It was 62° with a cool northwest wind, when we finally left the comforts of our hotel.  A quick navigation through town,over the Yellowstone River and we were in the middle of the country.Small farms were scattered about.

Even with the nice tailwind, we slowly crawled up the mountain.  Wide switchbacks and our 1,000 foot higher vantage point offered gorgeous views and a shot back to town.  Many more rocks and a lot less trees on our long downhill run.  Around a bend, stark trees told the story of a bad fire years ago, though brush had began to bring green back to the hills.We had another smaller climb that dropped us by a thriving farm and only our second cornfield since our start (Marck, this one’s for you).On our first straight stretch, we met Don and his kids, Anders and Julia from Chicago and their friends Mark and Pat from Glendive, Montanaheading to Portland, Oregon.

This straight stretch of road went on forever, again revealing a beautiful soft palette of field grassand beautiful sky.  Prairie dogs greeted us for miles, as we biked along our long road.  We saw no people, one ranchlots of wide open space and ample wild life.It was an absolutely beautiful ridein the middle of nowhere, made that much more enjoyable with our cool northwest tailwind; but still lots and lots of nothing out here!

Twelve miles from town our flat ride became a little more rolling and signs of civilization once again returned.Our stop for the night was a straight shot into town.A few hours rest and then a bike into town for dinner.  Oddly enough, it took us a while to find a place in this two block town, but what a find.  Yes, the Greek salad is Really this big and the pizza can easily compete with Reginos.  It was a wonderful find!

Though this is the lowest altitude (2900 feet) we have been in since arriving in Montana, think we’ve finally adjusted to the thinner air; not so much to the climbing, however.

Fifty three miles done….Good Night!  One last thought(s) for the night….

Fifty seven degrees and sunny when we pushed away just after seven this morning, with a nice breeze coming out of the south; unfortunately, we were heading south; it was going to be a long day in the saddle; maybe a wagon train isn’t such a bad idea.  Picked up our frontage road just out of town, sandwiched tightly between the interstate and railroad.  This would be the day of few pictures, as we were blocked from anything to see by traffic lanes.  We crossed the Big Horn River,lost our pavement for a bitthen made a quick switch to the other side of the interstate, which afforded us better views and took us by a very sobering monument.  The Apsaalooke Veterans Park tells the grim story of an Indian heritage lost.  Shortly down the road was the Battle at Big Horn Museum.

 It was a good time to take a break from the wind, soak in more history and get refreshment at the last food stop before the end of our ride.  Shortly before ten, our road and the railroad unexpectantly split from the highway; the quiet and scenery returned!  This slight turn in the road also served to put the wind just off our right, so the onslaught was slightly tempered; perfect, since the wind had turned up a notch.  We were able to relax slightly and take in the vistas.

It was almost noon and we were suffering from the continuous uphill and battle against the wind.  Almost like a mirage, we saw a grocery store through the trees.  It was a wonderful break for food and cold drink.  Sorry we did not take a picture of the incredible fresh fruit bowl of raspberries, strawberries, bananas and blueberries, but it was consumed too fast to focus.  Leaving from this stop, our course turned a bit more to put the wind just at our shoulder.  With no trees to break the wind, the slight turn was what we needed in order to continue; even the occasional train was welcomed for it’s wind buffering effect.  Our usual afternoon cloud cover did not happen; shade was sought after by all.

At 50 miles, we found a lone tree to take refuge under to enjoy an orange before the gradual climb became much more noticeable.We enjoyed the quick down only to climb again relishing the idea of the next drop that took miles to come.We were jazzed to cross the border and enter a new state,the rain on the distant Big Horn Mountains looking very refreshing.Once again we were saved by an honest to goodness old time bar,proof;not sure we would have made it our last ten miles without it.  Finally we reached our downhill and wind so strong that on the flat road, we were doing 22 mph without pedaling; the wind was howling.  We were still exhausted.  After almost 7 hours in the saddle and 73 miles, we were hungry.   Fried pickles, salad and Chicken Fried Chicken (with gravy) was just the ticket!  On our walk back from dinner, the wind had completely died.

Bedtime!

Sorry, this is a Long post with too many pictures, today!

A beautiful, sunny 64° this morning with no wind.  It was a wonderful start to the day as we biked away from our little town and out into the country.  The flat frontage road this morning was elevated from the railroad, so views abound.  After seven miles, we crossed the interstate to pick up our course on the other side. Though scenic, it was much hillier than our other frontage road and turned to dirt two miles out.  We had to decide to continue on dirt or turn back and ride the interstate.  Not knowing if the flat packed road would deteriorate, we backtracked.  The six mile stretch on the highway was quieter than some of the roads we’d already traveled and the wide shoulder made it comfortable (safe).

We pedaled through the historic town of Sheridan; with plenty places for the tourist to shop and the cowboy to wet his whistle.  We spent far too much time in this cute town, but did manage to gather food supplies for the next day’s ride and grab an early lunch.  When we finally pulled out of town it was really beginning to warm up and there was a breeze coming out of the southeast.  This is when the climbing began, too!  We snaked and climbed, climbed and snaked our way around the hills in the stupendously beautiful valley.With all the climbing, it didn’t “seem” like a valley to us, but that is what the locals call it.  Wildlife abound, can you spot the two deer?Here’s a hint.The snow capped Big Horn Mountains were majestic on the western horizon.   By 1:00 it was 100° in the full sun; we relished the breeze in our face, just for it’s cooling effect and tried to distract ourselves with the lush landscape.  We could have used some of this horse power as we slowly climbed to 4800 feet.  After 18 miles, we were blessed with a cooling albeit short downhill then a flat ride along the Tongue River to our stop – the only place to stay in a over 100 miles.  And what a treat after our hard fought 50 mile day.  The Ranch at Ucross is a beautiful cowboy oasis with the purr-fect hostess! Meet Evil or as LynnBug would say, E-Val.

We tied up our steeds up to our cabin for the night and relaxed like cowboys after a hard day’s work.  When the dinner bell rang (literally), we were ready.  Well fed(Trout Almondine and London Broil) and with proper nightcap, we retired for a long night’s sleep….tomorrow will be a day off!

We know, only ten days riding and a day off…..Slackers.  But between the hills, heat and elevation our bodies need the rest….that is our story and we are sticking to it!

Interesting fact: The entire state of Wyoming has less people (500,000) than the City of Virginia Beach!

Perfect day to take off and enjoy the scenery with the breeze rustling the leaves of the tall trees.  Now if we were on the bike, we would note it as a 20 mph wind in our face, Perfect day to take off.  Being in the middle of nowhere with no T.V. has it’s advantages, when your goal is to rest.  The ranch does offer a lot of outdoor activities; fishing, hiking, swimming, horseback riding, etc.  As much as the idea of a horseback ride across a river and through the hills was Very appealing, it would do the legs no good.  We did manage a close game of horseshoes, though.  After happy hour (dinner bell doesn’t ring until 7:00), we watched the horses enjoying the sprinkling system while Jerry worked on his, “So a horse walks into a bar…..” joke.  It went over pretty well with the audience…….falling down laughing!

Dinner was Ribeye or Salmon Steak finished with Key Lime Torte.  But the best part was our genuine cowboy, Pete, who told us (a wink in his eye) as he served, “I just finished installing a toilet, but I did wash my hands.”  I want to take him and Evil home with me!  Tomorrow, we ride.

Tough to pull away from the beautiful ranch this morning, but we had a long day ahead and needed to get underway.  Our pedal through “town” was dreadful, considering the rush hour of this populous.

We enjoyed the clear, crisp morning as we pedaled past beautiful ranches.  It took only an hour for the temperatures to rise 20 degrees from our 54° start, but the air remained cool.  We followed Clear Creek for a few miles,past large farms; crossed the Powder River and the lush green from our first day in Wyoming was gone; stark barren hills was all we could see.  The deer and antelope (photo hams) still remained and almost outnumbered the cattle.  We did startle one family that took off running; it was amazing to watch their graceful speed as they put distance between us.  The first 20 miles was a delightful ride, flat to almost downhill and still cool.  Then the rolling hills began, almost in stair-step fashion, never really a downhill, just more climbing.  Ran across (not over) our first Live Rattlesnake; we hoped it was not an omen for the day.  We crept along, trying to find the beauty in our surroundings as the thermometer climbed quickly.  At the halfway mark, we stopped for lunch at the Only place available between here and there.  These two were friendlier and more accommodating than the proprietors; guess that’s what happens when you know you are the only game in town.  As much as we were enjoying the air conditioning, we could not linger.

By 1:00, the temperature gauge was in triple digits, an hour later it was 116°.  The temperature was climbing faster than we were.  We longed for cloud cover or shade.  In the distance, we saw a grouping of trees and pedaled for the shade we could rest in, this is what it was once we got there……pretty much the way we felt, too.  Stopping to rest was useless in the searing heat of the sun, any breeze was created by our movement.  We were struggling; the heat was intense and it was sucking out every bit of energy we had.  Our feet screamed to be released from the shoes that keep them locked to the bike.  Our last six miles was dreadful.  Industry filled the landscape and trucks roared by tweaking our frayed nerves.  Ten and a half hours after leaving, we turned into our hotel, happy to have survived, albeit barely.  We were beyond exhausted and not the least bit hungry, but knew we needed the energy that food would (hopefully) provide.  Stumbled across the street to the nearest restaurant, food and drink (a margarita is hydrating, right?) slowly bringing us back to life.  It was the Best Mexican food we’d ever had.  Just under 82 miles, we were done!

Wish we had this three wheeler yesterday; thinking maybe this will be our next touring vehicle.

Ten minutes earlier and ten degrees warmer, when we pulled away from the wonderfully comfortable bed of our hotel.  We felt remarkably refreshed considering the beating we took yesterday.  Gillette, Energy Capital of the Nation, is a quirky town.  Where else would you find a “Rock Pile Museum” and rock/paper/scissors sculpture!  Within two miles, we hit road construction that once again had us on a dirt road.  But most traffic had avoided this stretch because of it, so we had the road almost to ourselves.  It was certainly not a particularly pretty ride, muddy fields a huge electrical plant, an oil field and large rail switching station, but infinitely more enjoyable on the flat road with a nice southwest wind.

Shortly before ten a.m. with 30 miles complete, we ran out of our flat road and climbed a steep hill into Moorcroft.  Though still satisfied from breakfast, we stopped for a rest and a bit of sugar; once again, our one and only available stop for the day.  We knew the second half was filled with climbing, with the worst two climbs at the end; so we left the hillier country road behind and opted for the interstate.  We knew it would be less scenic, but we had not seen much on our earlier stretch, so did not think we would miss much.  The landscape was surprisingly pretty and we were fortunate to find shade in several spots and took advantage of each one.  Though the temperatures had climbed to over 100° by noon, the shade felt like air conditioning.  The rolling hills started off mild,the Black Hills coming into view on the horizon and Devils Tower/Bear Lodge in the distance.  Around a bend in the road, trees and stunning green returned; a refreshing and instant contrast from the past 100 miles.   The scenic distraction helped with our two tough climbs in the last ten miles; the last one to 5089 feet.  A four mile no pedaling downhill into the town of Sundance of Sundance Kid fame,  Arriving before check-in time and with a restaurant across the street, we enjoyed a late lunch.

The sky on our walk to dinner, was very bizarre; thankfully after our leisurely dining, the sky had cleared completely.  We strolled past a very sobering War Memorial to the veterans of Crook County.  This area contributed many souls to every war in recent history.

Sorry for the sober finish to a beautiful day, but we should never forget the scarifies our soldiers made for us, All of us!

It was a beautiful 70° morning as we pedaled through the countryside on very gently rolling hills; for once, more down than up.  By the time we pedaled into the one block town of Beulah, we had dropped 1500 feet; our complacency ended abruptly with a steep, albeit short, climb.  We had pedaled 19 miles by 9:00 a.m., a nice pace we would not maintain.  The up/down rolling became more consistent as the beautiful scenery continued.Jerry adopted a friend, Butch Cassidy (BC for short), who enjoyed a couple mile free ride.  Two hours later we rolled through the quiet end of Spearfish, home to Black Hills State University.  Trees lined the road and homes were neatly kept.  Stopped for an early and leisurely lunch before heading into the hills!  The other side of town was much busier being close to the interstate.  We thought for a good laugh, about jumping on the highway and biking into Strugis (only 17 miles away) for the “biker” rally next week, but decided to continue on our course.   Though our road looked flat and sometimes downhill, it was far from it; just getting out of town was a climb that would not stop.  It was slow progress on a busy road, but the scenery was lush and the sky beautiful.  With many stops to catch our breath, it took us two hours to go 13 miles and climb to 4870 feet.  We were ready to fly down and had just gotten up speed when around the corner traffic had come to a stop.  Turns out the town was throwing a parade for our arrival and we were late;  check out Butch Cassidy.It was perfect, the roads were closed to vehicles, so we slid past everyone and enjoyed the parade.Our drop from the top had been so quick, it not until our walk around town before dinner, that we realized how immensely high Every hill around us was……note the steps.  And then, look at the homes on the hills behind the town; we were doomed, tomorrow.  But in the meantime, we were going to enjoy the town.  First stop was a classic cowboy bar, that we ducked into just before the rain came down (“it never rains in July”).   A little further down the road, the sherif was doing his best to prevent the gunfight that was sure to happen.  But the best part of the evening was an amazing pheasant pasta with sundried tomatoes.  It was worth the arduous 49 mile bike to get here; but next time, we will have it delivered.