Catching up ground

I woke up and bid farewell to Jim. I started out of the park thinking it was going to be an easy day because I had just crossed the continental divide, which means all the water now flows to the Atlantic, not the Pacific. Boy was I wrong about being easy. I left the park and had a strong headwind and a mountain to climb. I was still in the Rockies, so it is not all flat just yet. I rode about 9 miles over the next 2 hours and it was not very enjoyable with the wind at my face. I planned on getting 100 miles everyday after Glacer to catch up some ground and I thought it was going to be a very long day. When I got over the mountain the roads started changing directions and the wind now became a tailwind (awesome) the wind was blowing east and I was heading east, so it ended up being a great ride. The hills were becoming flatter and there were no longer any more stunning moutains, just rolling hills of farmland and cows. I was enjoying the tailwind and the flat roads very much. I was able to crank out 125 miles that day and it felt great. I got to a little town called Chester where I was going to find a place to crash when I saw another biker coming from the other direction. I asked how he was doing and it was a LONG day for him because my tailwind that I loved so much was his headwind all day. He rode about 50 miles and said it felt like riding over 100. I asked if he was staying in town as well and he said "yes" we went to look for the park in town to sleep in, but it wasn't there. So, we rode around and found the school and there was a nice field behind the school that would give us cover. His name was Michael and he was from Ohio. He is on a road trip from Maine to Seattle and then down the west coast to San Diego and then over to Florida. His trip will take him about 10,000 miles. He is studying English in college and they gave him some money to help with the trip, which he is going to do a project on. Good luck to you, Michael!! Cheers