Steve finished up early yesterday, rolling into Lander at about 2:30. He said it was starting to get pretty hot, so he was glad that he got an early start. He also had a couple “interesting tidbits” to share.
Up until this point, he had not run into any other touring cyclists. There have been a few people riding their bikes, but nobody on a long distance trip. Today, he ran into 3 different pairs of people.
The first pair was a couple that flew into Denver from Germany and were riding north to Canada.
The second pair was a father and son duo that was riding from Charlotesville to Portland (opposite of Steve). They also were from Germany.
The third pair was an older couple that was riding from Washington DC to somewhere on the west coast. And… also from Germany.
Crazy as it sounds, none of these groups knew each other, although two had met at one point. One of the riders mentioned that he could tell Steve was American because he was wearing a helmet. None of the 6 other riders had been wearing one. I guess it’s something that they just don’t do.
Tidbit number 2. Steve was walking through Lander and noticed a house with a sign outside proclaiming the residence as the home of “The Pop Bottle Man”. Hmmm…..
When I talked to him, he was in town and was probably going to pass it again on the way back to the camp site, but he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to stop and find out what this Pop Bottle Man was all about. I did some checking this morning and interesting enough the only mention of him on the Internet so far is from another cross-country cyclist who apparently got some fresh tomatoes from him (scroll all the way down).
We’ll find out more tonight as to whether Steve stopped in or not.
The Pop Bottle Man did have lots of pop bottles lining the windows of his garage and house. The pickup truck in the drive way had “Peach Boy” and “Tomato Man” stenciled on the side of the truck. No one was home when I walked by. Too bad. A fresh tomato would have tasted good.