Day 4, Tuesday 8/4
Our bus pulls into Rawlins, Wyoming at about 5pm and we are itching to run off, get our bikes, and put them together to hopefully get a few more miles in to make up for what we lost. We feel confident as we have had to self teach how to take them apart and put them back together way too many times now, but Emily is having issues with her breaks, I have 2 knots in my chain and can't get my front rack (to hold my bags) back on. After an hour of problem solving, Emily has fixed her brakes, but I am not making any progress. I go to the gas station nearby and inquire about a bike shop. The response- "Well, Walmart is at the next exit and they sell bikes..." I find out that the nearest bike shop is over 100 miles away. Back outside to the bikes. Three hours, 2 YouTube videos, and 4 hands black with grease later, we have dismantled my chain, taken out the knots, and put the chain back together. HUGE moment. However it's now 8:30 at night, it's dark, we are starving and exhausted and still have to figure out my front rack. I explain to Emily that we will not be camping tonight, we will be taking advantage of the oh so beautiful America's Best Inn next door, and beeline there to beg for a room. Success. On the walk back, 3 guys sitting on the curb let me know that they are mechanics and have been watching us the whole time to make sure we are ok. Thanks guys, thank you SO much.
We wheel our bikes into our room, wash our faces, and bike 5 minutes to County 6, the only place- we are told- that we can find a beer. This hidden gem is not quiet on a Tuesday night and we are quickly and warmly welcomed by all sorts of locals to a game of dice. I lost, and I lost bad, but I got a lot of fantastic life stories, as well as compliments on my teeth. Unfortunately, we are both over served, and need to exit laughing the whole way home on our bikes.
Day 5, Wednesday 8/5
We wake up to hurricane of tools, bikes, and snacks surrounding us. The saw piece of our pocket knife has remnants of avocado on it and we are immediately ashamed that we got into our snacks at the end of last night. Also, I notice that a cut on my arm has become even more infected and start to worry. Within 2 hours, we have packed up the bikes, reveled in showers, mapped our route, and are headed to the local pharmacy where my unnamed, most amazing friend, had called in a prescription for me for antibiotics. We are soon on our way from Rawlins with the goal of riding 44 miles to Muddy Gap, Wyoming. Our map tells us that there is a stop halfway in Lamont where we can find a cafe. 33 miles later, we land in Lamont. There is one building to be found- the Anna Lope Cafe- and it is boarded up and closed down. We are out of water and 11 miles from our destination. Within minutes, a truck pulling a trailer stops. Emily bikes over and finds Mike, 3 chocolate chip cookies in one hand and a caffeine free Coke in the other. "Looks like wind from here on out huh?" Mike says. Emily responds by asking for water. We hang with Mike, he gives us plenty of water and 2 gatorades, and shares some great life stories. Anecdotes about the local terrain, the story of how the love of his life recently passed, his recent venture helping a friend and working on trains. He is a great guy to meet in the middle of nowhere and we are so grateful for him.
We take off and reach Muddy Gap which consists of one gas station. $10 gives us a muddy piece of land to set up camp behind the gas station and access to the convenience store bathroom, wifi, and electrical outlets. We stretch, set up our tent, and clean ourselves up. We find a seat in front of the gas station where we intend to watch the sunset, but find a nonstop flush of motorcyclers stopping for gas and chatting with us. Our evening ends, yet again, on a high note as we meet even more fantastic people- Shack Cycles- if you figure out how to get on this blog and read it- you were my favorite.