Day 61 Lander to Dubois 3000 miles up!

Well today was pretty much deja  vu of day 58. Ridiculously early start, high mileage, headwinds  . . . you know by now the sort of thing that I mean.
One difference, just as I was all set to go, I decided to check tyre pressures and somehow broke the valve on the rear wheel. So after much stomping around the campsite I unloaded, and eventually  fixed the damn thing. As I was now miles behind everybody I thought what the hell and took refuge in Mcdonalds and had a second breakfast, which of course by now was at a more civilised time. Ok strop over.

Today was going to be interesting as for 58 miles we were cycling through the Wind River Indian Reservation, home of the Shoshone tribe.

Typically when cycling througb the USA  you pick up the sense of  national pride by virtue of the stars and stripes hoisted above just about every home. Here there was  not one single flag displayed, other than above the Missionary church in Fort Washakie. And I did not see a single Indian.  My overriding feeling was that of poverty,deprivation and a tough place to live

Quite a contrast to the tourist information boards describring the reservation in the more upmarket town of Dubois where we stayed tonight.

Miles Today 76
Total         3022

Day 60 4th July in Lander, Wyoming

This is a massive day over here clebrating the day in 1776 that independence was gained from the British.

Consequently it was a carnival atmosphere in town with a parade of over 75 floats. Notmally alcohol cannot be drunk on the street but today the Police turn a blind eye.

Tonight there will be a huge firework display and as our campsite ovetlooks the town we will have the best seats. Unfortunately we will not be able to join in the revelry as we have another tough 74 mile ascent tomorrow in the direction of Yellowstone Park . . . Serious bear country ahead!

Day 59 Sweetwater to Lander

We couldn't get out of the campsite quick enough this morning. The mosquitos were so bad even at 5AM that we skipped breakfast and cycled straight through to Lander.

Only 40 miles and with an amazing 10 mile descent most of us were in camp by 10 30AM. As there were no services again on the route I cannot tell you the pleasure generated by the Mcdonalds sign just before we got to Lander. Junk food is an essential ingredient for long distance cycling.

Mcdonalds also has reliable wifi unlike the AT & T signal which has gone walkabout in this part of America.

We now have a rest day in Lander where we will be joining in the 4th July celebrations and watching a Rodeo before we begin our ascent to Yellowstone Park and the Tetons.

Miles Today  39
Total             2945

The Lander Rodeo

Last night we met up with Greg and Dara ( imagine a Baywatch Babe on roller skates ) who is over from California for a few days and we all went to the Rodeo and ate popcorn. We were treated to calf roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, bull riding, indian bareback racing and I have to say it was a thorouvhly entertaining 8$ night out. With my limited knowledge of matters horse I could see that a considerable amount of skill was involved. There was also something for the children where all the under 10's chased 2 calfs around the rodeo field with the objective of removing a ribbon from the calf's tail.  They start them young here.

TBC

Day 58 Rawlins to Sweetwater

I didn't think it was possible to have a harder cycling day than some we have already had but today proved me wrong. 87 miles. 5 30AM breakfast. No services for the last 45 miles. And a campsite in the middle of nowhere with no showers and no grocery store or restaurants nearby. This meant that we had to carry food all day and the gourmet eveni.g meal on the menu was powdered taco soup supplemented with packets of something that looked like chicken. Actually Kelly and I were masquerading as chefs today and it didn't taste that bad.

Having said that the first 40 miles were very pleasant. We are in the wide open spaces of Wyoming and it really does feel like Indian country. Probably because it is.

All was well until we turned left at 40 miles straight into a headwind that got stronger and stronger  as the day went on. And it was all uphill  and a dead straight road making it barely possible to achieve 5 mph.

I arrived in camp at 6PM totally exhausted. And to make matters worse the campsite was swarming with giant size mosquitos that bite through your clothing.

As I am sat in the safe haven of the toilet blogging I still haven't worked out how to get in my tent and keep the mossies out.

Just one of those days you have to put up with when you are cycling across America.

Miles Today 87
Total         2906