7/10 Casper, Wy. Rest Day

 

Doug H (Do I know a Doug H?) asked how the maps get done. The short answer is they’re made with Map Source, a product that comes with some Garmin GPS products like the Etrix Vista hCx which is on my handlebars.

• I have defined “waypoints” in Map Source for each town where we’re spending the night. Then, by connecting the “waypoints” (in order) you have a “route”. This is the route (roads) Map Source selects for you, not the Route that America By Bicycle is using. So the previous map of where we were going on segment two was this type of map.

• The map shown today is quite different; it is the actual route we’ve taken so far. The Etrix collects “tracks” as we ride along. I save these every night and have uploaded them to Map Source for the map shown today. You’ll notice there are two gaps, a’la Richard Nixon’s tapes and Ronald Reagan’s brain. Somehow I screwed up these days.

On additional point re the maps displayed, I use a freeware utility, MWSnap, to capture the laptop screen and save it as a .jpg file.

I note this is July 10; we arrive in Portsmouth August 10 – one month to go! Another way to look at it is the ride is 1/3 over. David Lamb discussed this point in his trip Over The Hills:

“Friends told me the middle third would be the toughest. The newness of the experience would sustain me at the beginning, the scent of destination at the end, but in the middle, I would fall into a sort of vacuum in which everything seemed far away and nothing felt familiar, except the routine of pedaling.”

David did have these feelings on his trip but I do not, at least so far (I’m just starting the middle third.). Maybe the difference is I’m riding with a group and there is little down time. Yesterday, for instance, I was on the go from 4:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. And when there is slack time, they find a way to fill it (e.g. the scavenger hunt of a few days ago and the yet to be held t-shirt swap). Even on the bike in the pace line yesterday, Larry started a mind game.

It’s noon, Brenda is at the Laundromat (only one washer here at the hotel) and I’ve cleaned the bike so we have the rest of the day to relax. And I’ve got to re-pack. I’ll surely send some stuff home. I’ve had enough pasta on our group dinners so we’re looking for a good steak house for dinner tonight. Tomorrow is another 100+ day, probably with headwinds again. On Sunday, we’ll enter South Dakota.