Day 21 - Buffalo to a Point near Gillette, Wyoming

Three weeks are now complete! During our three-week journey from the coast of Oregon to eastern Wyoming, we've ridden every day except one. We've covered 1,423 miles and climbed over 65,000 feet of hills and mountains! That's an average of 3,250 feet per day. I've been advised to avoid too many numbers in my blogging, but the engineer in me sometimes takes over! (I'm sometimes called Spreadsheet Jim, lol).

Today's ride was essentially divided into two parts. The first half was mostly downhill, and we had some tailwinds helping us along. In fact, during our first hour, we averaged over 20 miles per hour with little effort! As the day went on, our direction changed, and the terrain became hilly. By the end of the ride, we were facing a 25-mph sustained wind with gusts up to 40 mph! We had hoped to exceed 75 miles today, but the winds had other plans! I, for one had sore arms trying to hold my bike straight when a cross-wind gust would hit. You had to lean sideways at times to hold the bike in a straight direction! After 76 miles and about 2,000 feet of climbing, we loaded the bikes onto the truck and headed to our accommodation in Gillette for the night.

Tomorrow, we plan to cover another 75 miles and finish in the small town of Hulett, Wyoming. Hopefully, we'll have a chance to sightsee at Devil's Tower after the ride!