Day 18, July 2, 2015, Riverton, WY to Casper, WY, 120 miles and 2660 feet of climbing.  How do you ride a bicycle 120 miles in one day?  The same way you eat an elephant, one bite at a time.  That is how I approached today’s ride.  I told myself that it was nothing more than a 20 mile ride done six times.  It proved to be a good game plan as I had a wonderful ride!  Left the motel at 6:00 a.m. and went in search of Espresso.  Found a drive through joint called “Pony Espress” and ordered two double shots.  It was absolutely the worst Espresso I have ever had.  It tasted as if it may have been brewed from the floor scrapings of a pony stall.  So off I went.  The ride out of Riverton was through agricultural land.  A few miles into the ride we crossed Boyson reservoir that is made from damming the Wind River.  It was quite a contrast seeing a large body of water in fairly barren, rocky terrain.  From there it was all open range as far as you could see on both sides of the road.  The road went straight to the horizon and seemed to go on forever with no end in sight.  There were only a couple small towns on the route.  One boasted a population of 10.  I bet I did not see more than a dozen houses all day.  I did see lots of cattle and a few small groups of antelopes.  Traffic was heavy.  There were lots of semi trucks and tourists driving their RV’s and pulling their trailers.  Fortunately we had a wide, paved shoulder to ride on.  I got to the motel at 3:00 p.m.  Overall I had an average speed of 15.5 mph which is blistering fast for me!  It was a great ride.  Unfortunately when I got in I learned that we are losing another rider.  Els, the woman from Holland fell and broke her collar bone.  She was riding by herself and hit a piece of wooden debris.  On long, trying rides like this it is all too easy to lose focus.  I am very sad for her.  That makes 3 riders we have lost.  Tomorrow is a very much needed off day.  Ahhhh…….I think I will lie around a savor that “elephant” I “ate” today.  Wishing everyone a safe and fun filled 4^th of July holiday weekend!!

 

 

Leaving Riverton.

 

 

It was a gorgeous morning!

 

 

The resevoir certainly looked out of place.

 

The road (Highway 26) stretched out clear to the horizon,

 

Our 2nd SAG stop was in front of this "motel".

 

I seldom ride in a pace line as I find it too nerve racking, but today I road for about a 1/2 hour with these guys. I prefer to ride solo.  That way I can control the pace, stop for pics when I want and take in the scenery around me instead of the behind of the guy in front of me. On the day before an off day we all wear our event jerseys.

 

It was another GREAT day!!