The ride out of Sheridan gave us a chance to bid an extended farewell to the magic of the Bighorn Mountain range as the dramatic southern end of the range came into view. The peaks in the distance are bigger when you are looking with eye balls instead of eye phones:
scroll right to get a better view of the mountains in this one:
The land in Wyoming that can get water on it is spectacular:
Another mile-long coal train. We were informed by crew member Dave that the coal mines around Gillette ship 75 of these trains every day.
After we got away from the Power River valley, the landscape dried out and the view ahead became daunting. However US Highway 12 had almost no traffic, which was great.
As might be expected, the pleasure factor was inversely related to the temperature and head wind speed. Here we are slogging it out in the afternoon:
After the lunch break I donned the "ice sock" for the first time. This is a large tube sock packed with ice cubes, worn around the neck and tucked under the jersey. It takes about 20 miles of riding for all the ice to melt, keeping your neck, chest and front of legs moist and cool. It really helped me maintain my effort into the afternoon heat by helping shed the BTUs created by pedaling, as well as providing a new sensation to pay attention to.
The highlight of the day was a visit from Paul's brother Keith who drove up to Gillette from Fort Collins to check in on our progress and share dinner and the ice cream social provided by PACTour
scroll right to get a better view of the mountains in this one:
The land in Wyoming that can get water on it is spectacular:
Paul says the caption for this one should be "What's he doing in front of me again?"
Another mile-long coal train. We were informed by crew member Dave that the coal mines around Gillette ship 75 of these trains every day.
After we got away from the Power River valley, the landscape dried out and the view ahead became daunting. However US Highway 12 had almost no traffic, which was great.
As might be expected, the pleasure factor was inversely related to the temperature and head wind speed. Here we are slogging it out in the afternoon:
Ice sock couture:
Our pace line of seven straining up the penultimate hill into Gillette, straight into a gusty wind.
The highlight of the day was a visit from Paul's brother Keith who drove up to Gillette from Fort Collins to check in on our progress and share dinner and the ice cream social provided by PACTour
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