Day 43: A&M Reservoir to Rawlins

Ride time: 4:50

Average:  11.5 mph

Distance: 55.94 mi

We did it--we rode into Rawlins, WY at 5:30 this morning!

After getting about 3 hours of sleep before we got out of the tent at 11 PM, we packed up and were on the road just after midnight.  I was definitely hesitant about this plan, but went with it anyway.  We had about 13 miles of dirt road to ride before we hit pavement, and the first couple of miles were pretty freaky.  My senses were super heightened, and I was very, very awake.  Our Ay-Up lights lit the way quite nicely and the road was very smooth.  There was lightning due south of us, but we couldn't even hear the thunder, so we were safe.  Jackrabbits were bounding in front of our bikes; they must be nocturnal.  One ran down the road with us for a good minute, trying to find a good spot to duck out into the sage brush.

Night riders

It was super weird not knowing what was around us.  I'm sure there were cows and pronghorn that were watching us, but we certainly couldn't see them.  The moon was a waning gibbous, but we lost its light about halfway through the ride when the clouds covered it up.  It was a comfortable 65 degrees the entire ride, and we had a slight tailwind the whole time.  We crossed the divide (#18) as we took the highway into Rawlins.  The sun was just coming up with its pink and orange sky as pulled into Penny's Diner just before 6 AM, making our 24 hour total about 125 miles.

After a very quiet breakfast (the three of us were shoveling food into our mouths), we were on our way to America's Best Value Inn to check into a hotel room, when we spotted Jerry's Donuts.  We stopped in and instead of getting one donut a piece, we ended up walking out with 12 day-old donuts for $3.  Actually, we walked out with nine because we obviously ate one a piece in the store.  FYI-the box was empty when we went to sleep that night.  I love eating, and this trip has allowed me to eat at least 5 burgers a week with fries, plus dessert after every meal.  I'm going to have to seriously retrain myself to eat right when we get home.

Jerry's Donuts at 7AM!

Future GDR Riders: The night ride was awesome, and the fact that there was hardly any traffic on this ride along with the great roads and easy terrain, made this one a good one.  Besides, we beat the heat!