Today was my longest day so far, almost 115 miles! Tyler and I woke up to a cooler morning (a nice chance from Missouri & Kansas), left Walden, and were treated to rolling hills and a small amount of elevation loss over the course of the day, around 1000ft.
About 25 miles into the ride we crossed the Wyoming border and stopped by the state sign to take pictures. From here the taller mountains of the Rockies started fading into the distance and the scenery has a more desert look to it with lots of bluffs.
We pressed on and made it another 40 miles, I think the cooler weather really helped, and by 1pm were in Saratoga. I was told by someone earlier that Saratoga had natural hot springs and we went exploring. Behind the town pool is a hot springs fed "hobo pool" which boasts 108 - 119 degree water.
We sat down on the rim of the pool and put our feet in first, which took some acclimating until it didn't feel like burning. After 5 minutes we both decided to go in all the way so I went and grabbed a pair of shorts and changed. I was able to last about 5 minutes in up to my neck before I noticed my head was sweating and I was feeling a little too warm. Tyler didn't last much longer so we both went into the shower room to change and continue on our journey.
Back on the bikes, we rode 25 more miles north and met the I-80 interstate, which we then rode west towards Rawling. I had to jump on the interstate in Illinois a few times when crossing the Mississippi River but it's still a little weird riding on an interstate, the shoulders are wide but there are tire remains everywhere.
Same as the past few days, in the afternoon storm clouds pop up all over the place and you start playing a game of avoidance if you can. We were not so lucky. 10 miles in on the interstate and we got poured on. We got an exceptionally fierce headwind but couldn't do anything but pedal into it.
Eventually we reached Sinclair, a small town 8 miles east of Rawlings and left the interstate. We found a truck stop and ducked inside as it continued raining. We sat in the attached diner and waiting for the rain to let up. About an hour or so it turned into a light rain and we decided to head out as it was getting late. We jumped back onto the interstate and pushed towards Rawling.
When we finally got to Rawlings Tyler led me to where his phone said the warmshowers host's house was but it was about a mile or so off. After giving them (Kevin & Lucy) a call, we headed in their direction and met Kevin in a car coming our way. We followed him to his house and were relieved to be finally done with the day as it was 8:30pm.
But we needed food! We had seen signs for a Thai resturant in town and we were both craving some Thai food so we told our hosts that we'd have to hurry over to the resturant before it closed at 9pm, but Kevin offered us a ride in his car and we gladly accepted. I got the masaman curry, such a great change from the food I've been eating so far, as most times its whatever the only gas station in town has.
Tyler called Kevin and he picked us up and took us back to his place. We were both exhausted so I feel we were not the most lively guests. I showered, did some laundry, updated this blog until I was too tired to see straight, then fell asleep.
Start: Walden, CO
End: Rawling, WY
Distance:114.69 miles
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