Day 18 (July 7) - Riverton to Casper, WY (120 Miles)

Day 18 was our longest ride at 120 miles.   While we had already done a 117 mile ride (John Day Oregon),  a number of us had a considerable anxiety around this longest ride.  I am slowly learning that you have to take things as they come.   A day isn't necessarily good because it is a short ride or a downhill ride.   A day isn't bad because it's a long ride or an uphill ride.  Some of our best days were the ones we have the most anxiety about.   So it was with the long ride to Casper.

Fortunately we had great weather, a tail wind for most of the ride and some great scenery in antelope country.   Wyoming is our least populous state with some 300,000 people.   Lot's of wide open spaces with very few people.....the deer and the antelope can play with minimal interference. You'll see this in the wide open country in the pics below:


Picking up lunch at Subway the night before the long ride to Casper.  Jon Lynn, if you are following along, many thanks for the SubWay card.   It's the gift that keeps giving.   Subway is my favorite lunch, especially on long ride where there are no stops available.  For the Casper ride, a number of us got foot long Subways (no mayo), stored them overnight in the fridge, then had a great lunch the next day in the middle of the ride.


Another early morning start into the rising sun


Shoshone Lake at Sun-up


An oil well, the first we have seen heading east


Barry (and wet spot) overlooking the vast plains of Wyoming


SAG STop #1 (out in the middle of nowhere)


A Deer along the road in the sagebrush


Antelope in the distance (shy and hard to photograph)


Antelope fleeing as I fumble with the camera


Hell's Half Acre (actually 368 acres).   This is a deep canyon where the Indians stampeded buffalo over the cliff.  Many bones and arrowheads have been found here to confirm accounts of this.  One such successful hunt would provide the entire tribe with enough meat, skins and provisions for the long Wyoming winter


The Marker at Hell's Half Acre


ME at Hell's Half Acre


Bad Bob's (an old bar and antique shop)


The long road to Casper (quiet and peaceful)


Oops!  Out of nowhere comes a semi - gotta watch for trucks


Interesting Wyoming Geology - Coal and Oil in these formations


A broken down old windmill


The FabTech Corp (for any of our U Chicago Followers)


Coming in to Casper (after 120 miles)


The Fly Fisherman Statue on the North Platte in Downtown Caspar


Pulling in to the Ramada at the end of a long and scenic ride

Tomorrow is a rest day - Judi, Mike and Veronica coming to town from Denver.   Yippee!

More Later,

Love to All

ME