Two Mates, Two Bikes, & 2800 Miles to Mexico : Day 28

Trip Overview

This blog will follow two totally inexperienced bikepackers, Geoff and Cam, and their journey from Banff to Mexico via the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. The route follows the Continental Divide, exposing riders to high altitude, diverse wildlife, and solitude. To learn more about the route, check this out. Randy will be the official bookie so get in touch with him if you'd like to place a wager on how far we will actually make it.

In the mean time, you can track our progress here thanks to our SPOT device.

This will be a site where we will try our best to post some pictures and stories along the way. Happy reading!

Thursday, 31 July 2014

Day 28 - Road Side to Rawlins

We woke up to learn that our blind tent setup worked out just fine. We weren’t on the road or on top of any rattle snakes. Not having much water and still an appreciable distance to the reservoir, we forewent breakfast and tried to beat the heat to get to the water. On the way, we were fortunate enough to see our first group of wild horses. That was pretty neat.

We were very excited to get to the reservoir to fill up, eat brunch, and have a swim. Unfortunately the wind prevented us from doing all but 1 of those tasks. Too cold and windy to swim, and definitely to windy to cook. We filled up our water, took a look at the map, and planned an alternate. There was a restaurant 15 miles off course or so where the dirt road met the highway. Starving and reluctant to pedal directly into the headwind, we opted for this route. We made it in record time with the tailwind only to find out this ‘restaurant’ had been shut down for years. This caused a bit of a panic. No water, no way of cooking, and a very windy 30 miles to the next town. We managed to mooch some water off a nearby (the only) house. With spirits pretty low, we went for Rawlins. Of course, Rawlins was located in the exact direction of the high winds.

A long time later, we arrived in Rawlins – certainly not a vacation destination for any of you reading this. This town boasted relentless winds, no trees, and lots of oil. There was, however, a bright light in Rawlins. The first golden arches in 100’s of miles. After pitching the tents, we pedaled to McDic’s and treated ourselves to the dollar menu.

Geoff also got to pick up his new rack and all was good (besides the fact we were in Rawlins, Wyoming). Instead of hanging out at the picnic table that evening, we were forced to powwow in Cam’s tent so it wouldn’t blow away.