June 26 – Lander to Jeffrey City, Wyoming – 68 miles June 27 – Jeffrey City to Rawlins, Wyoming – 56 miles

Anne-Renee here, writing one entry for 2 days (due to lots of visitors, photos will be added later)

Biking: Though no longer in the land of spectacular scenery, there are plenty of beautiful landscapes as we move south through Wyoming.   Outside of Lander lots of stops to take in striking painted hills and red canyons with the Wind River winding along. No time for the “Johnny Behind the Rock” trail where there was concern about invasive plant species so hikers were asked to wipe feet carefully on the way in and out of the trailhead.  In Sweetwater valley, Split Rock stood out; we could see why it made a good landmark for travelers before SR287 was built.  <photo-best Split Rock view>

Several long climbs including a 6% grade, crossing and re-crossing the Continental Divide at lower elevations as we move south.  We don’t even pause for the divide photo ops now – Michael says he is holding out for Hoosier Pass at 11,531 feet in Colorado to make a fuss about! <photo – best Wind Mountain view>

Riding conditions were variable these two days.  I suspect that like me, most drivers are pretty unconscious of the shoulders as they speed down the road but for bikers the shoulders can make or break the ride.  During this part of the ride, there were rumble strips at the edge of the shoulders to alert drivers if they stray over the line, not so wonderful for bikers.  Some shoulders were wide, some very narrow, lots with melting tar that Gloria pointed out felt like it could swallow the tires. When passing lanes are added to the road, it is usually at the expense of the shoulder.  The 3 riders deal with shoulders differently – one generally remains inside the line, no matter how narrow, one rides in the road as much as in the shoulder, and the third moves between the line and shoulder.  No doubt these differing strategies reflect something about the personality of the riders!  Fortunately most vehicles move over when they near bikers, except for a harrowing 10 mile stretch of 2 lane highway with narrow shoulders, tar, 70 mile speed limit, lots of traffic, rude honking drivers that riders unanimously identified as the worst stretch of the trip.  Hopefully that record will hold the rest of the way across country.

Wildlife: Also somewhat less spectacular than in the parks but there seems to be relief that bear spray was not called into service.  Michael has become a quite adept spotter of deer, and now we have determined that like the bison, they are actually not deer at all but pronghorn antelopes. One even dropped by the hotel to see him but unfortunately he was at breakfast.  Also lots of cows, ravens and other birds that we can’t identify. <photo – best antelope picture>

There is one type of wildlife that we are less fond of and had plenty of encounters with during this stretch of the trip.  Suffice it to say that all earlier squeamishness about pesticide use went to the wayside when we met the mosquitos of Jeffrey City and surrounding areas and DEET became our best friend. <photo – DEET>

Good Samaritans:  If only Americans behaved the same at home as on the road.  On Sunday, we had two good Samaritan experiences when Michael and later I stopped on the side of the road and drivers pulled over to see if we were okay or needed help.  As life would have it, we had the chance to reciprocate.  We met a young Japanese man who was riding from Anchorage to California, took a detour though Wyoming, Colorado and Utah because he heard the national parks were beautiful.  After finding that the only restaurant in Lamont had closed, he joined us for a tailgate lunch in the parking lot.  He started to ride off with his somewhat unusual gear, but discovered a punctured tire and had to unload his bike to fix it.  We didn’t want to leave him alone so Michael rapidly went through the steps of a classic Keegan intervention – 5 minutes of observation with characteristic fidgeting, advice, and assistance, then 40 minutes of Michael successfully fixing the flat with a little help from the young man.  To keep from getting too far behind, Gloria and then Eric took off while SAG vehicle waited in the repair shop to be sure no ride was needed.  <photos-bike repair, young man next to packed bike>

Normally the riders stay within a mile of each other but in this case it was an unusual SAG afternoon, with our 3 riders spread far apart, keeping an eye out for the 4th, lots of zooming back and forth on the road into Rawlins.  The Holiday Inn Express was a welcome sight when riders and SAG all arrived safely later than usual but well before dark.

SAG observations-small towns: Our last few days were spent in towns with populations ranging from 8 families (Muddy Gap) to 9500 (Rawlins).  One of the larger small towns, Lander, seems economically healthy and still has businesses that have died out in the cities – Radio Shack and Ace Hardware both thriving in absence of big box competitors.  

Jeffrey City (pop 50) is another story.  Though the church is open to bikers who can stay for free in a large room with facilities, we oldsters opted for the more luxurious Green Mountain Motel, run by Lisa and Kevin for the past 4 years.  Lisa and Kevin were gracious, warm, welcoming hosts; how fortuitous to find Lisa wearing a t-shirt with the logo “Life is Great” when we arrived! Our basic rooms were clean and spacious with microwave, fridge, wonderful new toilets and the added plus of an internal door between them so we didn’t have to brave the mosquitos for our informal happy hour.  In addition to plying us with water, Lisa even spared Michael one of his daily duties and did our laundry. <photos – hotel, Lisa in t-shirt>

We just missed the summer solstice celebration at the bar by one night – prime rib, ribspotato, salad and all the beer you can drink for $15.95.  However after a tip from Lisa on the available food (she does books, cooks, and waits tables at the restaurant on the side), we had a good dinner provided by the new waitress and cook Taylor, who started working in the restaurant about 3 weeks ago.  We wondered why a young person would move to Jeffrey City – Taylor’s husband got a ranching job locally so they moved to be close to his job.  She said it was nice living there even though they had to juggle a bit to get by when the nearest grocery store is 60 miles away.  Seems like it may be even tougher in winter when the road in and out of town sometimes closes if the snow is too heavy.

Kevin was nice enough to answer lots of my questions about the town. A uranium mining boom led to growth of the town to >6000 residents, followed by a bust in 1982 from which the town never recovered.  Now a resident describes Jeffrey City as a “living ghost town” where people are just hanging on. The only commercial ventures include a few ranches, a man who makes self-proclaimed “bad ass” pottery, a motel, a bar/restaurant and a gas station. Being approximately 60 miles in each direction from the nearest towns, these businesses depend on the summer bikers and temporary workers to keep going.  The local school is only K-6 with 6 students; from 7th grade onward they have to make the 70 mile trek to Lander.  As residents left, houses were moved to other towns and the post office became a post office box with a postmaster to sort the mail.  Some recent work has started reclaiming the abandoned uranium mines, providing a few monthly renters at the motel and a long shot hope that the mines might open again despite “too many regulations”.  Despite the dire straits of the town, folks find it a great place to live with peace, quiet, beautiful country and probably a degree of neighborly support unattainable in the larger towns and cities.  We weren’t able to visit Green Mountain Park about 10 miles off road, but I suspect it would be a nice side trip. 

Kevin also showed us his hunting equipment – his assalt rifle, with salt for ammo, used to pulverize insects.  <photo – Kevin shooting assalt rifle>

SAG observations-Black people: Gloria and I visiting Wyoming is a significant impact on the Black people census.  Since my arrival a week ago, I’ve seen 3 fisherman from Wisconsin and Georgia, a woman with a tourist bus in Yellowstone, one guy at breakfast.  Gloria noted some workers in a couple of the hotels too, but definitely less than 10 black folk aside from us. I was so surprised when we walked into the Aspen House restaurant (great food btw) to find 4 black men dining at tables that a “wow, am I still in Wyoming?” escaped without thought and one of the guys responded by saying “I know exactly what you mean”. Turns out they are oil/gas geologists from Nigeria on a field trip visiting Wyoming to check out production methods here.  They asked why we thought there were so few “Africans” in Wyoming – our guesses were no slavery in this area, no big cities to attract the “great migration” after the Civil War and WW2, and the tough winters.  

As usual we are heading out bright and early tomorrow, still a bit tough for the “not a morning person” SAG.  I’m getting the hang of these early days but still not quite as chipper as the rest of the gang. <photos – ready to go, Jeffrey City>

I’m signing off – have to head back to Jackson and Atlanta to attend to my other life.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my part of the bike trip, spending time with Gloria, Michael, and Eric, very glad I was able to come.  In sum: Black people – you are missing out, Wyoming is a beautiful state to visit.  Folks on the fence about joining the trip, get your patooties in motion, opportunity knocks.  And of course, life is great.