Today was 50 miles on really tough roads roller-coastering at high elevation(8-9k). I rode from about 8am to 3:30, with 5 hours on bike.
Today was an interesting one. I thought it'd be easier, since I did something like 10 miles of today's ride yesterday, including a 4 mile climb, but it wasn't. It was a damn good thing I did more yesterday, in fact. A big part of it was the roads, but it was also hot, and somewhere nearby there is a fire, so I got a my first good taste of spicey fog (smoke) on this trip.
I'm not sure where the fire is, the winds were out of the south, but when I looked back at the pass I climbed yesterday and the valley I crossed, the entire thing was socked in with smoke, and when I descended the south side of the high alpine roller-coaster that I rode on for most of today, the smoke cleared. I think I maybe dodged a big bullet by hitting the Teton area when I did.
I can ride in spicey fog - I did for many days back in 2015 and am even carrying a smoke mask, but it ruins the views and isn't very fun.
About 35 miles from here is Pinedale, mostly paved, and a slight downhill, and I was hoping a tailwind would show up and push me there today - but alas when I arrived at Whiskey River, beaten hard by the rough roads and climbs, it was a headwind, so I decided to not torture myself with an 85 mile day.
I saw a ton of other riders today! A Nobo father/son team from Eugene and Portland who've been on the road for about a year, a group of five nobos who started at the border, two more nobos who started in Steamboat Springs, and Pam and Walter, South Bounders who I am camped with tonight.
The Nobo's were very useful, as I am entering the Wyoming Basin, where water is VERY hard to find. In fact, it's the driest part of the Divide except for some parts of the New Mexican desert. The Nobos were able to tell me what rivers were dried up, what reservoirs have water, and help me decide if I should bypass Rawlins or not.
Here's the deal: Rawlins, on I80 in Wyoming, has a lot of fracking around it right now and word is there is a lot of truck traffic even on the dirt roads. The Tour Divide race people have a GPS track out that bypasses it, but there is no water along that route and I'm unsure where it rejoins the regular route. Many of the nobo riders didn't even know about it, and told me truck traffic wasn't that bad. The one group that did take the bypass went 100 miles without water, but did it overnight so it was easier.
I'm going to skip the bypass and go with known water stops since the trucks apparently weren't that bad. But, until today, my plan was very different. Thanks Nobos!
When I got to camp Pam and Walter were already there, having done a shorter day. They were friendly so I asked if we could share a campsite and the campsite fees. We had a great time talking all about stuff. They are from San Diego, Pam runs a bike shop and Walter is retired, and they've bike toured a ton. It was really nice to hang with them this afternoon.
We are both staying in Pinedale tomorrow, what I here is a cool cowboy town. It's a short day, 35 miles, so I'll get in early and be able to charge my batteries (my solar panel is useless) and do route planning for the basin. They will be in a B&B, but we may meet up later. If a tailwind shows up I'll be tempted to go father, but I'm limited by water stops, so father would be 10 more miles to a crappier town, or something like 50 or 60 more miles. If I keep this schedule, however, I get to the Denver area with one day to spare, so why not chill? (because it's a sin to waste a tailwind)
Tonight there are thunderstorms afoot! Wyoming, btw, is pretty damn sweet once you get off I80.
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