Day 44: Rawlins to Medicine Bow National Forest

Ride time: 5:10

Average:  8.8 mph

Distance: 45.58 mi

It was quite awesome to check into a hotel room at 7 AM yesterday and not have to leave until 11 AM this morning.  We slept like champions.  But, that didn't work out well as far as getting an early start goes...

We nabbed a couple of foot longs from the Subway next door to eat for dinner later on tonight and stocked up on food for about 2 days.  Brian, Nate and I set off on pavement with a storm brewing to the north, behind us.  It built up fairly quickly, and after about 25 miles of riding, we had to pitch the rain fly in a cow field because the lightning strikes were getting too close.  We played cards for a bit until the storm passed.  I won, which is a good thing because I'm a horrible loser and I would have been completely unbearable for the rest of the day...

The rain finally stopped, and we set out again.  Unfortunately, the roads were SUPER muddy and our pace slowed to a crawl.  We couldn't go fast enough on the downhills (because it would have been unsafe) to get any momentum to go up the hills. 

Brian and I heading into Medicine Bow NF at sunset

Brian and Nate working on a fire

As soon as we crossed into Medicine Bow National Forest, we picked a spot to camp and pitch the tents, gobbled up our sandwiches, and went to sleep.  We were short about 7 miles of our intended campsite, but that's the way it goes out here.  It will just make tomorrow a bit longer.

Day 6: Sparwood to Fernie

(I forgot to reset the cyclometer)

Ride time: ~3 hours

Average: ? mph (we hauled ass)

Distance: ~20 mi

It was a quick but chilly ride into Sparwood this morning, and much to our dismay, the library is closed on Mondays.  Lame.  We found a place to eat breakfast and decided to book it to Fernie, a short 20 mile ride.  It was actually a pleasant ride after I got a flat and took 40 minutes to repair it.  Ed and I patched the flat while Nate changed the tube.  At least it wasn't raining, eh?  I love Canadians.

Just as an aside, Hwy 3 from Sparwood to Fernie is a miserable road--it's a narrow shoulder, trucks hauling wicked smelling livestock OR giant trees are flying by and really could care less that there are bikers on the shoulder, and there's tons of debris, which is how I probably got a flat...

The three of us drafted off each other quite a bit on the ride since there was a significant head wind.  I felt a bit like the Tour de France riders.  It was about noon when we pulled into Fernie.  Nate and I are staying at the Powder Mountain Lodge for $59 a night.  They have laundry on the premises and Nate talked the guy into letting us bring the bikes into the room, stating that he'd clean them up first (and man, do they ever need cleaning--the mud is everywhere).

Cleaning up the bikes