Day 20: Casper to Lusk, Wyoming

Rested with a full day off in Casper, we had an early start this morning to get going on our 107 mile ride to Lusk. It was another nearly empty day on the prairie. The only town of any size was Douglas where the liquor store had a sign that read "Drive Thru Rear Window". Otherwise there were only a couple of seemingly uninhabited places including one where the sign post said "Lost Springs - Population 1". Lusk is somewhat more thriving and is interesting because it was once a stagecoach stop on the route between Cheyenne and Deadwood.

The second weekend in July is a hot time in Lusk. For more than fifty years locals have staged a pageant reenacting an important local event involving conflict with Indians, "The Legend of Rawhide". A young man on a wagon train passing through Lusk had vowed to shoot the first Indian he saw. When a group of friendly Indians approached he shot and killed an Indian maiden. This angered the Indians who called for reinforcements and prepared for revenge. The shooter then offered himself as a sacrifice to save the others and was skinned alive. Sounds like a miss to me and way past my bedtime.

The ride was essentially pleasant and I am getting quite casual about riding 100 miles or more. The temperatures were reasonable, the shoulders not always cracked and debris strewn and the winds were helpful. We had about 15 miles on Interstate 25 (where the old road was swallowed up) and toward the end of the ride a couple of spectacular thunderstorms off to the north-- not close enough to make me nervous. I pulled in to the motel in Lusk after 8 hours and 10 minutes of riding time.