Day 37: Wyoming Winds (Rawlings to Lander)

Total mileage: 64

No one warned us about the winds in Wyoming. They only told us about Kansas, which (in comparison) wasn't bad at all. It turns out that the winds in Wyoming are quite the force to contend with. We had a mostly lovely morning ride from Rawlings to Muddy Gap (after a free continental breakfast at the local Hampton Inn). ("Mostly lovely," I.e., there was one terrible stretch with the shoulder crumbling to pieces, but... the views were still fabulous.)

However, by the time we had eaten a snack, chatted with a nice Swiss cyclist (she was from Bern), and gotten back on our bikes, the winds were howling across the plains.

Typical southern Wyoming landscape

The trouble was that the wind wasn't usually a straight headwind, but a vicious crosswind that threatened to knock us over with each gust. We slogged along for almost 8 miles, at which point Alix got blown off the road. We decided that we didn't have the mental stamina to make it without a break so we pulled off the road at a historic marker and took a breather and stretching break.

"Split Rock." It looks more split from the other direction. Used by early Mormons and wagon train travelers to navigate through the vast southern Wyoming landscape.

We then decided that it would be best to hitchhike, since continuing on was a seriously painful concept (more than anything, crosswinds really make your body hurt). After chatting up a few cars at the rest area, we tried our luck at hitchhiking from the road. In just a few minutes, an RV showed up that had passed us and then decided to turn around and pick us up! We managed to squeeze the bikes into the living area and spent the next hour or so chatting with the family as they whooshed us north. They were from Georgia, headed to Yellowstone for vacation. Feeling the wind destabilize the RV made us happy to be off our bikes! We figured we could see the scenery just fine from inside the vehicle.

We ended up riding with the family until 8 miles outside of Lander, when they stopped to figure out some engine issues. By then, the wind had died down and we had a lovely ride into town. We stopped at a bike shop to fix up Sonja's handlebar tape and ended up chatting with a very helpful employee there. She even looked up the weather forecast for us for the next several days! We got the impression from talking to her that Lander was a pretty neat little town.

The rocks are layered with different colors. The red is the most striking.

We also met Peter, an east-bound cyclist at the bike shop. We decided it had been far too long since we had had margaritas, so all three of us headed to a nearby Mexican restaurant when we were done at the shop. We had an excellent time getting to know Peter and munching on the free chips and salsa that came with our drinks. Afterwards, we all headed to the city park, where they let anyone camp for free! We enjoyed another of our weird dinners there, as well as more delightful conversation with our new friend.