Spot the Horizon
We’re in big sky country now. As we trekked through the first 30 miles this morning, we followed a nearly abandoned highway through the broadest, most open terrain imaginable. We could see the horizon in every direction. The sky (not cloudy all day) stretched over us like an immense dome. This is the territory where the pioneers said they could see to the middle of next week. They literally could see where they would be ten days hence.
In the early morning, the air was still and we cruised along nearly flat terrain, surrounded by billions of acres of sage brush. By mid-morning, we ran into headwinds of 15 to 20 miles per hour and got a taste of what it’s like when the wind comes from the east. Everything slowed down. Several people were certain they had gotten flat tires and stopped to check their air pressure. By early afternoon, we were riding in pace lines to help each other pull through the wind. We’ll become experts in pace lines once we hit the winds of Wyoming.
We touched on the Oregon trail at multiple points today, including Register Rock where pioneers stopped to sign their names. (They didn’t call it graffiti back then). We also passed within a few miles of fabled Eight Hour Canyon. The canyon is so deep and broad that it takes an echo eight hours to return. When the pioneers passed through, they shouted: “Time to get up!” just before bedding down at night. Eight hours later, they got their wake-up call, just like clockwork.
Now it’s time to introduce Science Mary, another one of our riders. Mary reminds me of my sister, Shelley, except that Mary is smarter, stronger, cuter, sweeter, and has better hair. Other than that, they’re just alike. Mary’s a good, strong rider and she’s also a runner. She’ll do a 100 mile bike ride with us and then do a seven mile run to cool off. She can finish a seven mile jaunt in about the time that I can finish a nap. What connects Mary and Shelley, however, is that they both are enthusiastic teachers of middle school science. Middle school students are tweeners — they’re not kids anymore but neither are they young adults. They’re rapidly transitioning form little cherubs to hormone-ravaged teenagers. I’ve got three words for anyone who can teach science to these kids: God bless ’em. Oh, and: Double their salaries.
Day’s distance: 86.4 miles (139.0 km)
Average speed: 14.9 mph (23.9 kph)
Day’s climb: 1,200 feet (365.7 meters)
Total distance: 930.7 miles (1,497.8 km)