Overcast and a brisk 53° at 7:00 this morning, felt more like freezing with the wind chill.  Though the wind was only 10 mph, progress was slow, at best, with the wind in our face; it was going to be a long day.

So let’s have a story.

These here parts is antelope country, you know?! If that’s the case, why have we not seen any?  Well (a two-syllable word), we had a tough winter some time back and it killed most of ’em. Surprising, are they not native to this land (climate)?  Long story short, the snow was so bad (over 4 feet high) and the only clear spot was the railroad tracks, so the antelope gravitated there in search for food.  Not a pretty picture!

In the meantime, the sun was painting the clouds and fields with beautiful colors.  The forecast predicted the wind to pick up at ten, it did with a serious punch to the face…..the day was getting brutal.

We biked through beautiful countryside, but with heads down and doing our best to progress in the whipping wind, it was difficult to look around.The long straight rolling hill road offered little respite from the wind, but the overcast skies kept the temperatures at bay.  It sprinkled on us twice, the third time giving way to rain, but the wind was so strong it dried our shirts before the dampness set in.  We stopped at noon (at the only place to stop) for a reload….only 42 miles down and we were beat, but there was no place to stay here OR for the next 30 miles.  After our noon break and reload with sugar and caffeine we encountered trees for the first time all day. We hoped they would protect us from the constant onslaught of wind, but they did not last.  An hour later, we took a break from the wind and to try to encourage our bodies to continue.

Had it not been for the wind, we would have thoroughly enjoyed the scenery.We did our best to try to look at the silver lining of horsesand colorful vistas, kept green from the unusually wet spring they were having.

It was a beautiful day, but we were just struggling to move forward, so we didn’t have the energy to fully appreciate it.  We did manage a few more pictures we’ve posted below.  Made it into town about 4:30, but stopped at MacDonalds for a milkshake before dragging ourselves to the hotel, two miles Up the road.  Luckily, our hotel had a restaurant attached; 72 miles and over eight hours in the saddle, we didn’t even want to walk any more steps than necessary.

Fortunately,