Rocky Mountain High

Left Rawlins and wanted to make Riverside, but settled for Saratoga. The reason was Wyoming winds. I try to have a solid plan for at least three days considering mileage, meals and sleeping arrangements but the wind made me go to plan B. The first part of the trip from Rawlins called for a 15 mile leg, East on Interstate 80. Aside from being in the mix with heavy traffic, it wasn't bad. The winds were WSW so they helped me down the road. Ah, but then I turned South. Terrain was up and down but with a quartering headwind it made the climbs tiring and that's an understatement. So, when I reached Saratoga I threw in the towel and gladly called it a day. Later, I checked the winds on the computer and they were listed at 25 to 30 with gusts. This morning I poked my head out to check the winds and they were calm. So, I loaded up and was on the road early hoping to make Walden which would put me back on schedule. Along the way I met two riders. The first was a Swiss, Mike, who was doing the Transamerica Trail, East to West. We met just outside of Saratoga. Both of us were dressed in foul weather gear since it was cold and rainy. He started about the same time I did but is better than half way across. The second person I met started in Louisiana and had traveled over 4000 miles. He planned to follow the trail to Missoula then go the Northern route to NY then back home amassing over 10,000 miles. I bowed to his supremacy. When I was about ten miles from Walden I noticed the foreboding dark clouds that had formed in all quadrants around my destination. I pedaled harder trying to beat the storm. I didn't. Three miles short, frontal gusts almost knocked me off the bike and rain mixed with hail started peppering me. I could not hold the bike steady and with the wind gusts, I couldn't even go forward since the wind was again out of the South. There was a stockpile of gravel on the side of the road for future road work. I pushed my bike over to the pile of stone and used it as a wind buffer as I hunkered down and waited out the storm. It didn't last long and luckily the thunder and lightning didn't get closer than four miles. The last forecast I saw, calls for more rain tomorrow. O Boy!