Written by Curtis

Day 33 – June 30 – 62 Miles, 2,034 feet climbing (Casper to Douglas)

After two days in Casper everyone was eager to get back on the road this morning.  So much so that Chris was the one proposing to roll 45min earlier than initially planned after the entire team showed up for breakfast at 6am without any prior breakfast meeting time discussed.  I think this is when Dave would say “We are an effective team.”

Today’s route turned into a few on the fly modifications because I proposed taking the North Platte River trail to a bike bridge on the east side of Casper then jumping onto the Casper Rail Trail while the pre-planned Komoot route used roads.  On a Sunday morning the roads would have been fine but the amount of debris on the shoulder coming into Casper on the highway contributed to several potential tire punchering objects being removed from the tires during our zero day in Casper.  This morning the trails eventually became unpaved and we ended up on a clean quiet road headed to Douglas.

The river trail near the hotel was cement with constant seams jarring our bikes for the first few miles.  This turned out to be very fortunate for me because late in the rest day I had decided to go ahead and replace my front brake pads without any extra eyes or help from Dave.  These brakes are hydraulic disc brakes with two separate pads usually held in place by a screw when the installer doesn’t miss one of the eyelets on one of the pads.  Although the brakes had tested fine riding several times around the hotel, the jarring of the cement seems on the trail served to shake the incorrectly installed pad out of the brake calliper.  When exiting the river trail I squeezed my front lever, immediately realizing something was wrong.  It wasn’t until I stopped and heard the metallic sound of the loose brake pad hitting the ground that I knew how fortunate I was for the problem to have occurred when and where it did.  This one of those lessons that could have been a lot worse. (Thankfully there are no pictures after brake failure on a high speed decent on any of these heavy bikes.)

Safely on the highway next to the Interstate we passed a sign indicating the Oregon Trail, California (gold rush) Trail, the Mormon Trail, and the Pony Express Trail all went through the area.  Unlike those pioneers, 60 miles later, we all got showers in the Douglas City Park/Camground.  Near the same point as that trail sign a fine Wyoming Highway Patrol had to remind a big white truck that the speed limit signs also applied to him.

Twenty-six miles from Casper we reached Glenrock.  Dave, Nancy, and I found Glenrock to be bigger than we expected.  Chris, of course, had been there the day before with his family and knew right where to direct us for a water and bathroom break at the city water park.  Unfortunately the navigation direction wasn’t clear to everyone and resulted in me pointing Nancy to a port-a-potty a block off.  I’m sure Nancy would have preferred to frequent the water park facilities because judging by the outside the town takes some pride in their water park.  Next time we are in Glenrock, WY we will know where to stop!

From Glenrock, the topology of our route changed significantly.  The next 36mi to Douglas traversed many rolling hills with some climbs long enough for the group to assume the typical formation of Nancy a few bike lengths to miles ahead of me, Chris about the same distance behind me, and Dave continuing stop at will for pictures with never any worry the rest of us will have to wait at some sun-baked corner too long because if Dave wasn’t a prior pro-cyclist in this life, he most certainly was in the last.

Today’s forecast included wind and for the first time in Wyoming there were giant wind turbines replacing the oil wells.  At first we assumed it was a mere experiment likely to fill a federal checkbox, but the turbines went on for ridgeline after ridgeline indicating someone around here is actually using green power and not every kilowatt hour in Wyoming comes from coal.

Our first stop in Douglas was a very busy McDonald’s, mostly for drinks, with rather incapable staff.  We all had to remind them of our orders in order to get the items we had paid for before going onto to our free camp spot at the city Riverside Park.  As I type this the temp has dropped from 95 to what feels like barely 80 degrees and the sky has become decidedly grey.  Seems like a strong chance we will be diving out of the rain into our tents before dinner, with fingers crossed it will blow over quickly so we can cook pasta tonight because I don’t think anyone wants to go back to McDonald’s.