Day 35

This morning, two teammates woke up to double flats.... So that means that including yesterday we officially used one-third of our team tubes in one day. This is also known as the "tube-pocalyse." Thanks Nebraska for all the thorns everywhere in the road! Isalia dedicated today's ride to a friend who died at age 15 from cancer.Nobody ever said that biking across the country would be easy. This was never truer than riding 65 miles into a horrific headwind of over 20 mph. We fought that along with a gradual uphill elevation gain of 1,300 feet into Cheyenne (which is the only city over 50,000 people in the least populous state). At mile 20, we left the windy land of Nebraska and entered the windier state of Wyoming. This is state #11 for our team. Tumbleweeds tumbled by us in true western fashion, fleeing the west coast we so desperately seek out. As we drafted towards shelter from the wind, we took rest stops in various places, including an eccentric-looking house about 10 miles out of Cheyenne. At Melvin Gould's house, we received donations and also got a tour of a number of handmade cars and nifty machines including a 6-person bicycle. The grandmother in the house was a 3-time cancer survivor. One of the better moments today was cresting a hill and seeing the entire city of Cheyenne laid out before our eyes. Then the first groups headed to Rock On Cycle, the local bike shop. They helped with bike repairs by becoming a Trek Care Plus store, and we also bought lots of brake pads and tubes there. The service was excellent and everyone is so friendly!First United Methodist Church was flexible about our groups arriving at different times than expected, and showed us great hospitality with showers, wifi, and a kitchen. We made spaghetti and a group headed off to Baskin Robins for a late-night great. Funny thing, 10:00 is considered late... This summer has been a bit of a change of pace for us college students!