We awoke to an email from the Salsa rep. This was awesome
news. G and the reps (Aaron + Zach)
exchanged a few emails regarding the logistics and we were all set… A new rack
will await us in Rawlins (the next town we hit). We were all set to hit this basin – the origin
of most Wyoming complaints. This is a
150 mile ride with:
-0 trees
-0 humans
-winds never less than 60km/h
-schizophrenic winds always managing to be a headwind.
-washboard. Miles of washboard. About 150 miles of washboard
to be exact.
-Lots of turnoffs to get lost on.
-COUNTLESS antelope.
-A number of wild horses.
-Lightning storms.
Lots of lightning storms.
-oh yah…. Only 2 water sources – a well and a reservoir.
So… after the mammoth climb out of Atlantic City, we were
officially beginning this monster. The
first 10 miles were pretty awesome. It
really felt like we were in the desert.
Alone in the wilderness. This
sensation of new territory overcame the anguish caused by the deadly W’s (wind
& washboard).
We filled our water up at the well site, and headed for the
reservoir. The reservoir was 55 miles past the well, making for a 75 mile day
or so in the basin. This may have been
a little unrealistic as we only started moving at 2pm or so after the rack situation
was dealt with (note the foreshadowing…).
We pedaled and pedaled through the sandy road noting
antelope after antelope and gust after gust. We hit a fork in the road and
decided to go left (long story…). We
continued pedaling for 10 km or so until we realized we had made a
mistake. After witnessing a gust blow
Geoff off his bike (not kidding), we decided our only option was to backtrack. All in all this costed us about 20 km of
pedaling and maybe 2 hours (headwind, uphill…).
We got back to the junction, peed on the sign that pointed us in the
wrong direction, then marched on into the sunset. We were about 30 miles short of the reservoir
and short on water at sundown. We sat
down to capture the sunset to relieve some of the stress and decide on a
plan. Conclusion: strap on the headlamps
and begin our first real night ride.
Guided by Geoff’s really strong headlamp, Cam’s moderately
powered lamp, and Jacob’s negligible lamp, we headed for the reservoir. An hour or so of this passed and then
boooooooooooooooooooosh. Down goes Cam.
C fell off his bike pretty good and scraped up his arm and hand. No big deal thanks to the sandy road. As we rode on at a slightly slower pace,
thunderstorms approached us from both left and right. This was actually super awesome. Imagine biking in the pitch black surrounded
by lightning and echoing thunder. As the storms got closer and closer, we
decided it was best to pitch tents at the road side and just bunker down for
the night. We were about 15 miles short
of the reservoir and pretty low on water. We pitched our tents in complete darkness, snacked on some dry food and passed on out.
Beginning of the Basin.
The well.
Sunsets
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