Sunday
Day 1
Riverton To Thermopolis
59.8 miles

 

         Mother and Jacob headed back to Greybull.  We went to the High School about 11:30.  There were a few other riders milling around but on one of “official” status.  The registration was to open at 4:00.  We found a spot in lush Kentucky Blue Grass with some afternoon shade and set up our tents.  Soon Evelyn and CJ Leiter from Indiana joined us.  Evelyn is a Tour de Wyoming veteran and this year she talked her 16-year-old grandson, CJ, into joining her.  What delightful people!  CJ even shared some chocolate chip cookies with us. 

     As registration opened, I noticed that the majority of riders looked like lean, mean, triathletes.  I could tell that this was going to be a lot faster paced than FreeWheel.  I was starting to feel a little intimidated.

     Sunday morning I awoke before dawn.  This was our first experience with putting our bags on the luggage truck.  We hurriedly packed our belongings and were the first ones to put our bags on board.  We enjoyed the breakfast that the Tour provided of bagels, muffins and assorted juices.  They even had cold cereal and milk. 

     Our ride to Shoshoni was cool and the morning was beautiful.  The meadowlarks singing reminded me of waking up at my Grandma’s house in Wheatland when I was a kid.  I’d be chilled and want her to start a fire.  Knowing it would get hotter than blazes later in the day, she suggested I go stand in the sun on the front porch.  As I would stand among the morning glories opening their bonnets to the sun, the meadowlarks would sing to the world.  Isn’t it funny how a sound or smell can transport you back to memories that happened thirty or forty years before?

     Wind River Canyon was magical.  How many times had I driven through this canyon and not noticed if the terrain went up or down?  On a bike your view of the world is so different.  Traffic was light and we didn’t have any trouble with the tunnels.  Jim and I put our flashing lights on and Leonard rode between us.  No cars passed and we enjoyed our Canyon riding. 

     Tour de Wyoming rest stops were impressive.  They had a large variety of fruits.  Plums, nectarines, bananas and grapes graced the tables.  Paydays, Snickers, Fig Newton's and Oreos joined an assortment of candies.  Sports drink and water were found in abundance.  They even made peanut butter sandwiches.  One thing about Wyoming is that there aren’t small towns where you can stop for lunch.  The rest stops were often the only meal we would get until we got to the day’s destination.

     Once we arrived in Thermopolis, pitched our tent and showered, my mom and Jacob found our tent and drove us downtown to lunch.  We tried a little place called the Manhattan.  The food was good, the air conditioning worked and they even had beer and wine.  The place was packed and the service was a little slow but we didn’t care.  We had an air-conditioned spot and we weren’t anxious to go sit out in the hot sun anytime soon.  Jacob ran our money up to the cash register to pay for our meals.  Soon the manager came over to Jacob with a popsicle and told him to look him up in the future if he needed employment.

     We spent a lazy afternoon chilling out in the gym.  Later as we were sitting outside our tent, Jim and Leonard struck up a conversation with the guy who was camped next to us.  They discussed bikes, local bicycle stores and other bike related details.  I did catch that he lived in Laramie.  When his wife joined us, I told them about our wine country tour in California a few years ago.  I never did catch their names so the next night when I saw her in the bathroom, I asked their names.  His name is David Hennings and hers is Marilyn Krysl.  She asked me when I graduated and when I told her, she said, “My husband graduated with you.”  I had missed the part of the conversation about him growing up in Cody.  I searched my brain and could recall a David Hennings but nothing more.  I don’t think I had any classes with him.  I couldn’t wait to ask Becky if she remembered him.
 

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Monday

Day 2
Thermopolis to Basin
63.9 miles

    Monday was a hard day.  We battled head winds most of the day.  The wind would change with the topography of the land but it was always present.  As we were riding, we spotted emergency vehicles ahead.  Just as we rode up, the ambulance was taking someone away.  It was one of our SAG people.  The front of his vehicle was demolished.  No bikes were involved but he was pretty banged up.  The driver did end up back with the tour.  We spotted him several times.  I’m not sure what he was doing for a vehicle.

     Jim stopped to take pictures of his boyhood home outside Worland.  A SAG driver stopped to inquire if we needed help.  We were impressed with the number of SAG vehicles present.  As we rode through Worland, Jim showed us where he had gone to school.      

     As the day wore on and the sun produced more heat and there were no clouds in the sky, I rode slower and slower into the wind.  Jim tried to block the wind for me but it was coming from the front and left side.  The shoulders are wide in Wyoming but a good majority of them have rumble strips just to the right of the white line.  Sometimes you can ride two abreast in the remaining space and sometimes you can’t.  This was one of the good times.  We were only cranking out about 8 mph but Jim spotted a group of riders gaining on us with a double pace line.  “Try to catch on the back,” he told me.  They were going about 16 mph.  I didn’t have any trouble snagging on the back and they were protecting me from the left and front.  Just what I needed!  As we passed people, they would grab on the back and pretty soon we had quite a train rolling along.  As we pulled into a rest stop, one gentleman started clapping.  “You are impressive!  You all look like the Tour de France!”  It was lots of fun being pulled along with the peloton.

     Before I knew it we were pulling into Basin, a small town just 8 miles south of where my mom lives in Greybull.  On a quick trip to the bathroom, I learned that the showers were open and today they were also cold.  Nowhere in Wyoming did we find private showers.  They were all clean and well maintained but they were an open square room with numerous showerheads.  This was the only cold shower that I was to encounter.  The thought of calling my mother and riding in an air-conditioned vehicle eight miles to take a warm, private shower was just too much of a temptation.  She good-naturedly came over to collect me and it was the best shower I had all week.

     Before we left to go back to Basin, John showed up.  He had driven over from Sheridan just to visit with us.  We drove over to Basin and found Jim and Leonard at the city park standing in line for the beer – Fat Tire beer at that.  John’s daughter, Janet, joined us.  The town had some live music and we stayed until the beer ran out and then headed back to the school for their advertised roasted pig dinner.  They had it set up outside of the school with nowhere to sit but on the grass full of gnats or in the sun.  It was HOT out and hard to enjoy the food sitting on a cement walkway.  We chatted a bit and then all of our guests headed home.

                                                           

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Tuesday
Day 3
Basin to Cody
86.9 miles

 

   Tuesday was to be our longest mileage day at 87 miles to Cody.  We got up early and left the school at O dark thirty.  It really is dark at 5 a.m.  First light didn’t even occur until about 5:15.  The weather was nice and cool.  Jim had to put a jacket on.  When you sucked on your camelbak, the first water was ice cold and then it became more tepid.  That is exactly the opposite of what normally happens.  I guess that cold air was chilling the water in the tube.  My mom thought it was 50 degrees.  The wind wasn’t more than a slight breeze.  Everyone had been pretty much worn out by the wind the day before so we appreciated the calmer day.  This was 100% better.  Before we reached Lovell we had a long, long uphill.  It wasn’t steep and I was able to spin most of the distance but it went on for many miles.  As we topped the crest Jim told me it was all downhill into Lovell.  I passed everyone that had passed me going up the hill.  It was an exhilarating ride. 

     As we approached Powell we realized it was nearing noon and Powell would be a good place for a lunch break.  I think this was the only time we were in a town for lunch.  We tried a couple of McDonald’s new salads.  While I was ordering, the waitress asked about our tour.  I was giving a detailed description when I realized that Leonard was wasting away and dieing of hunger.  All he wanted to do was order!  When we left the restaurant we realized that the temperature was really heating up.  It was only a short ride to Ralston, where Becky, my high school buddy, works.  She had their Explorer on the roadside with her yellow Streak shirt we gave her hanging out the window to signify where to stop.  We took a break and she had a packet for me with 30^th class reunion pictures and her story.  We met her co-worker, Rick Husman, who was a motorcycle nut.  I could tell he thought we were nuts for riding bikes in the heat.  Sadly, a week later, Rick had a fatal accident with his bike on his way home. 

     It got really hot for those final 15 miles into Cody.  The shoulder was deteriorated and the traffic was nonstop.  My nerves were frayed and then my feet started getting hot spots on the bottom.  It was a struggle to get to town.  As soon as we turned on the side street by the school, I got off my bike and walked.  My feet were killing me.

     After showers we took our camp chairs up in the shade of the school building.  Jim’s brother, Larry, pulled up in his four-wheeler and chatted for quite a while.  Wednesday was an optional day for a ride to Yellowstone and back.  We had discussed riding to the dam and maybe to Wapiti for lunch.  Leonard said there was no way he was getting back on that bike on our rest day.  My feet were still hurting me and we discussed renting a car to get around Cody.  Larry generously offered his four-wheel drive dually to use.

     As I was walking into the school building to replenish our water, I overheard someone asking for Laurie.  Then she said Jim and Laurie.  I followed her for a minute and asked which Jim and Laurie she was looking for.  She told me that she had stopped in Powell for lunch.  A woman walked up and asked which ride she was with.  When she mentioned Tour de Wyoming, the woman asked her if she knew Jim and Laurie.  After being told that there were 300 people on the tour, this woman asked her to post a note on the bulletin board saying that Carol said hi.  Carol is a cousin of my mom and Leonard. 

     At 6:00 Becky and Tim picked us up and took us to dinner at the Proud Cut.  Jim ordered a whiskey and 7-up.  As it was delivered he ordered another one.  The waitress seemed confused.  Jim told her this one wasn’t going to last very long.  With one long swig, it was gone.  Leonard was just amazed and was wishing he could have video taped the moment.  Jeesh.  It doesn’t take much to amuse some people.  We had a nice relaxed dinner.  I had made a point of asking for three separate tickets and then darned if Tim didn’t pick them all up.  We sure weren’t expecting that to happen.  Pictures of Carrie, Becky and Tim’s daughter were hanging in the hallway of the Proud Cut. 

 

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Wednesday
Day 4

Optional 100 miles to Yellowstone & back

Our Rest day
 

 

    Wednesday morning I woke up at 5:15.  I read Becky’s reunion story.  I cleaned up the tent and reorganized my things.  It was so nice to laze around and not hurry to get things packed.  I thought I might like to ride but Leonard still wasn’t into it.  We walked over to Larry’s place, just over the back fence.  We borrowed his pickup and drove to a couple campgrounds in search of my mother and Jacob.  They had a left a note at our tent but we didn’t know exactly where they were staying.  We found them at the second place.  They were going to ride a float trip at 1:00.  We were starving so we went to the historic Irma Hotel for breakfast.  Buffalo Bill constructed the hotel for his daughter, Irma.  After eating we decided to drive up to the dam and see the museum.  Becky thought her dad would be volunteering but we found out he comes on Thursday afternoons.  We did see Dick and Marge Wilder who owned Cody Drug.  The old road was opened for the cyclists so that they wouldn’t have to go through the long tunnel.  We chatted with the volunteer at the top of the closed road and watched several people go down.  It was an 18% grade.  One lady got off her bike and walked her bike down the hill.  We found out at the final dinner that 110 (of 300) people completed the 100-mile ride.  Many more just rode a portion of the out and back route.  And there were people like us that saw the perfect opportunity to take the day off.  I told you that these people were intense.  Our volunteer told us that there were several people on the tour that had to ride 100 miles per day.  Confused, we asked her why?  “It is their personal quest.”  That explained why we kept seeing one or two riders coming back towards us later each day.  They must have been getting their 100 miles under their belt. 

     After Peggy, Jim’s sister, got off work at 2:30 she came over to the school and picked us up.  It was over 100 degrees again.  We went down to the bar in the Irma hotel and enjoyed happy hour until Peggy’s husband, Jim, got off work.  Then we moved over to the dining room for dinner.  This time Peggy grabbed the ticket and paid for our dinner.  I couldn’t believe it happening two nights in a row.  What a nice treat!  Maybe they took pity on our poor demented souls that decided to ride a bike across Wyoming in the worst heat of the summer.

     Our last night in Cody was miserable.  It never did cool off.  Noel Noblette, a rider from Cody, explained that cloud cover prevented the day's heat from leaving.  Noel is a retired teacher who moved from Las Vegas to Wyoming to enjoy his golden years.  We did have bursts of strong wind that pretended to cool us off.  I was just about asleep one time and the wind blew something into the side of our tent.  I was grabbing my glasses to see what was going on.  A man picked a tent off our front door.  I guess a friend hadn't staked down his tent.  I watched him walk back to his tent and as he started to get in, he started cussing and screaming, "Snake!"  His friends in the next tent turned on their light and gave it to him.  He was visibly shaken.  He looked and said, "It's dead."  I don't know if he killed it or if it was dead in his tent.  His friends asked if someone put it in the tent.  I never heard his answer.  He took it out and threw it over the fence.  Then he took the light and inspected every inch of his tent several times.

      As I was getting back to settling down, some kids rode by screaming and yelling.  I popped up, thinking we had another snake episode going on but it was just kids.  More incidents of teenagers and loud cars, music and shouting occurred during the night.  I think I got about 3 hours sleep with all the heat and commotion. 
 

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Thursday
Day 5
Cody to Thermopolis
87.7 miles

 

    Thursday was going to be another long day with 88 miles of riding to Thermopolis.  It was 84 degrees when we rolled out of town at sunrise.   After eating a quick breakfast at McDonald’s, which the Tour provided, we made a quick stop at Mother’s campsite to return her wallet that she had left at our tent the night before.  She hadn’t even missed it yet.  About 10 miles out of town, the temperature dipped down and it became more enjoyable.  We had clouds for the first time all week and it really was quite pleasant for a while. 

      There was supposed to be 5 rest stops but for some reason the last one was closed.  That made 26 miles of no services.  A guy from Colorado commented, “When they say no services for 50 miles, I’ll believe them next time.  There aren’t even any trees for shade.”   I filled my 100 oz Camelbak at the 4th rest stop.  It was getting hot.  I would stop and spritz myself every so often but would dry out almost as soon as I started cycling again.  I was overheating and riding slower and slower.  Jim spotted a parked car up ahead.  Some angel was stopped offering water and cool rags.  She let me sit in her car for some much needed shade.  I was panting like a dog.  Some guy told Jim to let me sit there until my core temperature had come down.  I did and Jim told me it was all down hill to Thermop.  We took off in a hurry to try to get to town and some shade.  In about 5 minutes I knew I was in trouble.  I started chilling.  I was drinking lots of water and had to go to the bathroom, so I knew I wasn't dehydrated.  But chilling is not good.  It is a sign of heat exhaustion.  I didn't tell the guys cause I was afraid they'd make me stop and wait for a sag.  It was so hot and nowhere to get out of the sun.  I thought I'd be better off on the bike, creating my own wind.  The chills were very disconcerting.  All those cautionary tales that I had been told about getting out of the heat and I had nowhere to go.  Thoughts of selling my bike when I got home en