Great Day, Finally Into the West

I had my parents bring my computer to Chadron for their visit, so I now have more access to the 'net.  I want to make sure it doesn't consume me, but at least I have more consistent access in case I need it.  Anyway...

I wanted to write about today because it was one of my favorite of the trip thus far.  We had a fantastic ride from Chadron, NE to Lusk, WY.  We are now officially in the west; I feel like I'm home.  It started with the parents coming to see us off, which was nice.  I enjoyed how a fair amount of the riders were genuinely interested in meeting them.  That was really cool and spoke to the character of the people I'm riding with.

We had great weather from the start and used that to set a quick pace, about 15-17 mph for the first hour plus.  I spent most of the morning riding with Eileen, and then we caught up with Susanna and rode into Harrison together.  Outside of Harrison was Fort Robinson, a key army outpost operational from the 1860s until after WW2.  Susanna and I ventured into the Fort Robinson Museum while a bunch of other folks took in the Geological museum across the street.  The museum's depiction of the Army-Native American relationship was a little shady, but I enjoyed reading about how the fort was used to house German POWs during WW2.  

Right after Fort Robinson we had a steady 3-4 mile hill to climb that put us on top of a butte.  We had a great view once on top of the climb and took some neat pictures (which I'll upload eventually).  From there we had an easy coast to lunch, where donated Subway and pulled pork sandwiches greeted us (Ballah!!!).

The afternoon was just as eventful, mostly due to a very impressive rock formation that about 25 of us climbed in our cycling cleats (that was a bit of a challenge) and then the Wyoming state line.  Our final approach to Lusk was relaxing and beautiful; no cars and good roads.

As I was climbing a small hill this afternoon, I realized that in the east and the midwest, you know what type of scene you are going to face when you crest a hill: rolling hills and farmland. In the west, you have no idea.  Sure enough, right on top of that hill we had our first mountains in the distance.  I had to pump my fist when I saw that. 

We have a big week coming up after our build day in Casper.  Teton Pass is looming...