Casper, Wyoming - Day 18 +19

Said a sad early morning good-bye to Ward. It was so nice to have him ride with us and meet some of our America by Bike friends. He set off for home in the Focus as we rode off into the rising sun toward Casper. Not only is Casper a mere 120 miles from Riverton, we had predictions of  high temperatures, high winds, thunderstorms, lightning and tornadoes. Yikes, we both thought we'd better just get'er done ASAP. Luckily we had great cloud cover for the first part of the ride and it never got too hot. The wind picked up after the first SAG, but we had Richard to take turns pulling. Between the second and third SAG we were joined by the really speedy riders and had a pace line going. It helped to break the 20 mile an hour headwind and meant we didn't have to pull as often, but at the third SAG the Antiques had to call Uncle. We rode into Casper with Jordan, Rosy and Richard who didn't abandon us. When we were about 15 miles from Casper we had a welcome sight --Dennis and Cate in the Volvo. Fortunately, they took some pictures because all we did was, ride, eat and drink.The landscape was Wyoming desert plateau sprinkled with a few towns with populations of 44 or 10. We beat the 30 mile and hour winds, the lightning, and the rain to the hotel! The tornadoes decided to hold off. We thought it was the hardest day yet, are glad to have a rest day tomorrow, and are a bit apprehensive about what Wyoming is going to throw at us on the 106 miles we have to do next.


Day 18
Miles: 120
Elevation Gain: 3,051 feet
Total Miles: 1358
Next Stop: Lusk, Wyoming


Link to Mimi's Garmin

Rolling into Casper -Mimi, Polly, Rosy,
Jordan and Richard

Polly looking good after 120 miles of headwinds

Almost 120 miles down, 120 feet to go

We might look good,but we feel like
 !@#$%

Day 19 - Rest Day
We had a leisurely breakfast with Cate and Dennis. Then it was off to the races. Dennis chauffeured and Cate navigated to Walgreens, Bubbles laundry, Cup-a-Joes, Bubbles, Walgreens, Ken and Betty's Ice Cream Shop, Walgreens, Vitamin Cottage, Walgreens, and Wal-mart. By the time we had sunscreen, plastic bags, eye drops, laundry detergent and 5 new tank tops for $10, Simple Green, bag balm and everything else we kept forgetting we were definitely on a first name basis with Shirley at Walgreens and we thought they might sponsor us. Between trips to Walgreens we fit in massages. For some reason we felt more sore afterwards, but we managed to hobble into Casper for a delicious meal at Botticelli's, a lovely Italian restaurant. Now the Antiques are packing up and psyching up for more fun in Wyoming tomorrow.

SO great to see Dennis and Cate. Please note the
new head gear.

Will we love Saturday? 106 miles...Stay tuned

Getting ready -Soaking tired legs

The other end