Had some minor bike problems that Corey helped me with – my front axle was grinding and my trailer wheel was squeaking. Maybe this was from the submersion in the Green River on the bushwhacking day? Corey took apart my front wheel and found the dust cap loose and two bearings missing. The trailer wheel has a sealed bearing and we flooded it with Tri-Flo – I’ll have to get it serviced in Rawlins. I was a little bit worried about the front wheel bearing seize up on me but what could I do except press on to Rawlins and hope for succor from the bike shop.
The wind wasn’t bad in the morning, until I hit the Muddy Pass junction where I turned right into it. I took a lunch break at a Wyoming Dept. of Transportation office in this mesmerizingly green lawn that I could not resist. Then as I’m passing the small town of Lamont this older Ford pickup truck stops at the intersection, and this guy jumps out and asks if I want a ride into town! Well I do as I’m worried about my bearings, so I don’t ask any questions and just throw my bike, trailer and myself in the back and off we go toward Rawlins, 30 miles away. I was facing a stiff headwind, so I’m not all that sorry that I’m sitting pretty in the back of that truck!
Except when the truck breaks down due to a blown radiator hose and we’re stuck on the side of the road. As we’re looking at the torn radiator hose I slowly figure out who is whom. The driver is Elbe Brandon, and she’s a cycling aficionado who hosts cyclists in her home in Lamont. She’s got grown kids and ditched her truck driver husband after finding out he had girlfriends all over the country. She figured she didn’t need him after all. Also in the truck were Phil and Shannon, believe it or not from Bethesda, Maryland!
Anyway a good Samaritan stopped and took Elbe into Rawlins to get another radiator hose, which took almost two hours, while Phil and Shannon and I shot the bull on the side of the road. They’ve been cycling around the U.S. and Canada for a few months, with Phil on a single speed city bike! Well eventually the good Samaritan and Elbe returned with a fixed radiator hose and a couple gallons of fluid, and soon we were on our way to Rawlins. Oh, and the bike shop closed at 5:00pm, and we arrived shortly thereafter to find it closed…
Phil and Shannon and I ended up camping together at the RV park, ringed in by the noisy Union Pacific railroad switching yard and the interstate highway. I needed my earplugs to get to sleep. Phil suggested we eat pizza, and after my hot shower the Domino’s driver showed up and we chowed down!
