WY so Windy?

This is the text I got from him yesterday: All good but beat. Altitude and crosswinds. Eat sleep now. Will call Fri.

Poor thing. He's on his way to Cheyenne and it sits at over 7000 feet. The good news is that it's all downhill to Denver. Apparently the Wyoming wind is something of legend. Several of my coworkers have experienced the WY wind at one time or another.

I still want to plan a celebration for Ed, even though he's not into those kinds of gatherings. Maybe I should set up a virtual finish line or online video of him riding to collapse in our apartment parking lot.

What will probably happen? He'll show up at my office asking, "Hey - where do we live?" I'll give him a key and he'll go home to make dinner.

On Wednesday, I started a to-do list for him - top of the list is figuring out our polling place.

Meanwhile:

CLICK HERE FOR THE MAP LINK, YA BIG FREAKS

Shoshoni Crosswinds

Moving right along, Ed made it from Thermopolis to Shoshoni, only to be stopped by hideous crosswinds that actually frightened him. And that's saying a lot.

He described the winds as rattling the bike, tearing at his windbreaker and scaring the stuff out of him. But, being the stubborn Polack he is, Ed trudged on.

"I thought I could hide under a rock if things got too bad," he said. "But as I rode further I really looked at the landscape around me. No ****ing rocks anywhere in sight." There went that plan.

"There was road, dirt and wind - that's it," he continued. "So I rode back to Shoshoni and got a cheap room at the Desert Inn Motel, did my laundry at the Desert Inn Laundromat and got my dinner at the Desert Inn Cafe."

He added that the crosswinds continued in town, rocking both the hotel walls and the laundromat structure. My only question was: What was he laundering? He has the Sooner bike jersey and kit, and maybe one other set of clothes? Hmmm....

He hopes to ride out of Shoshoni today and continue to Casper, which involves going east but not very south. After that is some other town, Laramie, Fort Collins and Denver.

More pictures from the road now:

They are: The fender falls off, the fender has a proper funeral, Close Encounters of the Bike Kind, and a little pit stop to fix a flat

CLICK HERE FOR THE MAP LINK, YA BIG FREAKS

StoLat, ya'll.

In Wyoming as a Lucky One

Only one more state to go until Ed is home and able to take out the garbage and fix the squeaky refrigerator door. After this epic ride, I think he needs more mundane things to do, don't you?

Once he gets to town, he may have a greater challenge ahead than biking almost 2000 miles - finding a steady job. Actually, no one needs to worry about that. He's always had work, including a temp job roasting and glazing hams during the holiday rush at Honeybaked Hams the winter before we moved to Alaska. This guy will do anything to support his family in the manner to which we've become accustomed.

Still, we are extremely lucky:

1. We sold our house in Alaska within 30 days of listing it AND made a profit
2. I have a great job in Colorado
3. We're all in good health
4. Ed is making the trip of a lifetime and having a marvelous time

Maybe I shouldn't tempt fate by listing my good fortune, but I do it only to acknowlege that others are not as lucky as us and we totally get that. And I do think it has more to do with luck than anything. Hard work can only take you so far. There's no other rational explanation, besides what CNBC or FOX News have to say about it.

We're all guessing about when Ed will finally arrive in Denver, but there will be a special prize to the person who names the date AND time he arrives at the final stop. Leave your guess in the comments and whoever is closest will win.

Over the next couple of days, I'll be putting together a finish line (not sure where) and getting the garbage ready for him. Maybe I'll set up a ramp so he can take his bike off some sweet jumps - LUCKY!

HERE'S THE MAP LINK, YA BIG FREAKS

Map link only

I have a cold that's kicking me all day - so I just have energy to post the map link and tell you all that Himself will be in Wyoming tomorrow or Monday.

CLICK HERE FOR THE MAP LINK, YA BIG FREAKS

See ya - and hopefully more pictures soon.

About 12 more days

Now that Ed's had a chance to go to the Adventure Cycling group and get routes, maps and advice, he's listed the places he will be for the next few weeks:
Butte [Continental Divide]
Bozeman
almost but not quite Billings
Lovel Wy
Worland
Thermopolis
Shoshoni
Casper
Medicine Bow
Laramie
Fort Collins Co




For now, he's uploading pictures in Missoula and enjoying the college atmosphere.

CLICK HERE FOR THE MAP LINK, YA BIG FREAKS


And a few pictures to take us out: