FLASK May 28 - June 5

May 28:
Down day in Medicine Bow with 35 mph headwinds too tough to ride in. Relaced the rear wheel - two spokes threaded wrong. Cleaned chain & cassette. Adjusted rear disc brake. Laundry in the sink dried on lampshade next to room heater. Patched pocket in pants, hole in rain pants, & attached velcro on rain pants & jacket. Meditated twice. Stretched. Cheeseburger, fries, & maybe the best homemade coconut cream pie ever. Forecast is for rain & a change in wind direction. I'll take it. Nice folks in Medicine Bow but I need to get moving. Rae heads this way tomorrow morning!
May 29:
101 miles to Wamsutter, WY. Folks at The Virginian were nice again at their good breakfast buffet. East wind made the ride out of Medicine Bow so much more pleasant & the vistas with a little sunshine were serene & inspiring - made me weepy to be in this landscape. Pronghorns everywhere, too - they're such elegant, athletic creatures. I saw a kid touring the other way on I-80 so walked over to chat. Chris was riding from Eugene, OR, to Denver, CO, & nice. Quite a few nice conversations going on at 2nd lunch in Sinclair (named for the Sinclair oil refinery that IS the town), at the truck plaza where Rod (from Rock River) insisted I stop for a smothered green chili chicken burrito. He's right - it was awesome! Some motorbikers heading to Salt Lake, a gal trucker from Kansas, some locals & the waitress chatted weather, terrain, & food for an hour. 8 more easy miles to Rawlins & I decided to keep rolling, thinking that if the E wind kept up then the ominous clouds & forecasted rain wouldn't make the 42 miles to Wamsutter too bad. Unfortunately, when I crossed the Continental Divide (7000 ft) the wind came roaring cold from the N. Then a few miles later it started to rain ... awesome. When I stopped to put on raingear I left one of the drybags & walked back a few hundred yards laughing at myself. From there it was 23 wet, windy, continuous miles & I'm so, so glad I was able to keep pedaling with a smile on most of time, even though I contemplated sticking my thumb out every so often. It took some grrrr & I finally had some! Yea! Too many interstate miles, though - not cool The hotel is real shit but the heater & hot water worked. The old lady running it wanted me to agree that she's got friends waiting in heaven, too. Nervous laughter ... kook. Rae's gonna make it to Steve & Julie's in Ogden, then it's just another 3 hours for her to Rock Springs so it's likely she'll just keep rolling I-80 east to get me as I roll west. Stoked!
May 30:
21 miles on I80 toward Rock springs. Happy Memorial Day! Snow on the ground & snowing this AM. Good chorizo breakfast burrito at truck stop mexican place & I headed out under a brief blue sky. On I80 the headwind was cold but managable for about 9 miles but picked up suddenly & considerably when the rain started. I already had on raingear but it was too hard to control the bike & it was too cold to keep pedaling. Walking the bike was somehow warmer & I pushed it up & over my 2nd Continental Divide crossing (too horrid to consider stopping for pictures). For awhile I tried to walk the bike with my thumb out but got knocked over twice by gusts & anandoned that idea. I've gotten over the bitterness that welled inside at all the pick-up trucks & trailers that could easily have acommodated the bike & trailer. I just don't understand the lack of empathy that allows people to drive by a person pushing a bike in 30F into a 35 mph snowstorm. I kept thinking, "F%#@ you, Wyoming travellers!," but, like I said, I'm over it. It was frustrating to have to repeatedly stop to pull off a glove & pull out the phone in those freezing conditions to exchange texts or talk to Rae but very comforting to know she was speeding toward me. We were gonna meet at Rock Springs & head to the Tetons but I needed to be rescued. So after 9 miles & 3.5 hours of pushing & intermittent stretches of riding, Rae found me. As we got close to the Hwy 191 turnoff for Tetons I realized I'd rather have a more substantial rest & we stayed on I80E rocketing back to Ogden, UT, where Rae had spent the previous night with best friends, Steve & Julie. Their two beautiful daughters screeched & jumped into my arms, calling me "the silliest!," - oh, joy! Rae, my love, made dinner & I had quite a few Roosters beers (brewed by Steve) & enjoyed everyone's company. All the walking coupled with not getting to stretch the night before (the motel was so filthy I was unwilling to put my mat on the floor, which, for those of you who know I have no real aversion to dirt, is really saying something) has reintroduced me to the familar hip pain. It'll work itself out, I'm sure, since it's been getting better & better during the trip. Snuggling with Rae ... mmm.
May 31-June 3:
Rae's rescue was more than just getting me out of a Wyoming snowstorm - she saved the tour with her deep & soulful love for me. What a remarkable woman. We stayed at Steve & Julie's 2 days, playing with Erin & Lily, drinking, watching the NBA Finals Game 1 (Heat), & lunch at Roosters. I was still feeling anxious as we packed up &, after the beautiful drive to Flaming Gorge Canyon Rim CG, at the campsite with that wind still going. But Rae was so reassuring, gentle, & positive that I started feeling better. We had a wonderful, intimate, deep evening of conversation at the campfire that crystallized for me why I love her so. The next day we hiked in pines, meadows, & snow along overfull creeks toward Tepee Lake but got shut down after postholing briefly. The Geology Tour road was very scenic. Mike & his son, Matt, were on a backpacking tour from Minnesota. A UPS guy who put his kids through graduate school & liked bargain hunting as he drove around, he was super chatty but likeable. Rae & I had dinner by the fire before crawling into bed early. I discovered the next morning that I'd lost my passport so we drove into Evanston to start sorting that out. The RV place we set up at had hot showers & we went to see Hangover 2 before clambering into the tent, but it was pretty loud all night & we slept poorly.
June 4:
56 miles, Evanston, WY, to Bear Lake, UT. 1200-530. Very, very emotional day. Rae & I slept in then found breakfast burritos in Evanston & liesurely looked through pictures from the trip that I'd uploaded to her PC. I finished reloading the bike while she broke down the bed & tent, then it was time to say goodbye. I'd already been crying in the days previous & found it quite hard to keep from outright blubbering as we hugged. Four months ... I'm heartbroken. I cried for the first hour on & off, then noticed it was a calm, beautiful Wyoming day - rare, indeed. There was some drag racing going on outside town so I watched a few from the side of the road with some Mexican dudes. Rolling hills, blue skies, lingering snow in the mountains, sage, prairie dogs ... pleasant. I stopped at the Randolph visitor center & Carol suggested that the extra 14 miles through Bear Lake was worth it. Kim & Leanne from DC whistled me over as I remounted the bike. He'd toured before in WY-UT & was showing Leanne his old stomping grounds. The climb up into Bear Lake's valley was an easy 4-5 miles, though the descent was steeper. Bear Lake is beautifully ringed by snowcapped mountains & ridges, & the state park CG was only $16 with showers. I lost the same spoke on the last mile (lucky again) so pulled it apart, filed down the burr I found at the hub's spoke hole, & re-tuned the wheel in good time. Tim came over & invited me to come over for crackers, cheese, & beer. He did a cross-country tour years ago, worked in DC doing investment research, & was married to Kathryn, who worked in the USDA land acquisition group. Cary & Jackie were cycling in the valley with friends, saw the sign, & invited me over to meet Dana & Joe. We chatted by their fire til late & I called Rae on my walk back to camp. Crying again ...
June 5:
90 miles to Afton, WT. 830-530. Let's call this Free Day ... I awoke early to a cacophony of birds. Lovely but got out to pee then crawled back into the tent for another hour of shuteye. Packing is easier now that I've developed a system with the dry bags & since I sent Rae back with her back rack pack. The two rear panniers are a nice change. I'd put the tent up over a mole or vole burrow so had to deal with some intermittent scratching through the night. I meditated (do this every morning before you go, Craig) & said goodbye to Tim & Kathryn - sweet people. It was a beautiful 8 miles til I saw a "Breakfast Buffet $10" banner & popped into a lovely lodge owned & operated by Carol & Greg. Check out what I ate: sausage omelette, yogurt, tapiaco, waffle, eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, & 2 cups of coffee. Full ... burp. I was writing notes about yesterday & started crying again ...it's right under the surface, man, & it was all day. Carol told me keep my $20 when I tried to pay because she thought what I was doing was so awesome & I took some warm hugs, promising to bring Rae back to stay some time. The ride along Bear Lake was just so scenic & pleasant with a light breeze & lots of sunshine. John, at the Paris, ID, convenience store said the lake was expected to rise 13 feet, 6 higher than normal & the highest expected ever. Crazy spring! The climb out of Montpelier Canyon was pretty, with creeks raging on both sides & sage covered hills, & gradual until the last 2 miles over Geneva Pass (6939 ft). The climb over Lander Turnoff was gradual, too, until the last 4 & the last 2 were done standing up in the smallest front chain ring. Whew! Astounding views! The descent into & ride through Star Valley was amazing - snow covered peaks, flooded pastures, horses, green hills ... stunning. I felt that fucking rear spoke go AGAIN 5 miles outside Afton (will attack that in the morning after a visit to Ace Hardware for a round file) ... grrr. I rode all the way through town looking for camping (2 miles up into a canyon was an option but ...) then circled back to a bar on Main St. & asked if they'd put on Game 3 of The Finals (Heat in a close one). Ben, Claudia, Jim, & Mickey are RVing from Florida to Montana & latched me quickly for beers & dinner, which they very graciously picked up. Drunk but super sweet & friendly, it was great to have bouisterous company. Cali was tending bar & she comp'd me the 2 beers I had watching the end of the game. Sweet kid. See what I mean by Free Day?! The city park with covered tables was just 2 blocks away & I talked to Rae, stretched quickly, & tucked in. Nice day.