It wasn't supposed to be this way today, but when you're on an adventure trip, you've got to go with the flow. In this case, the Wind River flow was over the road en route to Riverton, so the riders had to take a 15- mile detour through the Wind River Reservation, making today a longer day and more climb than it was supposed to be. That only mattered because yesterday was a very tough day, and tomorrow will be a long 120 mile day (the longest on the entire tour), and the riders had been preparing for a relatively easy day in between. A mental shift of gears was required to deal with today's ride. The Reservation sits in a broad, circular valley, which they had to climb to get into, and then climb to get out of. In addition to the detour, they had to deal with strong headwinds. Zippy wasn't so zippy, nor were most of the others. Dragging was more like it. But the upside was that they got see quite good views of the Wind River Wilderness, which is spectacular (there's that word again).
This part of Wyoming is one of great contrasts, all in the same place. Looking in one direction, the landscape is green, the hills rolling, the colors subtle and blending. Turn around, and the landscape is red, moonscape and harsh. It obviously has to do with how the area was formed geologically, with plates uprising and plains sinking, but I'll leave the geology lesson to someone else. It makes for very interesting scenery, though.
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| Wind River |
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| Red Side--Very Reminiscent of Northern Arizona |
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| The Green Side |
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| On The Reservation |
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| Mary & Lucy Ride The Reservation |
The consensus is building that contrary to Idaho, Wyoming drivers are maniacs---impatient, crowd the riders, go at tremendous speeds. There seem to be almost no posted speed limits, so it's a bit dicey out there. During the ride, London Lucy had a flat, the latest of three that she's had. No less than three riders stopped to help her, Terry among them. He seemed to be more experienced at changing flats, so he got the honor. He also recommended to her that she switch out her tires for heavier ones which won't puncture so easily. The SAG van should have some she can buy.
You may be wondering how I am getting the photos that I'm posting. Mostly, I'm pinching them from other riders' blogs. Terry is taking photos, but doesn't have the means to send them to me, as he doesn't have a laptop with him. But, thanks to the kindness of his roommate, Mike, and rider Julie, he has been able to get them off his memory card, and they've sent them to me. I've also taken quite a few from ABB Ride Leader Mike's official blog site. Thanks go to you all!
One thing's for certain: after tomorrow's 120-mile ride to Casper, WY, Zippy and everyone else will really need the REST DAY which follows.
It never occurred to me that a long downhill stretch would be as much of a challenge as uphill.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you’re living with a bloke, now that you “pinched” something!
Thanks for keeping us in the loop, and please send Terry our best!! We are cheering him on from Virginia!!
Go Zippy!!