Day 20 Journal Casper, WY to Lusk, WY

I biked 107 miles today. Alarm got me up and going by 4:30 AM this morning. Jumped out of bed, grabbed the laid-out pile of bike clothes and put those on followed by a slathering of 45 SPF sun-protection. That’s the morning ritual. The bags are all packed and ready to go the night before, 2 water bottles filled and are put back on the bike. Key to making a stress free start to each day is get it ready before going to bed the night before. I have all my energy gels ready, the lip protection, cash, gloves and light jacket ready to stuff in my jersey pocket all laid out. Don’t have to do much thinking at all. I keep the laptop plugged in and check www.Accuweather.com one more time before putting it away in the backpack case. I like to see what the current weather is in the town we’re in and the wind direction, and for the town we are headed for. Gives me an idea if I need to get out rain gear or just wear arm warmers or a light jacket. I bought a super thin lightweight rain resistant jacket yesterday on my day off when I visited the Casper bike shop. It is a Patagonia brand jacket and it is light as a feather. It came be stuffed in my back pocket of my jersey it is that compress able and light.

The ride was fantastic! After loading the luggage I hopped on the bike and rode a half block to AJ’s restaurant for our buffet style breakfast. We sure do a lot of buffet eating. Only way to get 60+ in and out quickly. I was out on the route by 6:30. The terrain was gently rolling most all day today. For about 20 miles I saw a lot of wild life along side the road coming up from the 20’ wide ditch. Mostly hundreds of rabbits. They were scurrying everywhere. Two young antelope galloped along side me for about a quarter mile. I was just afraid they would turn right in front of me. They did, but not so close that I had to brake, and thank goodness no car was coming in either direction when they darted in front of me to cross the highway. After the first SAG at mile 30 we got on I-25 for fourteen miles. The interstate was down to just two lanes! That was pretty tricky making sure we stayed as far right as possible with some concrete barriers we were up against. But the good thing was the berm was clean and we didn’t have to dodge around re-tread tire debris. There was a cloud cover ALL day today. What a blessing that was. When I rode here in 2001 it was a full sun and in the upper 90’s. It was miserable. But today was just a completely different day and made the bike ride a joy. About the only thing to see are the super long freight trains on the tracks that run next to the highway for miles and miles. The trains are about 1.5 miles long! When we waved the engineer would blow the whistle. I bet they like seeing all the cyclists too – a change of scenery - - as there sure isn’t much to look at out here. We had hardly any wind except for the last 10 miles. I got behind Ilka and Anija for about 15 miles coming into Lusk. The wind had picked up and to be able to draft off them pacing at 22-25 mph was such fun, and saved a LOT of energy when I was closing in on the last of the 106 miles. I got in by 1:30 and had time to go down the block to the Outpost café for a patty melt and a piece of homemade pie. I’m still looking for the BEST pie in the USA on this cross-country route. This piece of coconut cream was OK, but I won’t put it in the running. It does win the highest meringue though. I bet it stood 3 ½ “ on that piece! Then I met up with a few others at the ice cream drive-in café and had a vanilla ice cream cone. It is fun to chat with the riders when we can relax after the ride. The clouds were really getting dark and there was to be a parade at 4:00 PM. Some horse show goings on in town today. Over at a stadium there was a big crowd and lots of horses out in a ring doing different tricks and showing them off. I wondered with those dark clouds if those riders who were still out whether they were going to get wet. Yup, they did – and they really got into a downpour they said at route rap tonight. The parade I guess was delayed because it started to rain here in Lusk too. It went right past the motel. But I didn’t hear it or watch it. I took a nap for about an hour and a half. We ate dinner tonight at that Outpost Café. It was completely filled with locals eating when 60 of us walked in the door. So it was a wait for the tables. But the food was home-style good. Those poor waitresses were pretty over whelmed!

Road Kill today: whose counting? Oh yeah, I remember seeing a coat hanger and a couple of hub cabs and a dead box turtle. And three bungee cords.

Bananas: I’m sick of bananas!