BETH writes - Today is the start of the two days that every one dreads when riding the Great Divide. I was entering the Great Divide Basin. This is where the Continental Divide splits and goes in two directions meaning that when it rains the water drains to this basin and not to the oceans. So you might think lots of water - wrong. They call the Basin the Red Desert. I had 132 miles to get across the basin and today was 69 miles the longest I have ever been on a bike. When I started the day I was blown away by the vast nothing that stretched out for hundreds of miles in front of me. There were barely fence posts. They call the Basin the largest graveyard in America. Before the 1900's 500,000 people traveled across the Basin on the Oregon Trail, Pony Express, California Trail and the Mormon Trail all converged through the basin. Over 83,000 people died in the Basin of dehydration, October snow storms, and other aliments that plagued the settlers. As I continued to ride I began to understand why this area was a graveyard! There were points in the desert when I thought that maybe I could lay down and dry up just like some of the settlers. There was nothing, my bike computer said 122 degrees, no shade, no water and the water I was carrying was at least 85 degrees. Not at all refreshing. As I rode I just kept wishing to see a car to pick me up and take me anywhere but in the middle of this wasteland. After 8.5 hours of riding I finally reached the A & M Reservoir my camping spot for the night and thankfully it had water. Finally, the cool water gave me some relief from the sun as the Pronghorns spied from afar!
BETH writes - After the first night I have been warm, I awoke to a beautiful sun rise! Today I was going to use an alternate route and get out out of the Basin - I had enough! I would ride 14 more mile in the Basin to a "town" called Bairoil, which was really a town of oil and natural gas wells and companies. On the way, I encountered 30 wild horses in small herds. The horses brought my spirits backup. It was fascinating to see their dynamics and I was amazed at how fat and healthy they looked. I can not imagine what they eat to look that good, but they were beautiful horses. After Bairoil, I was rode onto the highway and stopped at Grandma's Cafe to have my second breakfast. There is something about "real" food that makes you ride harder and look forward to every cafe and town. I was pleased to meet and have breakfast with 5 TransAmerican riders. They were from all over the country and world. Two of them had met my mom the day before in Lander, a twon they had gone through. Rob and Carl would kindly spend the rest of the day riding slowly to Rawlins with me. They are very nice guys who have done a fair amount of touring. They are doing a trip from Boseman, MT to Durango, CO. when we reached Rawlins, Rob and Carl helped me find the bike shop to try to get my Bottom Bracket replaced with the one I had bought in Jackson. There was not much hope once we saw the bike, auto repair and car stereo shop. The shop said they could not help me, but one of the other customers once we were outside told us about a man up the street who used to have a shop and led us to his house. The man had owned a bike shop for 10 years and it was clear he knew what he was doing. He had also ridden parts of the divide and knew the misery I had experienced yesterday. Unfortunately, because my bike is new he did not have the updated tools to fix it. My parents were supposed to reserve a room for me in the hotel they had stayed in the night before so we rode to the hotel to check in and it turns out my parents were still in town (they were supposed to be on their way to Denver,CO). I have to say I was very happy to see them! we had a great dinner with the gang and Rob and Carl joined us.
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