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Saturday, June 26, 2010
Idiots in WY
This is an employees vehicle...she is older.
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Friday, June 25, 2010
Day 20
I knew I wanted to get to Douglas, WY today (yep that’s closer to NE) and that meant it would be a long day. I started out early (8 a.m.) and it took nearly 1 hr to get out of Casper (It is about 8 miles long). I reached Glenrock, WY around noon and decided I would eat here and rest. I ate at a nice Pizza joint that eventually had no sitting room left. When I got out of the restaurant I decided that I should probably wait before I get back on the bike and so I layed inside a little rotunda. It was super nice because the concrete was still cold from the night before and it was in the shade. I was just going to relax there but then I heard little kids and realized I actually took probably a 1 hr nap there. Ooops, but it was a good nap! I stocked up on the water and started biking again around 3 p.m. I had a giant hill to climb and then got to Rolling Hills (yea that’s a town) and met the same gas attendant I had last time. I started biking again and thought I was going the right direction/on the right road until I started not remembering the highway being so curvy. Then I looked over the other hills and saw what I knew was the right highway. I am still unsure how many miles that little error cost me, but I had to bicycle back to Rolling Hills to get on the right highway. The hill after Rolling Hills is HUGE plus you have lots of semis going to and fro because of the new wind farm coming up. I think that one hill and the next took me a total of 1 hr and was probably only 2 miles. I had another 39 miles to go to get to Douglas WY and I knew it was going to be a race against time and water supplies. I met the Junction for Hwy 20 and still had water but still had another 26 miles. If I could make it to Fort Farahoon (an old historic site) than I would be good but that was still 17 miles away. I made it to the Fort, but was getting tired, and out of water, and the park was closed but I went ahead and trespassed so I could fill up on my water supply. It was great because I knew they had a drinking fountain that was refrigerated. After filling up I had only 9 miles to go but 3 big hills left. I defeated those three hills and coasted down into Douglas, WY. I promptly bought some Subway, an ice cream treat and some re-hydrating water. I had decided Douglas would be my final stop because its population is about 5,000 people meaning it has a movie theater and a nice library. Then I look at my cyclometer and it showed that I had down 72 miles in just one day! I am glad that I did 77 miles because I was on my bike for 10 hrs and would have been really disappointed had the mileage been around 50 miles. All and all, I would say my last day of my tour (today) was a good show of how as a bicyclist I have become more apt at conquering hills and in general more fit. 10 hrs and 77 miles is my new record for longest day yet…I would be curious, now, to see how many miles I can do on flat terrain such as Lincoln’s MOPAC trail. ~jake
Day 19
Oh I forgot to say in the last post that I met some Vespa dealers in Casper and I really think I want a Vespa later when it is more practical for me… Oh also I ate at Jumping J’s (or something like that) and it was an old-fashion ‘50s restaurant which wasn’t too bad; however, there was a waitress there who was making lots of shakes and was constantly complaining and talking bad about others. That was, to me, very annoying and showed poor management/class. I woke up that day (Wed.) and decided I would bicycle around Casper and look at cars because I was tired of biking & really didn’t want to do the mountains. I went around to the many car dealers and found a nice Honda Civic for an appropriate amount. I then went back to the campground and got a tent site for the same price (some $11). I took a shower and then went to get a haircut. Afterward, I went to the library and started to research the Hondas. Ultimately, to make a long story short, I decided not to buy any car and after evaluating my financial situation I decided to stop my trip. I had made my first two goals (first make it out of NE and my second goal was to make it to Casper, WY) and I was pleased with that. I also have many other financial obligations to meet in the fall (law school application fees, lsat, housing, etc. etc.) and it seems reasonable to stop now and concentrate on those things for the rest of the summer. I talked to my mom and she will pick me up on Saturday evening. I also did laundry on this day and met a RVer who said this CRAMPED RV park really isn’t that cramped and is quite nice (she is paying about $400 a month for her spot and said this is a pretty cheap rate).
Day 18
So today I bicycled from Glenrock to Casper WY. It was a pretty easy bike ride and only took 26 miles. Between Glenrock and Casper there are lots of antelope (I saw over 100 just this day!) and also a HUGE wind farm being erected. When I entered Casper I started to just wander downtown. I stopped at this one car restoration shop because it had a Delorian (spelling?) and I wanted to take a picture of it. So I did and of course the mechanic came and talked to me. Then I explained my seat post problem and he told me to come into his office. There he called the local bicycle shop and just basically told them that I am coming to their shop, but he called me a transient! I just kind of chuckled when he said this. I then bicycled downtown (got tons of stares) and found the bicycle shop. The mechanics said they would work on it, but first they were going to put some degreaser on it. So I decided to walk downtown and ended up at a sandwich restaurant. There you made your own sandwich with the ingredients they had laid out—buffet style. It was actually pretty cool because they had things like Pesto Mayo. Afterward, I went back to the shop where they had fixed my bicycle stem. It took to people and a HUGE wrench. They then put lots of lube on it and charged me $15 for the labor. A little high, but I do think they put quite a bit of effort into it. I found a movie theatre and bought a ticket for Toy Story 3 3D and saw that midday (I was happy to go there because while in the movie they had a tornado warning or watch occur. I am not really sure which one). The movie was good and then I went to my campground. The campground man chuckled when I told him my goals and then gave me a “deal” for his campground. It still cost about $11.75 for the tent site, but I was thankful I didn’t have to pay the full $20 for this site. Next to me there was a couple and the man was doing an Iron Man challenge this coming weekend. That means he is doing around 110 miles on a bike, 2 miles swimming and then a FULL marathon all in ONE day! He and his wife or girlfriend were quite nice and their bicycles even nicer. I went to sleep and still didn’t know if I wanted to tackle the mountains.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Yep these are the cars Im fixin to buy tonight! ;)
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Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Gross!
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Day 17
After Lusk I was headed to Casper WY (about 58 miles). The day started out fine and the hills were pretty intense. At first, thoughthe locals didn't know of the hwy I needed but luckilythe chamber of commerce ppl @ the visitors center knew what i needed. Soi started and it was 26 miles to the junction of another hwy and then another 16 to the next "town". I ran out of water somewhere between the junctionand the town. That was bad. I got to the town and i drank lots of water &ate. Then i got to Glenrock...a town that was 3 miles down from the "rolling hills" town (yea thats the actual name of the town). Then right at Glenrock I got an ora which is usually a sign of a migraine coming. I knew I needed tostop and so justrenteda hotelroom @4 pm. I basically layedthere with the air onand watched tv. It was a nice town fromwhat I could see but I didn't do much yesterday. I did see though over 100 Antelope in that 1 day! :)
Monday, June 21, 2010
Day 16
I met some civil war renactors at the start of sunday. After ipacked up istartedtoward Douglas WY..about 57 miles away. The wind was also against my back. I got to a gas station )about 12 milesaway from Douglas) & there a man said I couldnt make itto Douglas unless Iwent onthe interstate. I knew he was wrong&then asked a diff gas attendant andshe told me theroad iwanted totake was the old hwy. This hwyran right next to the interstate and it passed by this weird building.
This building looked like a sambarro butthe top of it lloked like it opened up. Also, all around the brim (ifit were a hat) was sorrounded by flood lights. I think it could be an missile silo, an olddrive in novie theatre, an old closed fastfoodrestaurannt or an observatory.
After the weird building i went ona sharp curve and I thought the road was going toend but it actually just went underneath the interstate. Then it said openrange and iwas literally 10 ft away from cows w/no fence between them and i. The last miles to Douglas was easyand prettymuch alldown here.
Douglas is home of the WY state fair & the first spotting of the "jackelope". I watched get him togreek inthis town and thoughtthe movie was poor but enjoyed seeing the older movietheatre. i stayed in their city park by the flooded north platteriver and whatwasweird is that I saw ppl steal tp from there, take water in 4 gall jugs from there & other city ppl( the townspop is 5000) just go&take a shower there ....before work predumably?
This building looked like a sambarro butthe top of it lloked like it opened up. Also, all around the brim (ifit were a hat) was sorrounded by flood lights. I think it could be an missile silo, an olddrive in novie theatre, an old closed fastfoodrestaurannt or an observatory.
After the weird building i went ona sharp curve and I thought the road was going toend but it actually just went underneath the interstate. Then it said openrange and iwas literally 10 ft away from cows w/no fence between them and i. The last miles to Douglas was easyand prettymuch alldown here.
Douglas is home of the WY state fair & the first spotting of the "jackelope". I watched get him togreek inthis town and thoughtthe movie was poor but enjoyed seeing the older movietheatre. i stayed in their city park by the flooded north platteriver and whatwasweird is that I saw ppl steal tp from there, take water in 4 gall jugs from there & other city ppl( the townspop is 5000) just go&take a shower there ....before work predumably?
Day 15
Well after the 1000 ft climb to Harrison I was unsure if I would be able to make it to Luck WY. I started the daythought w/winds at my back going probably 20 to 30 mph. I FLEW through the first 25 miles with one 10 mile stretch taking only 30 (yep i went 20 mph that hour). But thenthe wind shifted a bit, but still I made it 30ish miles in 3 hrs. I alsosaw about 13 antelpoe. When i enetered ifound a campgrond and asked the manager where a good place was to eat. He pointed to the place thatwas probably 20 ft away and was an old style drive in thing like a Sonicm im pretty sure he owned it but i thought iwould try it the prices were very high a bannana split cost 5.75 usd. I ate a 1/4 lb hamburger & a chocolate shake. It wasntthat bad but nothing spectacular.
I biked around the town and met some teenagers who were in town for a basketball camp. They were really excited about me beinga Cornhusker & we are going to apparently play WY in 2012..
I messed around inthe town & later that night went tothe local saloon. it was pretty low key there but they had karaoke and surpriingly many of the patrons were pretty good singers. There were also many signs in the bar which were quite blunt about life. One of them said, "Stop staring @ the bar tender you'lllook funny with age too." i then went to bed!
I biked around the town and met some teenagers who were in town for a basketball camp. They were really excited about me beinga Cornhusker & we are going to apparently play WY in 2012..
I messed around inthe town & later that night went tothe local saloon. it was pretty low key there but they had karaoke and surpriingly many of the patrons were pretty good singers. There were also many signs in the bar which were quite blunt about life. One of them said, "Stop staring @ the bar tender you'lllook funny with age too." i then went to bed!
Day 14 cont'd
So after I wrote my blogpost I went to Harrison's local bar. When i gotthere there were probably about 20 ppl &when I left (around 11) there were 9ish all men. It seemed like it was going to be a lame night of watchibgthe weather channel, butv then a 25 yr old guy walked in who was cleaerly not a local i started talking to him & he was originally from WY &then went to college in Portland OR. He majored in Marketing and tried tofinda job in Portland but ended up finding one in Fort Collins CO. He was inHarrison bc his great aunt lives there & Harrisonwas having a town wide garage sale. He told me his family had a long history in that town &that he went tl Harrison for many summers. There he would take pictures of the abandonend housesand learn about them from his dad.we started talking aboutthe dif.lifestyles froma city to a little town. hesaid something that was poetic but I cant remember the exact wording. It, though, essentially was living inthe city is nice but the solace that comes from a small town living is a nice cultural too. He told me he used to be more "militant" in his views but has become more moderate now. It wasa great conversation to have bc he seemed like he grew upin a similar situation (small town, big town for college, etc). I wish i would have gotten his name but overall i thoroughly enjoyed talking w/him.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Well I guess they get their point across.
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New Message
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Goodbye NE hello WY!
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