Day 16 - Atlantic City, WY to Rawlins, WY

After taking a "zero" day in Atlantic City, WY to rest and reset yesterday, today was a big day. 
As it played out, it got even bigger than planned! Two Kiwis and I set off from Atlantic City at 6:30 am to begin making the crossing of the Great Basin Desert.  I'd intended to ride roughly 75 miles to a reservoir noted as a water resupply and informal camping location on the way to Rawlins, WY. At about the halfway point, I caught up with Ingrid (who had left even earlier at about 5:45) and she decided to go to Wamsutter on the Tour Divide Race route instead of Rawlins on the GDMBR route, so we parted ways...


I was feeling pretty good, and set off happily on my own. Until the reservoir failed to appear at the described location. After a fair bit of cursing, i decided that my best option ( given my current water supply) was to continue on to Rawlins, a further 52 miles. 
I knew I could ride that far with roughly 3.5 liters of water, but I wasn't so sure I could do the same if I wild camped and spent an extra 10-12 hours nursing that same 3.5 liters! Fortunately, the ever present Wyoming wind was remarkably calm today-- even blowing as a light tailwind at times. So when faced with the decision to ride or camp-- riding was the obvious choise! 
While it made for an incredibly long day, I was really happy to get the bulk of the Great Basin behind me :-). Still, it is an incredible place, with a beauty that comes through despite the desolate nature of the setting.  I was particularly taken with the wide variety of wildflowers, and always looking to capture a good photo of some of the abundant wildlife- particularly the amazing pronghorn antelope (I saw too many to count!)
and wild horses. Tomorrow will probably be another rest day to see if Mike can catch up with me here in Rawlins.  Hopefully the wind will be as kind to him as is was to me!
Cheers from the GDMBR:-)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 33 - Glenwood, NM to Silver City, NM

Image
So... today is the last "regular" riding day on the GDMBR! Unfortunately, we're dealing with record heat here in the desert southwest --and our potential safety stops between Silver City and the border are temporarily closed (Jeffrey Sharp's bike ranch has had their water run out!).  So we're playing it safe, and ending our ride here...  If your curious  how hot it's getting-- here's what CNN is saying ;-) https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/14/weather/heat-wave-phoenix-california-las-vegas-climate/index.html.  For today, we got unbelievably lucky... Part the residue of design, part pure dumb luck!  First, we started REALLY early. We were up at 4:15 and on the road before 5:00 and with just a hint of light on the Eastern horizon.  Not that there's a lot to see in this part of New Mexico, so we didn't miss much... Just some yucca and scruffy dry grass among the mesquite and juniper that's covering the long low hills.  Today's...
Read more

Day 29 - Cuba, NM to Grants, NM

Image
So... Now things are starting to get interesting in terms of strategy and tactics.  Up to this point, our concerns about weather have been focused on wind and precipitation, and then crafting our ride times and clothing accordingly. Now sun and extreme temperature is getting stirred into the mix, and it definitely complicates how we plan and approach the daily ride. Yesterday was a good case in point. We left our motel Cuba at 5:45 am to get breakfast at a great little diner when they opened at 6:00, and we were on the road at about 6:45, with the intention of riding about 60-70 miles to get us half-way to Grants, which was about 120 miles south across desert and tableland.   The first 45 miles went perfectly as planned, with two small stores providing some welcome respite from the building heat, and opportunity to top off water supply and get a cold Gatorade & a sandwich.  After that, there were no services at all ...
Read more

Day 15 - Coulter Bay, WY to Double Bar J Ranch - Dubois, WY

Image
So... Hell of a birthday ride for me today (64!)... Our group of 6 (Mike & I, a German (Wibke), and 3 Kiwis) stayed in a cabin in Coulter Bay last night. After Mike suffered a mechanical yesterday (blown out rear hub bearing), he decided to hitch into Jackson to get a bike shop to try and fix it. Wibke decided to go along with Mike as she was suffering from tendinitis in here Achilles. So I set off on the regular route of the GDMBR with the Kiwis with the intent of meeting back up with Mike in Pinedale of he could get his bike fixed...  A good plan, but like all plans, they rarely last past the first unexpected "oh crap!" moments.  Such was today... even though it started beautifully, Including my second Moose siting! Our plan was to ride up Togwothee Pass in the morning and hopefully beat the rain predicted for sometime in the early afternoon.  We all set off pretty early after a good breakfast, and I was on the road by 7:30, thoug...
Read more