Day 10 Rock Creek to Farson
55 Miles

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It was cold last night. We completely zipped the tent up and Rhielle still froze. She only brought a polar fleece blanked even though I told her that in this area it was likely to get cold at night. The clouds were low, just above the hilltops, and it smelled like rain so we stayed in our tent and slept in a little longer. About 7:00 I woke the kids up and we put on our warmest clothes including our rain gear. I think that Rhielle had seven layers on at one time (that amounted to everything she had). We heated up water for oatmeal and sorely missed that we hadn't brought any hot chocolate along. Hot Gatoraid didn't seem to have the same appeal. After oatmeal we packed up camp and were on the road by 8:10. It is a little more than 10 miles of dirt road to get from Rock Creek to the highway. It is all rollers until you get close to Atlantic City and then it turns into big hills. Three of them were very steep and long. We finally reached the highway about 10:30 and headed for South Pass. It was really fun to be back on pavement. We could go so fast and we could ride hills that would require us to walk when they were they dirt. We met two bikers doing the Divide Ride and visited with them. They had ridden 78 miles on dirt the day before. I wish I was in that good of shape. We reached the South Pass rest area shortly after noon and ate lunch. Peanut butter bagels are such a wonderful lunch especially when you pile on the peanut butter. Add some applesauce, a granola bar and water and you have one good lunch. We blew over South Pass and headed for Farson 35 miles away. When we pulled out of the false parting of the ways site the best thing of the trip happened, Spencer took the lead. Rhielle and I tucked in behind him in a draft line and Spencer lead the pleton the remaining 25 miles to Farson. This was the most fun time riding that I have had on the whole trip. Rhielle was right behind him and I brought up the tail. Rhielle was gently coaching Spencer about his riding technique and when to shift. They are riding identical bikes so she can do this better than I can as my gearing is set up very different. To top it off we had a slight tail wind and we made good time. It was about the most perfect couple of hours of bicycle riding I've ever had in my life. As we were pulling into Farson there was a wall of rain and lightening to the north of us. We had planned to stop at the general store and get a big ice cream cone but we headed straight to the motel and checked in. After three nights of rough camping we really wanted a shower. Rhielle and I showered and while Spencer was in the shower the two of us rode to the store to buy food for tomorrow and some snacks for tonight. We planned to eat dinner and breakfast at the cafe. While we were still in the store the storm hit hard. We holed up in the store until it let up some and then made a dash for our bikes and headed back up the road to the motel. We got soaked. Right after we got to the motel the electricity went off. The cafe was not open with the electricity off so we sat down and consumed our snacks. I have been wanting some milk for the last two days. We bought a gallon and I think that I drank at least half of it. As I am writing this the storm has passed but the power is still off. Its 7:30 and Rhielle and Spencer are asleep. Maybe I'm starting to get used to this. Even though my legs are sore, I had my second ibuprofen free day today.