onsdag 2. juli 2014

Day 20: Overheating

111.4 km

The intense heat in the greenhouse-like environment of the tent left me gasping for water the first conscious moments of the day. I entered the café after packing up and ordered the famous pancake that was the size of a large cake, with the diameter of a medium sized pizza and a thickness equal to about 4 cm and I couldn't even finish a quarter of it! The lady that was both the cook and the waitress told me I could have a complimentary ziplock bag to take whatever I couldn't finish with me. I had through the internet followed a guy who had biked around the country and I remembered in particular this place and an interview he made with the lady that worked here. She found it extremely funny that that a guy all the way from Norway had actually seen her before in a town in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, and we shared a good laugh. 

After having spent some time to cool off in the café, I set off into the desolate country I was surrounded by. I had to keep a brisk pace and sprint in the uphills to outrun the swarm of mosquitos that would attack me as soon I slowed down. The whole day was pretty dull and I was eager to get through these endless prairies as fast as I could. I felt that the one picture I took was representative enough for the riding this day. 



After having to ride through a 17 km construction zone through one dense giant dust cloud and over a decent size hill, I was pretty exhausted. A combination of the constant sun and having suppressed the need for food in favor of getting there faster, made the last part of the cycling very unpleasant. By the time I got to Rawlins I was so tired and overheated I started to feel dizzy. I stopped at several motels trying to push prices before I finally got a room with a nice shower. I laid in the bathtub until the level of similarity to a raisin became too high, and eventually got out to get some food. All signs showed that the water intake had been sufficient, but the sun and the lack of energy took their toll and I was feeling so warm I had to lay soaking towels all over my body to reduce the intense heat I was experiencing. 

I spent the rest of the evening trying to combat the dizziness and the high body temperature and decided that biking tomorrow wouldn't be in the best interest of the trip, so an unscheduled rest day seemed fit for tomorrow. 

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