It’s your attitude

LaBarge to Kemmerer, Wyoming Friday, June 28, 2024

The problem with most blogs is the boring detail and the whining. I am no exception. And if I’m whining, it’s usually about the wind. Especially if it’s unanticipated.

I knew today was going to be a battle against the wind, so at least I was prepared for it. I managed to leave at 6:40 AM and log some miles before it got too intense. Still, there was quite a stretch when I was crawling uphill against a 30 mph headwind. When you’re in your lowest gear, just struggling to stay on the shoulder takes all your concentration. Maintaining a full tuck with a death grip on the handlebars, unable to shift around on your seat, look at the scenery, or hear anything on your headphones above the wind noise—well, it’s easier if you knew it was coming. Or as Carly Simon said,

It don’t really matter
What steps you choose to do
The only thing matters is your attitude

Not that there was really any scenery to look at. Or any place to stop. The best I could find was a cattle guard, where at least I could prop my bicycle up, and sit on the tire on the other side and have a snack. This photo says it all.

On the right is one of the thousands of snow fences I saw.

At least it was cool, starting out at 48° and never getting above 70. At the top of that big hill I was hoping for a view back to the Wind River Range, but it was lost in the haze. I caught myself starting to bitch and moan about the bleakness all around me, when I recalled some wise words from my Denver hostess three years ago, after my snarky comments about a different part of Wyoming.

Last night….since this journey of yours appears to be about discovery of all sorts, and not just high points…I almost commented/called you out for your choice of words “weird” and “barren wasteland”.

Au contraire mon frère. Having lived in the West for a while, I’ve come to appreciate even the beauty of the dry, flat, and seemingly unfruitful. In that spirit, I offer a little Proust….

“A pair of wings, a different mode of breathing, which would enable us to traverse infinite space, would in no way help us, for, if we visited Mars or Venus keeping the same senses, they would clothe in the same aspect as the things of the earth everything that we should be capable of seeing. The only true voyage of discovery, the only fountain of Eternal Youth, would be not to visit strange lands but to possess other eyes, to behold the universe through the eyes of another, of a hundred others, to behold the hundred universes that each of them beholds, that each of them is; and this we can contrive with an Elstir, with a Vinteuil; with men like these we do really fly from star to star.”

I had to look up those names—they are two of Proust’s characters, one an abstract impressionist, the other a sonata composer— but my Denver friend was right, you have to look at alien landscapes with new eyes, with the eyes of another, and imagine the perspective of the people who chose to live here. Once again, it’s your attitude.

Arriving at last at Kemmerer (population 2,415), largest town and seat of sprawling Lincoln County, home of James Cash Penney, who founded the department store; I had fun talking with Dave and James, a father and son from Salt Lake City, who come up here every summer to fish in the Hams Fork River. James is one of those awesome long distance motorcyclists, who did 48 states in less than a month. Dave is a bus driver, touchingly concerned about my safety, since he’s seen so many bike riders behaving irresponsibly.

Approaching my Best Western motel, I had to laugh. I always want to book ahead, especially over the weekend, but in so doing I miss a lot of small motels that would be cheaper. This one in particular was obviously open, but did not appear on any search engines or Google maps. I’m sure it’s a fleabag, but that’s fine. All I want is a shower and a bed.

Distance 52 miles, 2,488 total. Time 7 hours with stops. Elevation gain 2,187 feet

©️ 2024 Scott Luria