Rob's Big Ride Redux: Day 17, Sheridan to Gillette, 112 miles of pain

Best: Being shuttled through a construction site. That was 2 miles i didn't have to ride

Worst: Bonking between miles 45 to 60

Most Unexpected: The lunch stop was moved from mile 40 to 60 causing the worst above.

Last night we had a great dinner at Terry's fathers RV. They BBQ'd steaks and I had both the filet and ribeye to compare flavors. This caused an extra bathroom break this morning.

Okay, this day was not fun. Started with a wet tent from a heavy dew, took a slight detour in Sheridan getting out of town, and then got going at a pretty brisk pace as the winds were light. We were going really well until mile 40 at the rest stop. I got there just in time to see the van and trailer leaving which is the lunch vehicle. I learned that lunch by consensus had been moved to mile 60ish. This was news to me. I usually eat a farily light breakfast to get me going and then more food at lunch. Not really thinking this through, i grabbed a snack at mile 40 and then around mile 45 noticed I seemed to be going backward. I got dropped from the group, and basically just lowered my head and pretended I was having a bad dream. I somehow got to the lunch stop, said something to Charlton about the surprise, ate, and got going again. By the way, headwinds today at 8-10 mph since mile 40.

After lunch we went 3 miles to a construction site, and still recovering from my lack of food, I was extremely happy to hear we had to get shuttled around the construction. We talked to two Harley riders and I offered to buy their motor for $20. They told us the construction on the road lasted for 10 miles, and now I am jumping with glee. We loaded up the bikes on Gene's Blue Thunder, and rolled 2 miles before it was over. This was enough to get my batteries restarted, and certainly Cathy's batteries on her electric bike as she blazed past us up the road. The scenery in Wyoming is pretty sketchy in this area so I made up the pictures below. They were actually shot on the ride, but in between it was a lot of nothingness with a bunch of g-- d---- hills we had to go up and over. One after another they tried to take us down, and they really did a good job of it.

We finally made it to Gillette to see a lot of coal mine pits, and made it to the local school where we are staying overnight. We have a choice of setting up the tents on the grass area next to the football field, or in the gym. The catch is that the gym is open to the public until 9:00 so if you want to got to sleep in the gym before this you need to prepare yourself for being double dribbled on. (yes I know i ended the sentence with a preposition, but I am really tired) Here's your pictures, leave me alone.