July 6- Muddy Gap to Rawlins, Wyoming

We did not expect desert terrain on this route, but today we got plenty.

From the start at Muddy Gap, we were climbing for 8 miles to the continental divide. The grade was easy, but we were faced with our first real headwind, 10-15 mph on our nose as we climbed.

Once over the divide at 6800', we reached Lamont, where we planned to stop for coffee. The paint on the "Cafe Open" sign was peeling, and it looked like the cafe, the only building in town, was last open during the Truman administration.  Onward across a high desert landscape. The wind was then from our right side.

We knew there was another climb ahead, to another continental divide at 7200'. We crossed a long straight stretch of valley, and could see the road ahead rise into the mountains and sweep to the right. In fact, we could look at it for almost an hour before we reached it. That first part of the climb had a bite to it, a grade of 6-7%. We took a standing 8-count after that, but the grade soon got easier and the road swung left, away from the wind. We even used the large chainring for the last 2 or 3 miles.

After the second continental divide of the day (7th so far on the trip), it was an easy downhill to Rawlins, a town of 8,000. By 1:30 we were taking our time over lunch before checking into our motel.

I can't find words to adequately describe how empty this part of Wyoming is. For many stretches of 20 miles or more there is nothing in sight in any direction except sage brush and low hills. No buildings, no nothing. Some traffic on U.S. 287, but still it is not a place you'd like to get stuck. Fortunately, today's temperature was not above 80, and we were carrying extra water.

47 miles today, with a bit of climbing. We felt good about our riding today; no signs of the fatigue I felt a couple of days ago. As for Sandy, she's the Eveready bunny; still going.

We met a group of 3 westbound Dutch cyclists about midpoint of today's ride, and stopped to chat with them for a while. They've been on the road for two months, which seems about right, since after one month we're just over 1/3 our expected total mileage. And at lunch we met a couple from Arizona, also cyclists about our age, who were on a summer-long trip with a travel trailer- another great way to see the country.