Rick's Bicycling Adventures

 We rode 56.30 miles and had 1473 ft of elevation gain. We had about 20 miles of Ok dirt and gravel road before we hit pavement. We once again got on pavement and were greeted with a head wind that we fought until we reached Rawlins. We were told that there was a water cache that the city of Rawlins filled every day about 30 miles into our day. When you are told that, you depend on it to have water in it. We saw the maker on the side of the road and rode back to where the water tank was. Of course , the tank was empty. By the time we made it to the highway we were low on water. A truck and camper pulled over right next to us. I figured I had nothing to lose so I went up, explained our saturation, and asked if they could spare any water. The gentleman said we might not give people fuel, but we will never deny them water. He sat a 2 gallon jug of water on the edge of the bed of his truck and we filled up. We thanked him and began our 4 mile climb up to the continental divide. Every t...

 We rode 68.23 miles and had 3022 ft of elevation gain. We loaded up with water in the morning and got a earlier start to try to beat the heat. We rode on gravel and dirt all day. We made it to the Diagnus well about 12 miles into the ride. It's a 2" pipe with a good flow of water coming out of the ground in the middle of nowhere. It has a fence around it to keep the cows and wild horses out.  It's just a flat area with short sage brush all around. We both decided where we camped the night before was a better choice.   There were several climbs throughout the day. You could look way out in the distance and see the road climbing up. The wind was once again very unkind. It's hard to stand to take a butt break with the wind blowing in your chest. We pushed on through the wind to make it to the A&M Reservoir. It was completed in 1988 by the Bureau of Land Management to provide waterfowl and other wildlife a water source. There is a fence around it to keep the cows ou...

 We rode 42.75 miles and had 2398 ft of elevation gain. The plan for the day was to ride about 54 miles to the Diagnus well. We knew it would be a flat sagebrush campsite for the night, but we would have water. The road varied from gravel to hard packed dirt most of the day. We had rolling hills and a tremendous headwind to add to our slow progress. We went through South Pass City and stopped and had a Root Beer. South Pass City is a well preserved gold mine ghost town.  We stopped at Atlantic City and had lunch at the local bar. Both of them had huge climbs to leave town. A local in Atlantic City called our climb out Walker road because most of the riders have to walk up it.  We started meeting Continental Divide Trail hikers along our ride. You have to be pretty tough to be hiking through the Great Divide Basin. We crossed a bridge over Sweetwater Creek and stopped to pump water. We both thought wow, nice flowing creek, lots of shade, and green grass to camp on. We choo...

 Today we rode 54 miles and had 2251 ft of elevation gain. The road out of Pinedale was paved for the first 12 miles and we had a slight tailwind. It felt good to have a good pace, we averaged 17 MPH. We were entering the Great Divide Basin. The basin is the largest uninhabited area in the lower 48 states. It is also known for it's herds of wild horses. We saw signs of horses but did not see any. Interesting side note, there were big piles of horse poop on the side of the road. Stallions relieve themselves to mark their territory then other stallions poop on top of the first pile to show superiority. By the size of the piles it is a never ending battle.  Water is a big concern along this stretch of the ride. We planned on dividing it up into three 50-60 mile days with a water stop each night to camp. The tailwind turned into a brutal headwind after we got on the dirt road making it hard to keep up any speed over the never ending ups and downs. We arrived at Lander Creek exhaus...

 All the miles traveled were a one mile walk to the end of Pine St and a one mile walk back to our motel. Pinedale  has about everything  we needed. It's  a lovely  small town. The grocery  store was well stocked and there is a nice hiker/biker store. My sunglasses  popped  out of the feed bag on my handlebars when I hit a big rock yesterday. I found a replacement  at the hiker/biker store. Dinner tonight is Mexican. I think a Margarita  is in order. We had dinner  with Bob, a fellow  south bound rider. We will be wild camping  for the next several  days. Talk to you on the other side of the Great Divide  Basin.

 Day 24 Squirrel  Creek to Colter Bay campground. Today we rode 52.28 miles and had 3163 ft of elevation gain. We crossed into Wyoming  today. We started out on pavement  but it soon turned into gravel with 35 miles of pot holes and wash board. You would come into shade and before  your eyes could  adjust you hit a pot hole. Colter Bay was great with hiker biker campsites  for $6 a person. We got settled  in in went for a dip in Jackson Lake. It was perfect  swimming  temperature. The water was a perfect  temperature for a dip Day 25 Colter Bay to Falls campground. We rode 44.02 miles and had 3228 ft of elevation gain. We were on pavement  all day as we made the 17 mile climb over Togwotee Pass. We saw a momma Grizzly and two cubs off in the distance after we went over the top. Falls campground  was lovely. We asked a fellow camper if they might have a spare beer. They responded that they were Tequila drinkers. I said me t...