Day 23-24

Day 23

We rode from Casper to Shoshoni, WY today, and I dedicated my ride to Anthony Beadle, a friend of a friend who is about my age and battling cancer. We had about a 90+ mile ride today, and unlike previous years, it was relatively not windy. We got off to a very late start this morning. We slept in until 7a (late for us), had breakfast and then ran some errands. Bread for PB&J’s is critical and we badly needed some. People were also in search of eye drops. The air, though clean, is so dry it makes my eyes turn red. I end up looking like I have been crying at the end of almost every ride because my eyes are so red! We eventually got onto the road around 10:30 or 10:45a. At the first rest stop some of us decided that we were just going to ride the next 60 miles without stopping, and we were on our way. I lost the group I was with 15 or so miles later because I stopped to check out Hell’s Half Acre. Battle scenes from Starship Troopers were filmed here and Native Americans used to chase herds of Buffalo over the cliffs and into the bottom. Hell’s Half Acre looks like a giant crater with a spiky bottom, for lack of a better way of describing. One would definitely not want to be run over the edge. Sixty miles later, I stopped at the 80 mile rest stop with the others who were riding continuously. It was hotter than I don’t know what, and we decided to ride out the last 10 miles and see if we could get malts donated. Apparently, the best malts and shakes in the country are actually from a little drug store in Shoshoni, WY. People come from all over the place to get them. In one day, they once made 729 shakes! A few riders offered to help wash dishes in exchange for shakes for the team, which after some confusion, worked out well for everyone involved. The cherry cheesecake shake (one of their specialties) is delicious. We stayed at the Shoshoni Fire Department, which was just down the street. Another group of riders who are heading from the west coast to the east coast were also in town. They were impressed that we are actually responsible for organizing logistics for our entire trip as well as driving the vehicles, bike support, etc. While it crossed my mind that some of our riders may be envious of other groups who have all this extra support, I never had to worry. The Texas 4000 riders were proud of all the work they had put in to making this trip happen—as they should, in my opinion. It’s a pretty amazing feat when you really stop and think about it. A couple of our riders took charge of re-organizing our vans and trailers when we got into the fire station. I was glad to see people excited to do this (without me having to ask). After a spaghetti dinner, I finally got to take a shower and then it was time for bed. I started reading Siddhartha this evening. One of my teammates had a copy of it and lent it to me. Its good so far, but I look forward to diving into it more.

Day 24

Today I dedicated my ride to my grandmother and a friend of a mentor of mine was battling cancer last year at this time. We rode from Shoshoni to Dubois, WY. We are blazing new territory for the Texas 4000 Rockies route with our ride today. Past teams have generally gone from Shoshoni to Thermopolis. A couple of alumni drove this way last year though and suggested that we change the route so that we could stop in Grand Tetons National Park. We can see the Tetons from where we are staying, but we’ll still be riding more than 60 miles tomorrow to get into the park. Today was quite possibly the most beautiful day we have had yet. The mountains are amazing. The ride today was around 100 miles, but it felt slow. Maybe our legs were tired from yesterday, or maybe the road was just “slow,” I’m not sure. Either way, we eventually made it to the 80 mile rest stop only to see a few mean looking clouds hovering over the road on which we had to ride. We put our bikes under an overhang and hung out in the van for a bit. It never rained very hard, and within an hour we were back on the road for the last 15 or so miles. Those miles were along Wind River. Based on the name alone, you can probably guess what our ride was like those last miles. We arrived here in Dubois around 4p or so. There are still some mean clouds in the sky, but they seem to be keeping their rain to themselves for now. I was able to spend some time riding “alone” today (meaning I wasn’t riding next to or in a pace line with someone but there were people around). It was great. It has taken over three weeks, but my mind is finally starting to quiet. Maybe its because we’re getting into a routine and people know what to do or maybe its because I’m getting bored because I haven’t been in school for a few weeks, I don’t know. Either way, I feel like I can think again, which is nice.