Trish & Phill's Tandem TransAmerican

Tour 2003 

Jul 3 Lander - Dubois 80mi

The area we pass through today has a number of references to an Indian Chief - Washakie. There is a large mountain sticking up out of the flats and looks almost like it had just been placed there by a giant kids sand castle bucket being turned upside down. The Mountain is called Crow heart. The name - so the details on the notice board tell me - is from the fact that Washakie fought the Crow Indians here and kicked their ass, he took a Crows heart and displayed it on the end of his spear. The notice went on to say he was a good guy to the whites and that he never did have a scalp of a white man hanging in his teepee. Wonder what his fellow Native Americans thought of him ?

The second half of today's ride was the worst ride we have experienced. The wind was so strong. The area is known as Wind River Indian Reservation, the road follows the Wind River so I guess we should have been ready for this, it was so difficult to make headway even down hill we had to peddle and got no more that 8 miles an hour. Trish was exhausted.  We got into Dubois around 5pm after originally expecting to be there by 1:30pm.

Dave from the Bike Hostel at Aspen Meadows came down town to pick us up which was great as we were totally phooped. We had also arranged to phone Craig but there was no phone anywhere on route, so when this couple stopped to see if we needed any water or any assistance we asked if they would mind calling Craig and letting him know we were going to be late.  They did and as it turned out Craig didn't arrive until 7pm as Gillette was a good 5 or more hrs drive.

Dave and Jo-Anne from the Aspen Lodge Bike Hostel run a hostel specifically for Bikers. They could not have done more for us to make us welcome and our stay as pleasant as possible. The Hostel is just north of Dubois and is set on the side of a hill covered in Aspen trees hence the name.

The accommodation was a little log cabin that they have set up and made so homely we could have stayed there for weeks. The nice hot shower was welcome after such a hard days ride. Evening meals and Breakfast was cooked by Jo-Anne and it was delicious ( Roast Beef and even home made ice cream for dinner, she spoilt us. Here is a link to their web site if you are ever this way we recommend that you call in and see them, even if it's just for a chat Dave is very knowledgeable about the area and a keen cyclist . They are both interesting people to talk with.

Craig turned up around 7 PM after driving the 3 or 4 hundred miles to get here. It was really nice to catch up with him and we all sat down together to eat the meal Joe-Anne had made for us.

Page owned & maintained by Trish Collins email to  trishphill@aapt.net.au.  Last Updated 28/07/2003