June 21: Day 41

George is writing this post... but its not Rated R (hummm....)

Started a little early today, with a slight breeze. About an hour and a half into the ride met a group of 3 riders that started from Oregon. Along the trip I met many other east bound bikers but no one that actually started from Oregon. I was also the first west bounder going to Oregon that they met (kind of strange as I figured being off the trail for 10 days someone would have caught up, I know of a couple of riders that are a day behind me now). We hung out on the side of the rode and exchanged stories for awhile including weather and ride conditions. They have hit snow, Hail and high winds. While they were hoping to average 60 miles a day, due to the weather, they have been doing about 50. They also warned me about two areas with high dangerous traffic, Yellowstone Park (heavy RV traffic, Imagine Florida seniors driving in these big things) and the other, the only section of the trail that you actually have to ride on an interstate. They did this section yesterday and I was going to hit it today. It's Interstate 80 with a speed limit of 75 and loaded with trucks. There is a moderate size shoulder but not as large as some of the local roads. I was glad, I was hitting it on a Sunday. Anyway after a few pleasantries we went our ways.

The winds starting picking up soon after, by the time I got to the highway, it was blowing pretty hard. As I rode up the entrance ramp, I saw truck after truck speeding by (I guess they work on Sundays here) and the winds seemed to be getting stronger. The wind was blowing WSW and was heading into it going W. The first 3 miles were really tough, I was lucky to get up to 8 MPH. The wind was really blowing me around and the trucks whizzing by didn't help. By mile 4 I knew the wind was going to suck me up. The wind now was even stronger and now the trucks were creating a strong vacuum as they passed me. As they passed I would suddenly and uncontrollably get sucked in towards them, then the vacuum would suddenly dissipate and I would get tossed to the opposite direction. By mile 4 I was no longer able to keep the bike on the shoulder. Walking didn't see to be much of an option as it was difficult to walk against the wind and it would take forever to get off the highway , which was 3 miles (a rest area). I was tossed many times off the shoulder, thank goodness that it was a sandy soft shoulder that I could dismount quickly as it stopped me dead in my tracks. Once I got to the rest stop I figured I could call Kitty but our cell phones have not worked since yesterday. My plan was if the cell phones didn't work to hitch a ride 7 miles into town which is directly on I-80. Since Kentucky I have had dozens of people offer me rides thus I was sure I could get one that could also take my bike. However, the Cell phones worked good enough that Kitty understood to pick me up. Once we got into town, someone told us that there were gusts up to 70 MPH and that normal gusts here are 40-60. The weather channel only showed gusts up to 45.
Tomorrow is supposed to be more the same thus I will start 5:30 AM (winds are supposed to be about 10 MPH) and end it by 11 before the strong winds really come. but I'm thinking of tying a giant kite to the bike and perhaps I can fly to Yellowstone.
.....Today I saw moose for the first time, a pair that I was able to get very close too, perhaps 75 feet. They seem as curious about me as I was about them.

Went from Encampment, WY to Rawlins, WY
Total Miles: 50

Total tour Miles: about 2500 miles ridden
Total tour Miles left: about 1500 miles
Total days: 41 (39 actually on bike and 2 rest days)
Total full days ridden: 35 days
Total days shorten due to circumstances: 4 (2 due to wind, 1 Heavy Rain, 1 Mechanical issue)