The next day, which was Thursday, I got my very first flat in the over one thousand miles so far on the tour. It was no accident. It was fate. It happened right in front of the driveway of Hruza Rock Shop. There were no other driveways for miles in either direction. I walked about 50 feet to the shop, and met a very nice lady who sold rocks, wholesale.

I was amazed at what rocks really cost. She sold to dealers by the pound. Jade sold for about $3 a pound. A handful of rubies (small ones) was about $5.

In 40 minutes, I was on the road again, and took a long, slow climb up to Beaver Rim. On account of the heat, this one was worse than Togwotee.

All day long, only a few cars passed me in either direction. Just my luck, that a car decided to come by just as I was relieving myself at the top of Beaver Rim. I pulled it in quickly, thinking I was done. Then I realized: I wasn’t. It was messy. Fortunately, in the arid desert air, both I and the pavement were dry inside of two minutes.

I passed the town of Sweetwater Station, which turned out to be just a gas station.

A climb with a good tailwind brought me to Jeffrey City, which the BikeCentennial map said had a population of 1000. 20 was more like it! Mrs. Hruza had told me that it was a ghost town. The Uranium ran out. There were lots of hastily built stores and apartments, but almost everything was closed and deserted.

That evening, I made it to Lamont, Wyoming. One restaurant, one motel.

The cafe was nothing more than a trailer. When I walked in, everybody turned around. I didn’t think it was my fabulous charisma. I was, of course, the only cyclist in the place, but also the only person capable of taking a real suntan. In spite of this, the food was excellent, and Jody, the waitress, was very nice.

I decided to pay the $17 for a motel room that night. This was nothing more than another trailer. But it had TV, and even got a channel!

I began to realize that except for Yellowstone, all of Wyoming was a wasteland. Hot, dusty, and oh, so dry. Even when it was 105 degrees, it wasn’t uncomfortable. I would stop at a store, wait 60 seconds, and all my sweat would be dry.