A late morning start was met with a slight wind that eventually turned into 30mph gusts. The crosswinds were gusting so strongly that I couldn't keep my bike (and myself) out of the middle of the road. I was nervous and frustrated as my bike leaned into the wind to no avail. After a little walk to get a break from the gusts and fear of being flattened, we must have a turned a small corner because we enjoyed a great tailwind to Jeffrey City then continuing until about 8 miles from Muddy Gap - our destination. Being whipped around for the final 8 miles, we limped into Muddy Gap. Though not the most luxurious or scenic of campsites, a pink trailer shields us from the wind. The 3 Fork Sinclair's gas station down the hill fed us microwave burritos, pizza, sarsaparilla and Snicker's ice cream bars.

Our northern route was vetoed because of large scale road construction. There actually wasn't a road at all. So we went south to Muddy Gap. The morning's ride was filled with ominous portents. The sky to the south darkened and soon blotted out the sun. The winds enveloped us and mad the first 30 miles difficult. At one point, the winds thrashed us on a 5 mile ascent. We had to stop and seek shelter and wait for the winds to abate just a bit. We finally decided to just walk the bikes up the rest of the hill and see what develops. Luckily Wyoming taketh and Wyoming giveth as well. The gusts of wind aligned itself with the road and propelled us forward for the next 40 miles.

The final 8 miles meg was leaning at about a 15-20 degree angle. We finally saw a sign for Muddy Gap but it was just a vacant intersection save for one gas station and a salvage yard. I asked an elderly man who was fixing a boat for a place to stay and he pointed to a grassy plot next to a trailer. Home at last. Tomorrow onto Casper and a warm shower and a hotel.