Riverton, Wyoming
The farther west we get into Wyoming, the hotter it gets. The desert is really starting to bother me on a couple of different levels: it is hot during the day; it is cold in the morning, and; there ain't nothing out there. We wake up in the morning in a place like Jackson or Dubois and it is cold, like seriously cold, like in the 40s! After wearing arm and leg warmers for the first 2 hours of the ride, the desert magically heats up. We peel off our layers and start sweating for the rest of the day. There is no middle ground, there is no 70 degrees, there is only 40 or 90.
today's ride into Riverton was a nice ride of rolling hills and interesting geological formations. Once again we had a tail wind that carried us for the first 55 miles at a pace that would normally be well above what we should have done. The wind shifted a little for the last 25 miles into Riverton, allowing me to leave dad in the dust when I decided to play follow the leader with Mike (our group warden). He pushed me hard over those miles of increasingly boring terrain, but we passed the time by talking about his time driving a big rig truck and his time flying airplanes for the air force.
After checking into the hotel dad and I went to the Dairy Queen for our high protein recovery meal - burgers and milk shakes. After all that activity I took a nap and drooled all over the Holiday Inn's comforter. Suckers.
We bike 120 miles into Casper tomorrow and then we get a rest day. Apparently mom is already in Casper, enjoying the Wyoming nightlife and scenery. I am anxiously awaiting for her to take dad off my hands for a period of time.
Footnotes for July 6th:
today's ride into Riverton was a nice ride of rolling hills and interesting geological formations. Once again we had a tail wind that carried us for the first 55 miles at a pace that would normally be well above what we should have done. The wind shifted a little for the last 25 miles into Riverton, allowing me to leave dad in the dust when I decided to play follow the leader with Mike (our group warden). He pushed me hard over those miles of increasingly boring terrain, but we passed the time by talking about his time driving a big rig truck and his time flying airplanes for the air force.
After checking into the hotel dad and I went to the Dairy Queen for our high protein recovery meal - burgers and milk shakes. After all that activity I took a nap and drooled all over the Holiday Inn's comforter. Suckers.
We bike 120 miles into Casper tomorrow and then we get a rest day. Apparently mom is already in Casper, enjoying the Wyoming nightlife and scenery. I am anxiously awaiting for her to take dad off my hands for a period of time.
Footnotes for July 6th:
- Dubois was a cute town and was oddly enough a Wal-Mart free zone.
- Our America By Bike group crossed paths with a group of people that are biking across the country to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. Apparently they were camping and staying in churches. As a group, we gave them over $1,000 to keep their unshowered and stinky asses away from us.
- I went to a Dubois bar last night with a Skidmarks, T-Rex, and the Nanny to drink beers, play pool and take in some local flavour. Tuesday night at this bar is square dancing night -- that was easily the biggest culture shock of my life.
posted by Len Burman at 4:23 PM
3 Comments:
"Tuesday night at this bar is square dancing night -- that was easily the biggest culture shock of my life."
I would have thought that your first exposure to a group of your father's friends (economists) would have been that seminal moment, but we are glad that you have surpassed that. Wait until our next get together where the square dancing economists perform.
Sounds like things are going well and Len is enjoying his role as Marlin Perkins.
Hope you enjoy the visit with Missie. Our best from Arlington where the weather is currently a comfortable 74 degrees.
Happy Anniversary
David and Joan
Len,
Thanks for the postcard. We have a pool at the office how far you're going to make it, and let's just say you are exceeding expectations of many players. The big question for me is...who will be showing off a non-wobbly gait first - you or my in-utero child? (I'm counting on you to look at least a little wobbly on two feet after biking across the country.)
We've taken the liberty to change how we're doing business around here without you. First, Troy is in charge. Jeff and I have both been out sick, and Kim keeps heading to California and Hawaii. Adeel is taking the time to perfect his raquetball skills and Anya works too much to provide the leadership that TPC central needs. The others, as you know, are a bit down the hall or on another floor of the building so also can't be counted on to replace your normal presence. Troy, however, has been working so hard he's exceeded the capacity of his computer. Plus, he's tall. Under Troy's leadership we have moved to a work schedule more conducive to our lives outside the office. We work from 10 - 3. This accommodates the folks who like to sleep in, plus the folks who like to leave early, with plenty of time for a relaxing lunch.
Don't know what David's talking about when he says Arlington is having nice weather. It's raining here now - and has been since last night.
And...from my time in Denali when told how to deal with bears: If it's black, fight back. If it's brown, just wave your arms around and try and look big and scary to it so it doesn't decide to attack.
Elaine
Elaine said:
"Don't know what David's talking about.."
That's the same thing that Ed always says.
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