2015-07-07 Day 9: The Thunder Rolls, Saratoga to Rawlins, WY
Post date: Jul 7, 2015 10:30:00 PM
Miles Today: 51. Total Miles: 418
My apologies to Garth Brooks for stealing his song title but it seemed appropriate for today. We got to riding today by 7:30 looking to get another 70 mile day behind us. However, upon arriving here at Rawlins at noon, we were warned by several store clerks who saw us in full riding gear that there were thunderstorms coming in from the Northwest along with lightning, thunder, and flooding. By the time we found more gas canisters for the stove and had eaten lunch at a place out on the edge of town, we saw the dark clouds highlighted by lightning to the north. It looked a bit ominous. We happened to ride right by a lady at the Tourist Office who volunteered to pull up the weather radar. It showed several bands of storms moving across the state. We decided to ride on but the wind and rains hit us hard less than 1 mile out. Jon was 20 yards ahead of me hunkered down in his rain gear looking determined. It's now 2:00, it's pouring rain, and I am thinking about what the next 3 hours will be like in these storms. I lost my will to continue and pulled up to tell Jon I had changed my mind. We opted to check in at the Days Inn here in Rawlins rather than ride another 44 miles in the rain and then camp in the Wyoming sagebrush with everything all wet.
As a side note, I had my first mechanic issue on this entire ride from Virginia all to way to here. Today, I got a flat tire on the only section of the entire TransAmerican route that is on the Interstate. I think I got jinxed by a guy last night in camp. After I told him what we were doing, he was dumb founded and asked "What do you do if you get a flat?" I told him, we would fix it. And that is what I did today.
We have talked with other TransAmerican riders everyday of this trip. While in Rawlins we got the heads up from some east bound riders that we are headed into an area of the state with almost no services. The landscape looks like the pic above. Options for food, water, and shelter have been very limited in the American west and even more so here in Wyoming. We already knew this from our ride maps. However we found out that some of the campgrounds listed on the map have been closed. Tomorrow, we will target a church that allows riders to stay in Jeffrey City 66 miles out.
I understand that it has been hot in Portland. We have had the exact opposite weather. It has been cool with a few days in the 80(s) and several days with highs in the 70(s). While we were worried about heat on this trip, so far after 9 days we have had perfect temperatures.
Finally, if any of you are wondering if the elusive Jackalope actually exists....here is the photo proof.
