Day 18 - Riverton, WY to Casper, WY (120 miles)

Wow, what a day! 120 miles! We all got out pretty early, possibly bending the rule about riding while it's dark outside. The sun came up to greet us, as we rolled out of Riverton, headed to Casper. I thought this shot came out nice....especially considering I didn't stop to take it. Didn't want to fall behind early on a day like today.

We crossed the edge of this lake just a bit after sunrise. The picture here doesn't do justice to it though, as the colors of the water and sky were both this really cool looking deep blue.

After that, the landscape got pretty barren for the next 100 or so miles, so today, other than just trying to finish, I decided to try to get a few shots of the other riders. Here's one of my roommates, John, leading a pace line early today. With the long day and a slight headwind the whole trip, most people were grouping up into pace lines. I finally tried to jump in one somewhere around mile 100, but my legs were too far gone at that point, and I quickly fell off the back.

Here's one of our SAG stops along the way. On a long day like this, there are usually 3 of them. When it's getting late in the day, and your water and energy are running low, there's not a prettier site than those ABB vans. They always seem to know right where you're going to need them.

There really is not much out here, but after seeing something moving in the distance a few times, I finally realized it was antelope. It's kind of cool to look out and see them looking back at you. That one to the left seems to be the one in charge, and I noticed that he never stopped looking at us as we went by. I think that every small group of them I saw, had the one guy standing guard. 

I saw my first couple of Wall Drug signs today. I think we're still at least a week or so from actually getting there, but I've always heard that their signs are all over the place along the way.

With all that nothing out there, there is one spot along the way that is really cool. Out of  nowhere you come up on this place called Hell's Half Acre. It's an amazing canyon area miles from anywhere. According to the sign, the American Indians who lived in this area used to drive herds of Buffalo off the edge for slaughter.  

I tried to get a shot that shows the size and scale of this place, but since we were there in the middle of the day, all my photos looked kind of flat. I would bet that at the right time of day, you could get some amazing photos of this place.

....and then of course, back to the long, long roads of little scenery.

....and we all made it in to start our rest day in Casper. And after 120 miles, I'm thinking we all needed it. I know I did. Of course no rest day would be complete without a little late night fun since we don't have to get up the next morning. The hotel bar had karaoke last night, and Andrew and Katy put on a great show.

Well, my laundry's done, and my bike has a clean chain......I think it's nap time......gotta love a rest day.

Thanks again for following my progress.