Wyoming is Done!

Friday, I started I started here in Buford, WY. As you can see from my picture it is a bustling town of 2 people. In fact, I caught half the population out mowing the lawn.
It is just West of Cheyenne, WY where we have stayed the past couple days. I got caught in a good storm on Wednesday that continued into Thursday. I didn’t complain too hard about not riding because I was still worn out from the rides early in the week. We chose a motel with a real nice hot tub and I spent a considerable amount of time there. I also did a few chores that I have been meaning to do for a while, such as backing up the photos on the portable hard drive and updating the iPod. It was nothing that had to be done, but it was nice to scratch those chores off my list.
Got out of Cheyenne and up to Buford around 9 AM and took of downhill for the next 25 miles. I don’t know the elevation of Cheyenne, but I went down 3,000 feet in altitude over the 70 miles I rode yesterday. I don’t think I pedaled much all the way to Cheyenne. Plus, it wasn’t so steep that I had to ride the brakes either.
Add to that the tailwind and cool (70’s) temperatures and it was almost heaven. I say almost because you have to remember I was riding on I-80. The trucks were still a problem and the shoulder had a rumble strip every 20 yards. So the ride was not perfect, but I made good time. It took me about 5 hours to do 70 miles. I even did a few extra miles when I got off the interstate on a side road and got pretty well lost. I finally got to Pine Bluff, WY on the border of Nebraska about 2 PM. The weather was sunny when I went into the deli, but ominous clouds were coming in as I finished my meal.

I called the boys who were just finishing up their golf game in Cheyenne. By the time they got to Pine Bluff, the weather was going crazy. There was a lot of lightening and hail, but we heard tornados were expected too. Scratch camping out. The only motel in Pine Bluff was sold out, so we went to Kimball, NE about 20 miles away. Not much else to report. We showered and had dinner and crashed pretty early.
I got up this morning prepared to do this blog and check my email, but the wireless connection isn’t working. The motel office isn’t open till 6, so I don’t know if I will post this today or not. I want to get out early today and get the miles in ahead of the thunderstorms that seem to be happening every day around 3. We will bike some very flat areas, so if the wind is down, we should make some good time. I just want to make it through Nebraska as quickly as possible. I have seen the Mississippi, and I am already there in my head. Nebraska is just detail. It isn’t technically difficult and the scenery isn’t unique. It’s just a blip on the radar and we are running late in the overall schedule.
We have now been on the road 2 months. We have biked across 4 states and if you take out the days we played (baseball, Yellowstone and the back and forth to Iowa, we have only been biking about 6 weeks. I am biking longer days and once we cross the Mississippi, we should make good time - on the road anyway. There will be more baseball and friends to visit. We could string this out for quite a while. I think we are getting ready to get to New England. Two months on the road and my own bed sounds pretty good.
The network isn’t up and I have to get rolling. Maybe we’ll get this going in the next town.
Till then…