Fort Washaki, Lander and Sweetwater Station

2 days of adventure. Fourth of July parades are awesome.

My phone potentially ate my last entry, and I'm not retyping it.

Here's the last few days in a nutshell: visited Sackajaweas grave site, celebrated the 4th of July in Lander by bicycling in their parade (we didn't ask, we just jumped in), drank a few beers at Lander Brewery, biked a little, and melted from extreme heat. So I ate a lot of ice cream!

McKinley and I have decided to buy a tandem to take on our next tour. We bike at the exact same pace and are always in the same gear, so how neat would it be to be on the same bike?! The only downside would be that we ride side by side as often as possible to chat, and we wouldn't be able to on a tandem. Basically, I've met my perfect cycling partner; we are both still amazed that we have the same pace and riding style (a million breaks and siestas).

Switching gears. (Will, this is for you). So I was asked for a gear review, so all non cyclists could fast forward through this.

Panniers: love my ortliebs, though my left one now has gashes in it from my fall off of Lolo Pass. They truly are waterproof, and have enough room to fit all of my gear.

Pedals: love love my Shimano spd's and mountain bike shoes. I'll probably switch to keen spd sandals after the rockies though, my feet get overheated easily. The pedals are holding up great.

Tools: I haven't needed more than a multi tool...yet...but I'm loving my topeak tool. It also has a chain tool, which I did use once to remove links/give a lesson on removing pins

Tires: schwalbe marathon plus, and not a single flat...yet. hoping to keep it at zero. McKinley has the stock tires (continental city contact) that mine also had, and she has had 5 flats.

Rear rack: topeak something or other, I forget the model name. It was not my original rack, but so far its held up great. I'm still waiting on my box to return home and get my Tubus cargo rack to finish the trip.

Front rack: a crappy aluminum converted rear rack, which typically only carries 5 lbs max and is doing just fine. Not my first choice, but it gets the job done.

Pump: topeak road morph-don't leave home without it.

Saddle: Brooks Flyer S. Even thouh it has nearly 2,000 miles on it, its still not soft enough. But I love it and I'm very comfortable on it. Next tour I may choose something with a center cut out for less squash.

Next tour I will get small, cheap front panniers to stabilize the bike. McKinley and I swapped bikes for a few miles so I could feel the difference, and it definitely helps to have weight in the front.

Hope that helps, Will! :)

Shooting for Rawlins tomorrow, bigish day.