Biking: 62 miles (Denise), 38 miles (Anita and Mark)
The three of us are finally in the same town tonight – Valentine. This is the trail head for the Cowboy Trail, and we’re looking forward to spending three days riding it.
Last night Brian and I met another cross-country cyclist who was staying in our campground. He was camping in a tent, and the services were quite limited, so we invited him to join us for dinner. His name is Steve. He’s a retired coach and exercise scientist, and most notably, his wife went to Penn State, so he checks out.
Steve started his trip at the same point as us – La Push, WA – and he’s been traveling some of the same routes as we have. He was derailed with a bike issue a few weeks ago, but he’s back on the road, and his planned route across the country lines up almost exactly with ours.
I invited Steve to ride with us today, and he accepted. We were planning to head out at 7:30 am, but were delayed due to weather.
Steve and I rode about 23 miles from Merriman to Cody to pick up Anita and Mark at their AirBNB.
Eventually, the storms passed but the clouds remained, which was a welcome relief after the heat of the direct sun yesterday.
Today’s ride was brutal, so we were glad to have another rider along to take a turn in the front to cut the crazy headwinds. For the record, the prediction was a tailwind, but that didn’t happen. We rode all day with a strong headwind…not a fan.
Fortunately, tomorrow is a rest day in Valentine. We need it. After Anita and Mark’s 101 mile ride, and today’s crazy headwinds, we’re all ready for a day off the bike.
Steve plans to continue riding tomorrow, so we won’t be on the Cowboy Trail with him, but I suspect we’ll run into him again at some point along the way.
RWGPS for today:
Keep the Wheels Turning 
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