Day 29- Rawlins

Mike and Jaime had mentioned the evening before that the wanted to get an early start today towards Rawlins. They were true to their word when I had their bright bike headlights shine into my tent at 5am as they left. That is the first time someone left before I did. I lounged about until 5:30 and pulled the plug on my new sleeping pad, which always works to get me up. I had a bit of breakfast after packing up, and left the campground right before the sun was going above the horizon, with the others still in their tents.

I will say that the next 15 miles was one of the most enjoyable sections of the trip. The early morning light was magical, there was no wind, and I seemed to be flying along the dirt road. It turned out I had a slight down hill and wind in my back that I didn’t notice 😁.

Eventually I reached pavement that would last for a while. I much preferred the gravel/sand portion to that road. It seemed boring to me. Although the GDMBR is mostly off pavement, there are long sections of pavement on the route. Wyoming seems to have more than other places.

The last section into Rawlins was along a more busy and fast moving highway. It had a good wide shoulder with a rumble strip in between me and traffic, yet was more nerve wracking because many of these vehicles were very loud and moved fast. I hated the gangs of loud Harley riders when they went past. They seemed to like riding as close to the right side of the lane as possible. Maybe the Sturgess bike festival was going on? The professional large truck drivers were for the most part the best. There was a long 8 mile climb to another continental divide pass before Rawlins. The scenery was pretty boring here. I really wanted to get off this road.

Rawlins finally showed on the horizon and I had a downhill section to get there. Great! I didn’t have a place to stay yet, so I stopped at the first McDonalds and had a big lunch with a large milkshake. I reflected on the accomplishment of crossing the Great Basin, while watching folks waddle in from their vehicles in the parking lot. That might be me one day, but not today!

Peter who usually passes me midday, never did today. I was hoping all was alright and that he didn’t have a mechanical or physical issue. Later on I got a text from him asking if I had any recommendations on motels here. There really were no camping options. I had just booked a room at an inexpensive motel that had two beds, and offered to share the room. I think he was grateful for that. He had not eaten lunch yet so we headed over to the Subway restaurant next door while waiting for our room to be available. Two guys that I had met in Canada on the route walked in. I remember one of them because he had spoken pretty boldly about the daily mileage he was planning to do. I was a bit skeptical at the time, and it turned out they both “pulled the plug” on their bike trip near Whitefish, Montana, and rented a car instead to drive through Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks. At least they still had a good time, just in a different way. They were very interested in our experience so far, especially going across the Great Basin. It was pretty coincidental that we would meet them in Rawlins at a Subway.

Peter at the Subways

We later went to a nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner where we ran into Mike and Jaime again. Coincidence #2. Another rider there who was in our “bubble”, Scott, had decided to quit in Rawlins and his wife was driving from Iowa to pick him up. Peter had also indicated that he was going to leave the route in Steamboat and return to the UK. Mike was doing the same. I felt a bit sad that the folks I had started to get to know better wouldn’t be there the second half of the trip. I am sure I will get to meet other folks. Even so, this was something I had planned to do by myself anyway.

After dinner, Peter and I did a food resupply at the Walmart nearby. I even indulged in buying a pair of lightweight cotton pajama pants to be more comfortable in the sleeping bag. A recommendation from someone I had met earlier. I will offload stuff when I meet Linda in Steamboat Springs.

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