Last year’s write up: Link
There seems to be a trend with our friend John, this year he made it to the starting line only to have his fuel pump fail a few hours later. Blerg. Whelp, guess it will just be me and Mike again this year. A revised plan to meet in Cowdry (Colorado) and then take pavement to Encampment before jumping on the section of the Wyoming BDR we missed last year due to rain (Baggs to Encampment section). We had a great lunch at Bear Trap Cafe & Bar and then it was time for dirt! It was a fun section to Baggs that gave us a preview of the start of our next day.
In Baggs, we checked into the Cowboy Inn and headed for dinner. Basic burgers but it hit the spot followed by a walk around town before bed, I may have broken open container laws. Who knows… The next morning was a reverse of the first section the BDR followed by completing the section to Centennial. The Old Corral steakhouse and hotel was a great stop as were the beers at the Trading Post across the street where we watched a thunderstorm pound the area. Damn we were thankful to beat the storm.
One section the year below in the Shirley mountains where we ran into deep, deep talc powder sand was on our mind. But to our surprise it had been plowed and was nothing like the year before. Soon enough we were pulling into the Best Western in Casper. Nice to have the bikes outside of our room and an amazing breakfast. Highly recommend.
On to the Beaver rim trail which we absolutely loved last year. Well accept for the sand. Truth be told it wasn’t horrible but there are miles of sand before cruising at 40 mph along the rim. Once in Atlantic Mine we got the same cabin as last year and quickly headed to Lander for dinner since both restaurants in town were closed. We ate at Mulino which had excellent cocktails, food, and service. Another high recommendation from us.
**Recommendation** While Miner’s delight in Atlantic City is a fun stop with friendly owners/staff it is hard to justify the $180 for two guys and limited restaurant options. Should we do the route again we would continue on to Lander where there is great food, lots of bars, and a cool vibe.
The final official day of the tour, we started with a great section up into the mountains before dropping down into Lander. This was a big day at 240 miles, so it was an early start putting us into Lander around 9:30am. While filling up for the desert crossing we came across a couple guys we had met in Centennial. Their group had been three last we saw them but one guy had clutch problems and bailed before the yesterday’s sand. Bummer. They had bar hopped and were moving a bit slowly but ready to rock the day.
The sections from Lander to Ten Sleep are high speed gravel with nothing technical. The only highlights are the Red Rocks area and a cool canyon shortly before the end of the day. It is fine, but just a long day without much payoff. We would likely add some sections of pavement to shorten up the day if we do it again.
With that we checked into our cabin (same one as last year) at the Ten Sleep RV park. Another great spot with very friendly owners. It just so happened that everyone we met on the trails were in town and we all had a great time hanging out at the Ten Sleep Brewing. Too many beers, too many laughs, and not quite enough pizza later Mike and headed to town in search for food. Unfortunately we just missed closing time and ended up at the Big Horn Bar where we crashed a wedding party and got to spend some fun times with the locals. With midnight approaching it was time for bed with a 6:00am departure for my long drive back to Steamboat the next day.
Summary: No injuries, lots of beautiful country, new friends. Yep, I would call it a success on all counts.
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