Day 48 - Lander, WY

The second hardest day of the trip came not with huge climbs or blistering heat, but rather with mostly downhills. The challenge was pedalling into a 20-25 mph headwind for 85 miles. The wind was so strong it would actually stop me on a downhill less than 3 percent grade. I struggled with my speedometer in single digits for large parts of the day. The noise of the wind against my ears gave me a headache by the afternoon. After almost 9 hours in the saddle, way too long to be enjoyable, I finally made it to Lander heading straight into McDonalds, the first opportunity for food in 60 miles.





I kept my head down for most of the day, ignoring the scenery except for one glorious stretch beginning at the continnental divide called beaver rim. The snow capped Wind peaks extendending to 13,000 feet visible off in the distance as the local summits exposed ancient red and beige rock. I began a 12 or so mile decsent, flying into the valleys bellow trying at one point to video my ride in the strong crosswind blowing me around the road. I hit 30 mph and finally felt alive again.

Lander is a hard drink town. Whiskey and cokes, a shot of jack, martinis, all ordered in the breeze of a Saturday afternoon. There is a younger crowd attracted by prodigious nearby mountain climbing and the NAOL school headquarters . In the span of an hour I had talked to two different people who had hiked the whole of the Appalachian Trail.

Mixed in the fray at Gannet grill were Eric and claudia sitting at the edge of the bar having a warm up drink before returning to the Eric's 54 year highschool reunion. They both grew up in lander and were curteous in their account of how the town had changed since they were kids as they were served drinks from a 20 year old in short shorts with a tattoo running from her armpit down to her ankle. "Some towns don't make it out here." Eric explained.

Location:Caring Way,Lander,United States