Big Ride Day 17

Photos from Day 17

Another cold and crappy start. It seems that whereas we had started out at the beginning of the trip being very lucky with the weather, our luck has finally run out. I rode out with Doug, Eric, and Jim and we were soon changing a flat tire in the rain -- a great start to the day. The scenery was pretty but I didn't really notice it as much today because of the weather. The terrain was partially flat and partially rolling -- not really too challenging. The biggest event of the day was when we finally left Montana. Everyone was really happy to finally leave this huge state since it is a milestone that makes us feel like we are actually making progress. At the state line, there was a van blasting loud music and some of the staff was there, welcoming everyone to Wyoming. Everyone was pulled over and partying it up -- it was a great and fun atmosphere. The party broke up when a huge rain cloud appeared and started heading towards us. We tried to outrun it, but soon pulled over and went into this little bar in Parkdon, WY. In fact, the bar, called Parkdon bar, was the entire town -- the only building. There were a whole bunch of bikers there eating pizza and drinking sodas, waiting out the rain. It was fun talking to the bartender and just hanging out for a while in the middle of the ride.

We finally got tired of waiting and decided to brave the storm. We started riding in the rain but it soon cleared up as the storm passed over us. After that, we had beautiful weather for the remainder of the ride as the storm went on ahead of us. In Sheridan, we are staying tonight at the Fairgrounds, which is used for rodeos and livestock shows and what not. It is a totally different environment than I am used to. I am always amazed when I see there are parts of the US that are focused around raising cattle and rodeos and all that "wild west" stuff. It's really different. As soon as I got to camp it started threatening rain again so I had to get my tent up right away. Then I iced my knees and ate dinner -- not a great meal but OK. The quality of the meals has really been declining lately actually. And there hasn't really been enough to eat either some nights. I hope that trend doesn't continue. After dinner, I had a long talk with Christine and then went to bed.

This page modified November 25, 2000