Biking, Day 13: 7/29/2009

Day 13: Wapiti, WY to Greybull, WY
Distance: 75 miles
Route: Rte 14/16/20E to Cody, WY continue Rte 14E to Greybull, WY
Lodging: The Antler Motel, the 'Rustic Cabin', $40, bathroom outside my adorable cabin

I woke up today in Wapiti and it was cold and rainy. I decided to ride to Cody and see if the weather got any better. The ride to Cody was about 25 miles. It took a long time. There was significant headwind and I only survived because the ride is somewhat downhill.
I got to Cody and started looking for a place for coffee (I had had a mere dixie cup worth before I left). I saw the Sierra Trading Post, which was recommended by Bex, so I decided to stop and warm up, get some gloves, and extra socks. Seriously, it was really, really cold. I bought the needed stuff and then got back on the bike and headed into the town of Cody.
Cody is really adorable. There's lots of Buffalo Bill stuff, including the museum which was highly recommended to me by MC. I did not go to the museum. My need for coffee surpassed any desire to educate the self.
I went to an adorable coffee shop, called Rawhide Coffee, to figure out my next move. I got coffee (very good coffee) and sat on an awesome leather couch whilst using the free wifi. The weather looked like it was going to warm up a bit , stay windy, and then the rain would come around 4PM. I made the executive decision to forge on to Greybull - 53 miles away.
The ride actually went really quickly. I had my fastest pace so far. The wind was bad, but it was primarily sidewind, which meant that I just had to be careful going downhill too quickly.
When I got to Greybull, I went to the hotel that I had a reservation at and there was a sign on the office door that said "I'm not around, but I will be back in a while. Give me a call if you want a room or something. 307-xxx-xxxx. - Tom" I decided to go across the street to the better looking motel, the Antler motel. I got a little cabin there for $40. It was actually quite cute. The only negative was that the bathroom was across the parking lot. I figured it wouldn't be so bad.
I showered, biked into town to see what it was like (Western, sparsely populated, quiet). I went to the bank. I got some groceries. I came back to my mini-cabin and started planning my next day. I had initially planned to take 16, cut through Basin and Hyattville, then go through the Big horn Mountains and stay in Buffalo. 116 miles. I had to arrange it around a call for my fall externship which was scheduled for 10am. I did some updating to facebook/blog and went to bed.
In the middle of the night, I got up. I don't know why. I tried to find any info on the two different roads that go through the Big Horn Mountains - 14 and 16. Everyone who blogged about it said they were both killer passes. I decided maybe doing 116 was aggressive, especially with my 10am call. I decided to do Route 14, ending in Sheridan, 96 miles.