Day 59: Jeffrey City, WY to Lander, WY (61 miles, 2838 total)

Our meandering tour through the deserted streets of Jeffrey City this morning was made more shocking once we heard from a former JC school alumna. We rode down streets full of grasses and shrubery past one empty foundation after another. There were 2 buildings labeled as Bachelor Apts #1 and #2 which, though now boarded up, looked as if they could house at least a few hundred people. Off in the distance, what looked like a modern, top-notch looking (even by today's standards) gym stood alone and in great contrast to its barren surroundings. What happened here is shocking. The bar-owner at the next town 20 miles away (which was really no more than a few houses, her gas station/convenience store, and her bar) filled us in. The uranium boom started in the 70's. The price was high and the town was reaping the benefits. The population of JC was close to 6500, not the 5000 we thought. Children were bussed from the surrounding areas to attend school there. Houses once stood on all!
of those empty foundations and trailers stood everywhere else. The bachelor apartments were always full. The gym housed an olympic size pool and there was a football field, baseball field, and tennis courts scattered around town.

Then, in 1980, the mines shut down. The lady we were talking to was in 5th grade at the time. She said that at the beginning of the school year, there were 3 classes of 5th graders, all with 25 to 30 students in them. Other grades were much the same. By the end of the year, only 18 5th graders remained and that was the largest class. The houses that stood on the foundations were sold for a mere $3000 a piece and were carted off to other towns. The uranium company owned the town and wanted to get rid of it so badly that they auctioned off whole blocks for $300. People from Georgia even bought one. Less than 100 people now remain and we're not that sure how they make it. It seems depressing and dismal.

Maybe that sad start put a damper on my energy, but I just felt like I was pedaling through mud today. I just couldn't make my legs go fast. The other 3 guys echoed my sentiments so a fairly easy day turned out to take a little longer than we thought it would. At least the scenery was gorgeous!

We rolled out of JC around 8:00 or so and headed mostly uphill to Sweetwater Station, where we met our friendly bar owner. Dale got a flat about 5 miles from the town so we went on to the Station to wait for him. After a long break, we heaved ourselves back onto our bikes for the remaining 40 miles into Lander. No stops were listed until Lander so we knew lunch would be a late one, especially with our sluggish legs and the headwind that was kicking up. Fortunately, 6 miles later we were treated to a very wonderful 5 mile descent at a 6% grade. I love it when gravity and momentum work in my favor! It was hard to keep my eyes on the road because the scenes unfolding before me at every turn were more beautiful than the last. At one point, there were 5 distinct types of mountains in view. Just to our right were the chunky rock mountains I described yesterday that look like one giant rock splitting into smaller chunks. Slighlty behind them were very smooth, banded mountains that!
looked like they were fresh off a potter's wheel. To our left were scraggly looking mountains covered in sagebrush. Ahead and to our left were mountains of bright red rock that jutted upwards to form mesas. Finally, in the far off distance were huge snow-capped peaks. It was almost too much to take in!

Just after crossing the Little PoPo Agie River, I noticed that Dale and Shawn were no longer behind us.
Turns out Dale had a 2nd flat and Shawn stopped with him. Jeff and I waited for a while, but then decided that we were so hungry that we had to get on into town. Our friendly bar lady recommended the Gannet Grill for lunch and she was right on the money. From salads to sandwiches to pizza, to microbrew beer, the place was fantastic.

We are camping behind a motel and right on the edge of the Big PoPo Agie River. For $8.50 we have grass, showers, and the glorious sound of water running by. It is great to think that we can "sleep in" again to that sound. The bike store that will be keeping our bikes and trailers while we are on our break doesn't open until 10:30 and we don't really need our rental car before that, so no rush in the AM!

We will be sad to leave the company of Shawn and Dale. Dale we will probably see again, but Shawn will be blasting on. It has been a fun week to be back with cycling buddies. We will continue to update our journal while we are on break but we won't be back on the road until next Monday. Keep on reading!

AKB

Note from Jeff: Sheish! I am having journal writing withdrawls here! I've been busy with spokes the last few nights and tonight I was bisy with a Snake River IPA! Anyway, I can't wait to post photos of Jeffrey City; the place was amazing. Wyoming itself has been amazing too. It is such a beautifully desolate state. I get the feeling that is one of the few states left were you can see land that has remained untouched by man since day one. Pronghorn Atelope, fox, and a rattlesnake, have all made an apearance. It my not be the most wealthy state, but it sure has a lot to offer. We saw a girl riding an awesome Bike Friday today; she was headed in the opposite direction. She said she loved it. We also put on our new tires tonight, so we are good to go to Oregon.- JAB