Day 18 - 120 miles from Riverton to Casper, WY

Michael took rode this ride because of its length and that our daughter, Rachel, drove up from Longmont, CO. Thus, we wanted to arrive in Casper as soon as possible. As it turned out, Anne arrived with the support and Michael on the bike at the same time at the motel shortly after Rach arrived. Also, it was the last time I could ride with my Dutch riding partner who is returning to the Netherlands tomorrow. We introduced Rach to many of the riders, we toured downtown Casper in her car and then she ate dinner with all of the riders. She is leaving early Friday morning. It was great seeing her.

The ride was nice because we had calm to light and variable winds and mostly at backs. Greg and Kathy, with 120 miles I had lots of opportunity to practice and improve my nasal breathing! Good thing, because although there was some great scenery, there is lots of vastness in WY.

Here are some view from today's route.

Here are some examples of the vastness.

Here is an interesting location called Hell's Half Acre where the indians drove herds of buffalo across the plains into this gorge. The sharp formations at the bottom would kill the buffalo. The indians would reap the results.

I found Anne at Hell's Half Acre and we got someone, who was born in MN,  to take our picture.

In Casper, we took a bike path to the motel. Along the path, you could see rafts on a small creek with some small rapids that provided fun for many.

Here is one of the three places you could stop between Riverton and Casper.

Since today is July 4th, we saw fireworks in Casper.

Today we lost 7 of our group who are returning home after this section. We picked up a new person who will ride the next section from Casper to Mt. Rushmore, SD. This brings our total to 35. Again, one of those is Kess, from the Netherlands. He and I rode many miles with when I rode my single bike. I will miss him.

Tomorrow is a rest day in Casper! We need it.