July 5^th Day 17; Dubois, WY to Riverton, WY; 79 miles, 1,475 ft. ascent

Apologies that yesterday’s blog was missing its first line. Bewildered readers can view the corrected blog on our website here.

Today we recorded what will probably be the fastest 80 mile ride in my life, averaging 21.5mph. Two reasons:

1. Because we could (more downhill than up and a mostly favourable wind)
2. Because temperatures were forecast to rise throughout the day, we wanted to get to Riverton (where cowboy hats are de rigueur) before noon, when temperatures were already at 37 and still rising (just hit 39 as I write this at 2.30 after lunch, shower, beer and remedies of a more medical nature

 A couple of facts about Wyoming:

• It is the least populous state with only X inhabitants (less than the population of 31 US cities)
• It has the 15^th highest income per capita of all US states. This is despite having a  not very broadly based economy. Our extensive research suggests the primary sources of state income comprise blowing the tops off mountains, persuading tourists to project themselves down said mountains on expensive sports equipment, and herding cattle on the sides of said mountains

Yesterday evening we decided to get to know the 998 inhabitants of Dubois by watching the town’s 4^th July firework display. We started out by visiting a local bar, where the chap next to me explained that I had just sat on his wife’s bar stool, but reassured me that this would not be a problem as she’d be more than happy to sit on my lap. We then asked a lady sat outside the local church where would be the best place to view the fireworks. She commanded us to sit down next to her and immediately offered us a bed in the church for the night. Shortly afterwards a gentleman resplendent in matching stars and stripes shorts and T-shirt offered us a bewildering choice of apparently entirely free ice creams. So, having been offered gratis food, bed and comfort all within one hour, we sat down contentedly to view the fireworks, which is where it all went pear shaped.

4th of July parade in Dubois

For such a small town, Dubois mustered an astonishing battery of flashy, bangy things, but it also mustered an equally large swarm of cloth penetrating mosquitoes. This was particularly disappointing as Alastair and I thought we had been so prudent smearing every exposed part of our anatomies with Tropical Strength 50% DEET insect repellent.

We have now added a new category to our pain register (see future post) which we review on a regular basis during each days ride. The good news is that aside from the mozzie bites all other items on our respective registers are well down near the pain free end of the scale.