Distance: 18.5 mi, Climbed: 456 ft
Completed: 2,761.5 mi, 126,177 ft
The plan for today was a short 18-mile ride to Saratoga. Joanna and I were originally planning on a rest day, but we decided to knock off a few miles of tomorrow’s ride today to make tomorrow’s ride easier given the forecast is back to the high 90s.
Since we did not have many miles planned, we took a lazy morning. Yesterday, we received a recommendation from a local woman to eat breakfast at the 307 Pub. It also gave us an excuse to walk around and see a bit of the town. The 307 was packed with people. We had a nice breakfast and headed back to our hotel.
On our way out, we ran into Sidewinder and Weasel. That is, of course, not their real names. Those are their trail names. They are hiking the Continental Divide Trail. They hike about 25 miles per day. They also enjoy bicycling. But, they said they are hiking more these days as they have had seven bikes stolen off the back of their car in five years. Talk about bad luck. We talked about gear and some of the differences between hiking and biking cross country. Their home base is Arkansas, but they have been living for short periods in different states just to see the country. Sounds like fun.
Today is our first full day biking in Wyoming. For most of the ride, we had the Snowy Mountains on our left and the Sierra Madres on our right. They could not have been more different. On our left were bare, rocky hills where the white soil was often visible. On our right was a lush valley with snow-capped mountains towering in the distance.
About ten miles in, we stopped to put on some more sunscreen. Mariann and Hemant pulled up with their daughter Kiyan and their dog Bruno. It was time for Bruno’s walk. Turns out they are also heading to Seattle, but by car. They are taking two weeks to drive cross country from Atlanta to their new home in Seattle. They work remotely and want to raise their daughter in the Emerald City. They have rented a place in the Queen Anne neighborhood. We wish them the best in their new home.
Then, in a few more miles, it happened. A couple pulled up behind us who is also riding the TransAmerica Trail. This is the first other couple we have seen on the ride and the first woman. Holly and John are from Connecticut, and they are riding the traditional TransAmerica Trail. We rode together for a few miles, but they were clearly faster. So, we agreed to meet for dinner later that night.
We picked a local Italian restaurant for dinner. When we arrived, we discovered that they were booked, and there were no tables available. Crazy, we have not run into a full restaurant since we left New York. Our luck, in America’s least populous state, we cannot get a table. Fortunately, we found a good Mexican restaurant around the corner. It was really nice to have dinner with such nice people with so many shared experiences.
Hello! hope you are doing well – any reason for the gap in daily blogs?