We Jammin'

After the rains and the poor conditions for the past week, it was a breath of fresh air to be riding today.  What a perfect ride today!  It was one of those days that reminds you why you wanted to ride across America.  

Sunny, downhill, wind at our backs

We started off today departing the Twin Pines Lodge and Cabins, a really old, but really cool, lodge and hotel.  They were extremely nice, the place was perfect for 3 riders, and they provided a breakfast that we carried as lunch.  We went back to the Cowboy Cafe for a hearty breakfast and lots of coffee before we left town.

Lobby of the Twin Pines

Today we were joined by: sunshine, wind at our backs, downhill (a good portion of the day), and extra characters.  Already we had joined up with Pat's childhood friend Mike, who lives in Lander but rode up to the Togwothee Pass to meet us.  Last night, when dining at the Cowboy Cafe in Dubois, we started up a conversation with a guy named Donnie who had, as a teen, done an ocean-to-ocean ride with a Christian group out of Indiana.  We didn't know this, but he and his friend Daniel also spoke with Pat last night and decided to join us for part of the trip today.  So, from 2 - Jerry and me, plus Pat, and now Mike, we now had Daniel.  Daniel was an interesting chap who, for as much as we can tell, currently lives in his van with his girlfriend, traveling around to places he'd like to visit.  Now his van is a nice Mercedes panel van, but beyond that I'm not quite sure of his back story.  Daniel met us today about 8 miles out of Dubois on his girlfriend's e-mountain bike that he had lost the charger, so now it was basically a 50 pound mountain bike.  No problem.  We rode along in the sunshine, wind at our backs, downhill for about 40 miles, all the way to about Crowheart Butte, where history has it that the Shoshone Chief Washakie, in a battle, had the heart of the Crow Chief on a lance, securing victory for the Shoshone and the departure of the Crow from the area.  In any case, it was a day of riding and talking with what seemed to be lots of people, at least in comparison to our normal riding days.  It was a riding hippie bicycle party.

Today’s crew

Crowheart Butte

Once Donnie picked up Daniel at the local gas station, our ride quieted down a bit.  We turned up a road toward Lander, and immediately went up a big hill through a construction zone.  We began riding through the Wind River Reservation, a very large, very desolate place, much drier than what we had been riding through for the past week.  It's incredible how fast scenery changes, and going through the reservation seemed like another world.  There is little development on the reservation, at least where we could see, except a casino that was closed (likely Covid-19) and a few shops going toward Lander.  We passed by a sign that pointed to Sacajawea's grave, but we didn't go to investigate.  That is truly a regret because she is a national treasure and it would have been interesting to see.  Nonetheless we kept on going towards Lander.

Now, in the past three days, since West Yellowstone, my bike has been developing a noise in my crank.  The crank is what you'd expect, the wheel that the pedals turn round and round.  But now round and round became tick, tick, tick, and it was getting louder and more ominous sounding.  Pat was also having problems, as his gears would shift upward without his prompting.  Not so good.  Mike knew both bike shops in Lander, and when we finally arrived in Lander we went to his preferred shop, the Bike Mill.  What a great find!  Inside the shop was a mechanic named Michele (sp?), who is a native of Holland.  We had a bit of a conversation about my work in The Netherlands and my connections to both Maastricht, where our marketing people at C&H are located, and to Doesburg, the home of our new distribution center.  In any case, Michele was very good at what he did, and he sent us across the street to the Gannet Grill, where they had a great, shaded outdoor area and we enjoyed a few beers while Jerry enjoyed a chocolate shake from the ice cream shop next door.  About an hour later we were texted by Michele at the Bike Mill and our bikes were done.  Pat had to replace a cable and a few tweaks, and my bike simply needed a tightening of the crank arm, something we could not have done without the proper wrenches, which he had.  Fantastic.

The Bicycle Mill. Note the bike mounted on top

Beers at the Gannet Grill awaiting our bike fixes

Jerry and I headed to the Rodeway Inn down the street, while Pat and Mike went back to Mike's, where he was going to grill us some dinner for the evening.  After showers we went to Mike's, where we discovered what a talented guy he is.  Not only had he owned a bike shop in Laramie, he also knows welding so he had a whole bunch of bikes he had put together, including a gem with a sidecar he uses for his wife's printed shirt business.  He had a teepee in his yard, a tree house, and he showed us the shop he had built for his wife, a beautiful two story tall post and beam (think barn) structure that was functioning as a yoga and art studio.  What an eclectic, wonderful collection of different hobbies and talents.  We met his wife Dannine, who was delightful and we all ate dinner at their outside patio and talked until the mosquitoes took over.  Jerry and I rode back to the Rodeway and ended the night recounting the day's adventure through this blog.

Today we traveled about 75 miles and climbed about 2,000 feet, while dropping a few more.  Tomorrow we are off for Jeffrey City, a stop on the way to Rawlins, our last town in Wyoming.