Wyoming is the start of cowboy country! We spent much of today in the Thunder Basin National Grassland, which is found along the ecotone, or transition zone, between the Great Plains to the east and the sagebrush steppe to the west. The northeastern BSNF railway (The Burlington Route) followed us nearly all the way to Gillette— or rather, we followed it. It was hot and kind of monotonous, but we got trains to choo-choo at us and saw pronghorn antelope!

We had amazing tailwinds today! The wind pushed us at up to 21 mph and we did the first 50 miles in 2.5 hours (the first 30 miles in an hour and 15!) Then things went a little sideways (literally, crosswinds) and we were back to normal speeds, and even got some headwinds. But that first part of the day— whew! Super fun!

We got to Gillette super early for a 79 mile ride— the first group arrived just after noon! And by now you might know that after showers, we just ran errands in our free time. Ah, exciting! Our amazing hosts gave us lunch, dinner, and laundry! Woohoo! Today has been awesome. I even had time to make a movie with Maya, Rahul, Gibby, and Willard. So long, partner!

— Marielle