Day 13- Welcome to Wyld’oming!
Hey! What’s up! Thanks for joining in!
Wyoming Four Seasons Hotel is open for business, come on in!
We started his morning by zipping open the tent to see a completely white, Christmas movie like, Ski Resort with gorgeous green pines dusted in snow. For a saffa, this is cooler than Christmas itself, so we were frothing!
After a bit of the prolonged faffing, and getting dressed and breakfasted in the laundry hut on the resort, as it’s the only warm spot around, we got a quick coffee and hit the road, dressed in basically every warm of clothing we had, up the road into a winter wonderland, it was stunning!!
The view soon grew old however, as we discovered that snow leaves the otherwise pristine gravel feeling like a cement and Nutella mix, and caking your bike in it, so much so, that the wheels won’t even move anymore! So add 5+kg of mud to a 25kg bike that won’t roll, and push it up a hill. Seems like a vibe, right?! Wrong! So we made the right call, walked back to the tar and headed down the road to avoid an 11mile 4.5hr walking sufferfest!
After getting the worst of the mud off, adding a rain jacket on top of my outfit (Base layer Sleeveless and Merino long sleeve, cycling jersey, puffer and double gloves) we headed down the pass in 0 degree temps at 65km/h, it was fresh!
We then joined the route again and started a 2.5hr climb up to 3000m altitude, where the sun started shining again to warm our bones and trick us into shedding some layers, jokes on us though! 90min into the climb, all but one of the layers was back on, and this basically became a game of deciding whether you’d like your mitochondria sunny side up, or if you’d prefer hypothermia. It was crazy! Sleet, gentle rail and hail made brief appearance! The route itself was beautiful though with the Gannet Peak at 4020m visible and snow capped!
Anyway! We realised quickly that our burn rate was higher than our food supply and we were preparing to share the last few bits and bobs to get us home in one piece. Thankfully a man riding NOBO (Northward Bound GDMBR) stopped to chat and told us about a great little bar just 13miles away that make a mean burger!
‘ n klein bitjie hoop, is al wat mens kort’ came to mind and we were off? Changing the whole team dynamic and giving us a little extra stoke injection to get us home together and say hi to Thinus’ folks who also arrived with us this evening!
We pulled in to this bar, ordered 3 burgers and waffle fries, and could literally feel the stoke and lus to pedal buildup with each bite! Thinus’ head was nearly bitten off when he forgot to tip our waiter, but being the gent he is, this was sold quick quick too!
The final part feels like a Cinderella story of cycling! A tailwind home, 29miles of glorious tailwind… I’m not sure what feels better, this magical warm linen bed I’m lying in, or that tailwind. What a blessing!
anyway! I’ve fallen asleep about 15.8 times trying to write this, so please excuse any typos!
Ps- thanks to the girls for the amazing good afterwards!!
Love the stories James. Keep going!