Day 17: Sheridan to Gillette

Home, home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play. Yep, we saw deer and antelope today. Lots of antelope, in fact. At one point two of them appeared to be racing us. It was pretty cool.

Today was another long, tough day in the saddle. We were up and down all day. After a hard day yesterday, the legs weren't too happy about the ups, but I just focused on the fact that the ups were nothing like yesterday. The day started out cool with the threat of rain. It stayed that way until about lunch, but all we experienced were a few sprinkles. The sun started to come out after lunch, but then so did the wind, and it wasn't good wind. It was a mix of cross and head winds. Luckily there were 6 of us to share the pain.

A few nutrition notes. Today wasn't my finest. Because it was so cool this morning I forgot to drink, which also meant I didn't get as many calories because I rely on a pretty heavy calorie drink while riding since I have a hard time with solid foods. That is likely why the last 20 miles hurt so badly. Then I didn't get my normal recovery drink and had to rely on 2 chocolate milks because a couple people decided they wanted to go to a clinic this morning to get covid tests (they were negative) and my post ride bag was in the van that was still on the route supporting them. Lastly, Mark noticed that I didn't list coffee in my breakfast. I love a good cup of coffee, especially cold brew, but I can't drink coffee or really any caffeine before I ride. Instead I take in small doses of caffeine on long rides through gels and an occasional coke.

Tomorrow is a shorter day, but there's still a fair bit of climbing so it is unlikely to be a walk in the park.

Day 17 stats:

• distance: 108.3 miles

• elevation gain: 4268 ft

• nutrition:

  • breakfast: waffle, brown sugar oatmeal, vanilla yogurt, berries

  • lunch: PB&J, pasta salad

  • post-ride: 2 chocolate milks (the original recovery drink), think thin lemon delight protein bar, smartfood white cheddar popcorn, 1 small coke, 1 lemon la croix

  • gels: 3

  • bloks: 1

  • 26 oz skratch superfuel, 52 oz zym (not enough)

  • other: kate's chocolate cherry bar, fruit leather, 1 coke

Day 18 details - Gillette to Sundance

• planned distance: 75 miles

• planned elevation gain: 3739 ft