Mood:  energetic

It's just amazing what a full belly and a good night's sleep does for one's demeanor!  Today was going to be a piece of cake.  I was riding to Rawlins, 66 miles away, a fair sized town by Wyoming standards, around 9,000, and the county seat.  There would be lots to do there and I planned to take Wednesday off.

Furthermore, I rose early, had a large breakfast at the cafe, and had the new owner, who by now was warming up some, make me a lunch-to-go.  I ordered 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, a bag of potato chips, candy bar, and a can of pop.  $4.50.

Since the winds can be capricious it is smart to start early since they really pick up in the afternoon.  I was on the road by 7:15 AM.  Would have been earlier, but I had an interesting conversation with a railroad inspector.  The road was straight, the wind non-exhistent.  This was going to be a good day!

The wind started around 8 AM and continued all day.  It was mostly from the side but there was quite a bit of headwind.  How can the wind blow at 20-30 mph that early in the morning?  It made for a long, tiring day of pedalling. 

Heretofor, I had come across a dozen or so westbound bicyclers.  Today, I met nine more in four separate groups.  It is customary to stop each time swap information.  It is important and a courtesy, but it added 45 minutes to the day's riding.

The scenery was still very pretty.  It is true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  If you don't care to look for it, you won't find it.

I got passed by three young riders who were nearing the end of their third 100 mile (fully loaded) day.  They passed me like I was standing still.

I took a few pictues of landscape that I thought was interesting.  I also took a photo of Split Rock (thus the Split Rock Cafe and Bar).  It was a mountian with a clear, deep cleft in it that could be seen by travelers for several days away.  It was used as a landmark by the Indians, the Oregon Trail travelers, the Mormons and the Pony Express riders.

About ten miles out of Rawlins, the accumulating skies decided that they were carrying too much moisture, and decided to drop some.  It wasn't bad.  In fact it felt good, as long as the lightning kept its distance.

Rawlins is not what I had expected.  It can be disorienting to enter a strange city, and Rawlins is in the middle of a major downtown street project.  I was curious as to why lodging, that I had checked on the interet, was so expensive.  It seems that there is a shortage of apartment housing, so the smaller, cheaper motels offer weekly and monthly rentals, thus driving up the prices of the nice places.  One decent place was $90/night, and the rest were over $100.  I found a not-so-decent one for $59/night. 

I was tired.  Was I tired because of the head and crosswinds?  Was it the fact that this was my fifth straight day?  Either way, I was going to enjoy my evening, and walked across the street for dinner.  When I returned the power had gone out for a several block area.  No big deal.  I've got Ivanhoe on my MP3 player (thank you, Andy).  After a half hour of listening, its battery went dead.  I had forgotten to charge it up.  So my evening was spent reading and doing the crossword puzzle (with a headlamp) the entire Rawlins newspaper, including legal notices, obituaries, and classified ads.

Tomorrow would be different.  I was going to see what makes this town tick.  They are supposed to have a nice museum, and they have an interesting tour of an old Penetentiary built around the turn of the century.

Sleep came slowly.

Will McMahan