Distance: 71 miles
Elevation: +2440 / -3274
Temperature: 90
We rolled out of Gillette at 6:30 this morning, and we took advantage of about 30 miles of mostly declining elevation and no headwind. Leaving Gillette, a city of about 30,000 that dubs itself the “Energy Capital of the Nation,” we passed huge tracts of strip mining.
Following the mines, we then came upon train tracks that were holding hundreds of engines for BNSF (Baltimore Northern Santa Fe) that stretched for more than a mile and which were just waiting to move coal. There wasn’t a lot to take pictures of the first part of today, so, enjoy the trains!
We were averaging above 15 miles an hour, and around mile 36 it was only 9:30 AM, but we still had lunch!
Aside from the trains, in the first 50 miles, there wasn’t much to see: lots of open and arid land, deer, antelope, elk, antelope, deer, antelope, deer. In fact, deer and antelope ran in front of us more than once, clearly paying no mind to the fact that we were there and could be crashed into. Several times we spooked deer and antelope, and they turned to jump over the barbed wire of the fields next to us, without stopping, even if they got hung up on it for a moment. Sheesh. We aren’t that scary, although after this many days on a bike, I guess I understand why the wildlife wasn’t taking any chances with us. We don’t have photos of the deer and antelope, but we do have pictures of Katherine’s bike propped against several no trespassing signs, and Mary Jo’s bike pointed into the void. That’s almost as good.
The last half of the ride saw a ride along a reservoir and an increase in hill climbing as we moved into the Wyoming Black Hills. This was a nice change of scenery from the arid land we had just come through, and it was particularly nice to see trees again.
About 60 miles in, we approached Devil’s Tower, but our “close encounter” was restricted to riding by, with plans to return later in the afternoon (some of us), when there were hopefully fewer people. We also didn’t want to lose our window of low wind and we knew that the temperatures were only going to keep climbing, so best to get to Hullet and then go back to see Devil’s Tower after (only 10 miles away, and fast in the SAG vehicle!).
We arrived in Hulett by lunch time, explored the little town a bit (population 350), and then hung out in the park while we waited to be able to check in to the hotel. We were all pretty happy to have made the ride so quickly and have finally gotten out of the heat!
Tomorrow we head to Lead, and we’re all ready for the upcoming rest day!
Highlights:
We got into Hullet before the wind and heat became too much.
There was a pool and hot tub at the hotel!
Mary Jo and Katherine had some amazing strawberry-rhubarb pie with vanilla ice cream.
The power went out, but came back on before they told us to leave the restaurant at dinner time.
Deer and antelope were fun to watch.
Lowlights:
Arid and not much to see.
More traffic than yesterday.
Randomness:
A lot of the roads out here don’t have much traffic. So, how do we pass the time? When a car approaches, we do “the wave.” We each stand up in succession and sit back down. It mostly works, but it has taken some practice on the timing bit, to be honest. It’s a great way to change position on the bike when you’ve been riding for a long time with no stops. I’m sure the cars/trucks think nothing of this, or think it‘s strange, but, who cares. We‘re amused, and it passes the time. And, let’s face it, we have a lot of time.
“I can handle anything for 20 miles.”
”I can crawl for 6 miles.”
”Is there ice cream in the next town?”
”I need a technical stop.”
PS: For those looking for a great bike mechanic, here is the website for Web’s operation, Spider Bicycles: https://www.spiderbicycles.com/. I will update yesterday’s post with this as well!
PSS: There were no aliens. Sorry. I couldn’t find them.
