I’m sitting in Thermopolis, Wyoming, in an old Holiday Inn, that has a gun display in the lobby.  My body is sore this morning, but I’m itching to get on my bike today.  Tonight we’ll stop in Casper, Wyoming, 134 miles down the road. 

 

All in all though things are going well, thanks for everyone’s ideas about my flat tires, although a few flats are nothing shocking, what is, is the awful condition of the roads.  The shoulders are full of jagged rocks, trailer spikes, endless broken glass and miles of worthless rumble strips. That said I would say that my bikes have held up well to the brutal punishment.

 

I have been keeping a riding journal, which I intend to share here, although today is not the day. 

 

I will mention that we’ve ridden through nothing short of amazing country.  Idaho blew my mind, Yellowstone was remarkable and peculiar with the last seven miles to the east entrance being the best cycling so far in the trip, all down hill for 3000+ feet at 40 mph.

 

Shortly after we crossed through the North Absaroka Wilderness, part of the Shonshone National Forest where the Gunbarrel Forest Fire coated the sky with an enormous smoke canopy for the remaining 60 miles to Emblem, Wyoming.  It was a stunning sight, incredibly beautiful yet destructive and horrifying, a sight I will not soon forget.

 

Currently I’m thinking about New Orleans, thinking about the future of our country and hoping nothing but the best for every person in this great land. 

 

Best –

 

Pearson

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 31st, 2008 at 9:14 am and is filed under Pearson's Posts from the Road. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.