Hot,Hot, Hot

Well, we knew it would happen eventually and the temperature finally climbed out of the 60’s into the 80’s, on its way up. It will be hitting the 90’s tomorrow in this area. 

We started the day rather slowly. We very much enjoyed the hospitality of Mike and Dannine Lowham in Lander, and so we spent some extra time there today. We also had to visit the Bike Mill two more times today as Jerry’s front wheel flatted and his brake pad fell off (likely melted on recent trips down the mountains). I picked up a set of brake pads too, anticipating a similar fate for my brakes. We also took some extraordinary measures to try to ward off future flats by injecting our tubes with sealant. If something gets through the tire and punctures the tube, the sealant fills the gap. Let’s hope this works as we will soon be riding a while on I-80 where tire trash and junk prevails on the shoulders of the road. 

In any case we bought lunches at the local Maverik store and said goodbye to Mike about 11 and headed out. The temperature was higher than we’d faced this whole trip, so this was definitely a different kind of day for us. Shorts and lots of sunscreen. We were only going about 59 miles today, a short route, and the place we were stopping wasn’t likely going to be a highlight. Jeffrey City WY is really the only option for getting to our next “larger “ sized town without having to ride over 130 miles to do so. JC it is!

Beautiful red rocks against the blue sky

The day started out fairly good and we enjoyed some of the colors we saw in the rocks as we headed out of Lander. The route was a lot of rolling hills and dips that weren’t too high or low. Once we made the turn to go towards Rawlings via Jeffrey City, however, the environment began to change. The colorful hills turned a bit more drab, the countryside looked a bit more desolate and the grass turned to scrub brush. Not an ugly sight, but not very pretty either. Pretty desolate if you ask me. We ate our lunches at mile 20 on the side of the road without a lick of shade. No problem, we figured this would be the case. After lunch we had been told to expect an uphill for about “2 miles” according to Mike, the local. 

The view most of the day: Roads going on forever and Pat in the distance 

Well, the “two miles” turned out to be 8 miles of the worst road I’ve ever ridden on. You know how, when they are about to resurface an asphalt road and they strip the original road and grind down serrations into the surface to hold the new road? You sometimes see this as the road crew is laying down the next layer. Well, WYDOT stripped and ripped this road, both sides, for 8 miles with no immediate surfacing plan for at least a year. We had over six miles of uphill slog while being vibrated to death. Every turn of the pedal was about a dozen shakes as we rode, inch by inch, up over 6 miles of greater than 6% grade, which is a lot. We spent about an hour and a half crawling up this shake-fest, cursing the folks at the Dept. of Transportation or whoever stopped this project mid-stream. This was the worst road I think I’ve ever been on, and I’ve ridden a lot of single track off road mountain bike trails. Those trails were smoother than this horror-show. Further, it was really hot and we were quickly running out of water. We each packed 4 large bottles and each of us was about empty. 

After the “bumpy road,” Jerry and I were about finished. We found a rest area with plenty of water and mosquitoes in Sweetwater Station. Very aptly named. At the rest area Pat suggested we should take it easy after the last hour and a half. Then Pat Graham, the hammerin’ man from Cheyenne, proceeded to dust us the rest of the day. He was a speck in the horizon as Jerry and I lumbered along for the last 20 miles. 

We finally reached our destination of Jeffrey City, which is a very liberal use of the word city. JC had been a uranium mining town of about 6,000 renamed from “Home on the Range” WY after the investor in the mining operation. Then in the 80’s the uranium boom died, and so did old Jeffrey City. Now there are about 70 people and a few dogs in this town. We got into this dusty, nearly abandoned town and chose to eat right away rather than go out twice. We found the Split Rock Cafe and bar, where the owner, Isebel poured the drinks, waited the tables, cooked the food, bussed the tables and worked the register. Want seconds on drinks, “you can grab another from the cooler” said Isebel. 

The food was actually pretty good, or we were extremely hungry, or both. As we were leaving, we asked about breakfast. What time were they opening? “What time ya wanna eat?”  She said she used to open at 7, but with the COVID thing nobody comes until about 10, so she’ll show up when we want to eat. 8, we agreed. Let’s see how this goes tomorrow. 

Our digs at the Green Mountain Motel

We went down to the Green Mountain Motel, which appears to be an old set of prefab buildings from the uranium days, with a small office in the back. The woman who rented us the room, 2 beds and a cot, was extremely nice. The room is old but clean, and knowing where we are, and the lack of options, this was exactly what we needed. A hot shower and WiFi, perfect. We showered, washed our clothes and hung them outside to dry as the mosquito fest began.  How, in one of the driest places I’ve ever been, would mosquitoes thrive so well?  What’s funny is that, during dinner, we overheard the local drinker/smokers discussing how few mosquitoes are out this year!

I’m about to brave the insect mob soon to go check on the clothes and go to bed. That’s about the best option in this town. 

We did 58 miles with 2,900 feet of climbing today. Tomorrow it’s on to Rawlings, 72 miles away.