USNA 1973 Ride-2-Remember

Day 25, 28 August: Casper to Douglas, WY

Today, Ed Cotter joined us once again this morning to see us off and he drove to the first rest stop to see us come in, spend our break with us and then bid us adieu. I must say for Ed to come over from Denver to visit us was a most magnanimous gesture and speaks worlds about his character. He truly exemplifies Non Sibi. And it was a great morale booster for all of us. Thanks, Ed.

The ride today was relatively short, 55 miles with 2000 ft. of ascent. It consisted of 25 hills and 3 climbs for a total of 28 ascents.

You might ask what I consider a hill. Well, if it looks like a hill, i.e., it’s somewhat rounded on the top and is elevated from my viewpoint and I need to downshift 2 or more times, then I consider it a hill. Now you may be wondering “so what’s a climb?” Well, when my Garmin 1040 automatically shifts from data mode to a screen showing green, yellow, red and sometimes purple vertical lines with length and height of ascent, then I consider that a climb. Interestingly, my Garmin has a somewhat warped sense of humor, for as I reach the base of the climb it pings and lights up a green GO at the base of the display. This I don’t appreciate.

So the ride today was cool but dry. Rain was threatening from afar, but never reached us. It was a pleasant day with a herd of antelope off to the right and the biggest sheep I have ever seen in a pasture on our right. We all rode the 55 miles to Douglas in about 4 hours.

I picked up a piece of steel wire in my rear tire yesterday, and when Mark serviced the bikes last evening he pulled it out and air escaped through the hole. Since I am riding tubeless tires, Mark was able to patch the tire. However, this morning my tire was flat again, so Mark took me and my bike over to the trailer and put my gravel wheel and tire on and away I went. Don’t know what we would do without him.

Dave Haefner