July 28, Day 33

Rawlins,WY to Big Sandstone Creek Campground
Distance 52 miles, Avg speed 7.8 mph

The day started with a little lie in until 7.15am, then breakfast in downtown Rawllns in a local diner where we noticed an amusing set of rules to be followed. While heading out of town, we came across a little coffee shop so we decided to stop and have a latte, and pick a sandwich to go for lunch. This meant we didn’t get to leave Rawlins until after 10am, later than usual, but as our planned mileage today is only around 56 miles, we thought we could treat ourselves.

The first 25 miles were on pavement, on a road with very little traffic, so we started to think today was going to be pretty uneventful. Until we hit the gravel road that is. The road was pretty steep in places and had just been re-graded with lots of loose gravel, which felt like cycling in thick porridge. Going down was as slow as going uphill as you had to be careful not to fishtail and lose control of the bike.

Tough as it was, we were making good progress, making our 14th crossing of the Great Divide, until Numb Stuff had to pull off the road with another flat in his rear wheel. We were going through our usual procedure of finding out what caused the flat, when a lady called Cindy pulls up in her truck and hands us both a beer! She lives on a ranch close by, and keeps cold beer and water in her truck to hand out to anyone she sees cycling or hiking the Great Divide route. What a great idea – and how thankful we were for the beer. She explains that the road has been bad for their cars, they have not been able to get their trailers up the hills which is why they have thrown lots of loose gravel on the road. But she also appreciates that it has made the going tough for us cyclists. Another guys stops to check we are OK and we joke with him, asking if he is bringing us pizza to go with the beer! Alas no, although he does offer us a potato chip!

Back to business, we spread out our gear on the road just like we do when we hit a motel.  We discover not only had Numb Stuff got a cut in his tire, but he also has yet another broken spoke (#4). No problem, Numb Stuff says, we have a spare tire in the BOB bag. Er, no says Dirtbaby – we shipped it forward to Steamboat Springs, don’t you remember? Oops – seemed like a good idea at the time to reduce weight.

Anyway, we manage to mend the tire with a piece of old tire and some duck tape. We replace the inner tube and pump up the tire again when BAM – the inner tube explodes! On closer inspection it looks like the rim tape has moved uncovering one of the spoke holes, so we put some duck tape over the hole and try another tube. This time it holds and we are good to move on. It has taken nearly 2 hours to fix things, what with the time drinking beer. By this time, the skies are looking darker and darker so we try and speed on as quickly as we can.

Eventually, the storm hits us and we have to take shelter under some trees. A family stops to give us water, a Seven Up and cheese packets, being all the food they had with them. People are so kind! Eventually the storm passes over and we continue on, only to find the road has turned to mud and it is even harder to cycle. Eventually, we decide to give up 4 miles from our planned destination and camp next to a creek which is listed as a campground on the map, but does not look very much like a campground, being covered in long grass.

We manage to get our tents pitched in the rain somehow and throw everything in the tents. Everything is wet and muddy. Numb Stuff cooks up a couple of Mountain House dinners which we eat in the tent, then we flake out, totally exhausted. The rain has made us really appreciate how lucky we have been up to now weather-wise, it would have been so much harder if we had had more rain.