June 29

 75.4 miles to Clearmont.  Another long day on tap.

I got up before 6 and was on the road at 6:30.  It was cold and the wind was blowing already.  I had on every piece of clothing I brought with me and I was still cold.  One big problem is that as I am working hard going uphill I am hot and sweating.  Then the wind starts to evaporate the sweat and all of a sudden I'm freezing.  It's a challenge to maintain temperature regulation.  

Despite what the girl at the lodge said yesterday I reached the top in 12.1 miles.  It was too cold to stay up there so I took a quick picture and started the descent.

The descent from the mountain top was crazy.  As the road wound itself around the mountain, the wind would sometimes be at your back and other times right in your face.  Going downhill my speeds ranged from 6.7 MPH to 40 MPH.  About 28 miles from the top of the hill I met 3 cyclists going up and we chatted for a few minutes.  They had a long way to go (they were going to a campground about 5 miles past the top) and it was all uphill and mostly against the wind.  I bet they had another 5-6 hours of riding ahead of them.  

I made it to the town of Buffalo at the base of the mountain and stopped for lunch before heading out on the last 30 miles of the day.  I also had to stop at the store and buy dinner for tonight and breakfast and snacks for the next day because there are no stores or gas stations for over 100 miles between Buffalo and Gillette.  That's amazing.  There's just nothing out there except long, long empty roads.

Population 26!!!

The big city - population 116.

Months ago I had contacted the Town Hall of Clearmont about pitching my tent there because it was too far to go from Buffalo to Gillette (over 100 miles) without places to stop for food and water.  The clerk said I could camp next to the church and even use their shower.  Well, when I got to the Clearmont Town Hall the clerk I spoke with was no longer there and no one knew what I was talking about.  I rode over to the church and met an old woman (Shirley) who lived next to the church and also had keys to the church.  She said she would call the pastor and proceeded to let me in the church.  She showed me a room where I could sleep, the shower, and kitchen!!  Soon the pastor came and we all sat down and had a nice conversation for almost a hour.  Turns out the pastor has a son who lives in Bloomsburg!!  After that they both left and said the place was mine for the night.  How wonderful.

Pastor Mark and Shirley

It was a pleasure meeting pastor Mark and Shirley and having time to talk to them.  That's what makes these trips so memorable.  It's also one of the things that has been missing on this trip.  More on that later.