buddy Foster is just about to enter Kansas (wish I were). We are wishing him Happy Trails.

Today was one of those days that really helps you appreciate just how hard this is.......

Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 1,529 miles (2,461 km)

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