Day 18 – Racing trains.

Gillette, Wyoming to Newcastle, Wyoming



Naturally, in a place as busy as that city park, we couldn’t get a whole night’s rest without a little turmoil. A couple of kids ran streaming through our tents hollering and calling fire, but I myself was too groggy to do much besides open my eyes and vaguely intend to check that my bike was still there. It was hard to get up this morning though. I think there have been maybe three mornings now that I’ve been sure that my alarm must be off because it has seemed impossibly too early for breakfast.

Up and out to a good start finally, my foot/ankle was giving me a lot of trouble. The first thirty miles was definitely a lesson in pain management, but I was fortunate to have Sean pull me along for a little ease until Kathy gave me some ibuprofen. The rest of the day rolled along extremely fast. It was about a 75 mile day, but it seemed like half of that distance. The terrain was certainly not flat as predicted, but the rolling hills were gradual and glided by quickly as we averaged 17.5 mph. It was a good day rounded out by some cheese and tortilla wraps provided by Lisa and some incredible trains that raced us. The trains seemingly went on forever (which I found out later was literally 1.5 miles long), there were three of them, each car was laden with coal, and they were rolling alongside us against the dark distant hills and blue skies.





Camp, dinner, showers, and breakfast is at the Newcastle Senior Center, and it is so nice to have everything right here. My legs always appreciate the opportunity to stretch out and walk around, but tonight is one of those nights that I am more than content to just sit and relax. The people here are so sweet and generous, and the food was prepared with lots of love. We even bought some freshly squeezed lemonade from a little girl across the street.