The end of the Internet is somewhere in southern Wyoming

It has been a while since our last post to the blog.  Technology is a wonderful thing as long as it works.  Our last reliable WiFi internet connection was in Dubois, WY, five days ago and our phones haven’t connected to the internet since day before yesterday.   Maybe we have found the end of the Internet… It is somewhere in southern Wyoming... or maybe northern Colorado.

We are currently in Silverthorne, CO, about 65 miles west of Denver on I-70.  We spent the night with our friend, Stacy Ohlsson from Denver.  Her family has a very nice townhouse in Silverthorne. It was nice to be out of the RV for a while, especially since we have been camping for 2 nights in a row.  She has been a great host and it was very nice of her to come out to Silverthorne to meet us.  She is planning to ride part of our ride with us today before she heads back to Denver. 

Anyway, the trip is progressing and we are still one day ahead of schedule.  We have transitioned from the high desert /open plains of south central Wyoming  to the mountains of northern Colorado.  We have racked up some big miles this week in some pretty tough conditions.  Here is a summary of the rides by day with links to the tracks:

		Miles
17-Jun	Dubois to Sweetwater Station, WY	114.2
18-Jun	Sweetwater Station to Rawlins, WY	86.5
19-Jun	Rawlins, WY to 6 Mile Rd Campground	84.7
20-Jun	6 Mile Gap CG to Sulphur Hot Spring, CO	90
21-Jun	Hot Sulphur Springs to Silverthorne, CO	53.2

Nicholas is definitely in the Polka dot jersey

The ride from Dubois to Sweetwater Station was a long day with a little surprise at the end which will be the subject of another post.  That has been our longest day so far.  Beth rode the first 60 miles with me on the tandem and Nicolas finished up with me for his longest day so far as well, 55 miles and 2600' of climbing.  There was a nice little 5 mile, 1000' climb at mile 100 which really got your attention.

The ride from Sweetwater Station to Rawlins was really nice for the first 60 miles or so.  Beth and I rode the tandem and then I finished it into Rawlins with a real mixed bag of conditions.  At first, I had a screaming tailwind and I was moving along at 30+ mph on flat ground which was fantastic.  The only drawback was the  shoulder of the road was awful and the highway wasn't a lot better.  Then I hit a 9 mile stretch of 1 lane road construction while a thunderstorm blew in with head winds.  Luckily Beth and Nicholas made through the construction and waited for me so could wait out the rest of the rain storm.  Then it was a 10 mile ride on into Rawlins.

Winds were so strong it bent the rod that holds the RV door

The initial plan had been to ride two very long days from Rawlins, WY to Silverthorne, CO, about 230 miles in just two days.  But when I was reviewing the plan again in early May, I put in an extra day to make sure we made.   It was a good thing I did.  We hit several stretches of 18-25 mph head winds along with more beat up roads that just really took its toll.  Luckily we were able to find camping spots along the way for both nights.  The water situation in the RV was a little tight with 3 people, but we made it without any problems.

We'll be spending the next 3 nights in the Boulder/Denver, CO area visiting with Beth's sister Barbara and her daughter Maureen.  It will be a mini family reunion as well.  Nicholas' mom, dad, sister and grandmother (Beth's mom) will be coming in from Missouri as well.  It will be good to be off the bike for a few days and visiting with family and resting.

But before we can do that, we are all going to ride today to Hoosier Pass between Breckenridge and Fairplay, CO.... the highest point on our trip, 11,530'!  Then we'll coast back to Silverthorne and head to Denver.