Day 43-A Surprisingly Tough Day

I mean…we knew we would have more uphill than yesterday. We even knew the winds were going to be crosswinds. But that climb…

We left Lander at our usual time, after a good breakfast at the hotel. It took awhile to get out of Lander (we’ve gotten used to these tiny towns…Lander was much bigger). Not too far into the day, we encountered freshly oiled road. This lasted a long way. There was a pilot car taking traffic through. Of course, we couldn’t keep up, but it was okay because it really was two lanes. For long periods of time we would have no traffic. 

I tried not to ride on the shoulder. 

Once we got past the construction, we still had a long stretch of smooth pavement. There were more of the red rocks. 

The wind started to pick up. We stopped for a snack and map change at about 10:00. Little did we know, as soon as we started up again, we started climbing. The climb itself wouldn’t have been that bad except for the wind. There was a secondary lane the whole way, so I didn’t have to wobble on the narrow shoulder. 

After what seemed like a lifetime, I finally made it to the top. Doug was already there. 

Info at the top. 

You can see the road all the way down. 

Once at the top, it was 15.5 miles to the Sweetwater Station Rest Area. There was some downhill, but more that we stayed on the ridge. 

We finally arrived at the Rest Area. I promptly drank a full bottle of water before making my lunch. As we were finishing lunch, we realized the wind had done a switcheroo. Now we would have a tailwind!!!

Long straight road with a tailwind…very nice!

Take your pick! Many have come before us!

We rolled into Jeffrey City. There is the Jeffrey City Community Church that allows cyclist to stay in the building. We could see the church from a long ways away as there is not much out here. 

The church is on a sandy double track off a gravel road. Doug crashed twice in the sandy part. I almost did the same. Ended up walking the last bit. 

We went around to the back. There was a sign welcoming cyclists. The door was unlocked. We came into a gym of sorts, and brought our bikes in with us. There are several separate rooms with twin air beds (one has bunk beds). Doug and I chose our spots for the night. There are also showers. 

Not fancy, but will do. 

Cool thing is that people write on the walls. We’ve found several that we’ve met including the Bike and Build group. 

We even found the guys that we met on the Oregon Coast, but haven’t seen since. 

I left my mark on the wall too. 

The cell phone drawing was one of the guys we met on the Oregon Coast. 

Pretty big space (Doug for reference).

We didn’t see any Antelope until we got into town, and by the church too. 

Town Antelope herd. 

On these dry windy days, I spend most of the day looking like this. 

It helps keep my mouth from getting so dry, and my nose too. Doug calls me “Bandito”.

There is one other cyclist here named Noel. He’s from Galway, Ireland. He’s also heading east, but does way more miles per day. This is only his 28th day! Fun guy. 

Now I think I’ll see about some dinner.