Big Ride - Day 16 - Hardin, MT to Sheridan, WY

Rides shorter than 90 miles are becoming pieces of cake now.

Rode most of the day with Ruben, shooting the shit and talking about how life seems to have changed in what we value as important now. For those reading this, the consensus among the riders I've talked to is: tailwinds, food, ice cream, pools/hot tubs/lakes/other bodies of water we can relax in, more food.

Montana is getting boring and we're glad to be leaving it. To pass the time Ruben and I played a chasing game with Noah, Simon, and Stephen. We let them ride ahead for about 3/4th of a mile, while we kept our speed around 10 mph. Then we chased them down, sling shoting off each other to pass them and make it to the rest stop that was coming up with in the next 1 to 1.25 miles.

Side note: I'm not sure if this is a technical term, but we referred to it as sling shotting... where we would ride in a pace line and the back guy would would sling shot around out of drafting to increase in front of the next guy. The now following rider would rest for a few seconds and sling shot again.

We easily got our speeds up to around 30mph to chase down the other group and pass them before the stop.

The lunch stop was cool. Usual PB&J, some cookies, and chips. Bonus for the stray puppy dog that hung out with us. It really like Ash and Paulina as it ran after them, trailing their ride for the next 2-3 miles. Noah and Simon were nice enough to bring the dog back.

Later we passed into Wyoming and got the usual "pose in front of the state" sign. Wyoming's country side is great. Lots of big rolling, grassy hills. It's odd to see cows grazing on such steep hills though.

Stopped at a bar for lunch #2 with Ruben, Stephen, Bob and Darrell. I got some pictures of their great foosball table. To the guys at Orbitz: I told you I'd find one. Unfortunately there wasn't any locals to hussle out of money though. Other highlight of the bar was Sugar: the black lab puppy. I have some cute pictures of rough housing with her while waiting for our pizzas.

After the bar I felt great and found out Jim, who was on the horizon, was chasing down Doug to try to meet him before camp. Jim is a very strong rider, so I thought "what the hell" why not chase him down... it'll make for a good race. After probably 5-7 miles and doing 28-30mph (shout out to the minor tailwind for the help) I caught him. He informed me that he was having an "average" day after I told him I was feeling great and why I chased him down. I was humbled, as usual.

Rolled into camp and did the usual tent stuff. Took a nap. Biked into town to get new bar tape. It's white now, which means I'll go faster (bike joke for those that don't ride). Hit up the hot tub in camp. Dinner was Domino's. Camp had an ice cream party (free dessert!). Now it's time for bed.

Final Ride Stats

Mileage:

89.40 miles

Time:

5:08'34

Avg Speed:

17.38 mph

Max Speed:

35.0 mph