Douglas, WY
Total Distance: 59.5 milesRide Time: 3 hours 20 min
Avg. Speed: 16.71 mph
Max Speed: 38.1 mph
Bike: Another short day today and I wanted to get to the town early so I could write my blog and do some bike maintenance. The library wasn’t far so Rich and I rode to it and I was able to post a few entries. After that I changed my chain, break pads, and handle bar tape. I have a pretty sweet ride now! Everyone pretty much lounged around until dinner. Dinner was at the pastor’s ranch from Lusk. It was amazing. They have 17,000 acres with 250 cattle, sheep, and horses. They have another 20,000 that they lease to another family. The ranch has been in the family since the home stead act, which is pretty amazing. One of the pastor’s daughters let us each ride her horse. Lauren went first because she rides all the time and has her own horse. I told her we were going to race but she didn’t go fast because she wasn’t sure if the lady wanted her to. Then I got on and took off, I kind of remembered how to ride from when I took lessons. I at least knew how to make it go fast. It was funny at least. I think I was barely at a trot. Later after everyone had a turn Lauren rode again but much faster, so I guess she won. Dinner was soft tacos and chocolate chip cookies, which were amazing. The pastor came home and between him and his daughter I was able to answer all the questions I’ve had while riding though the west. I’ll just list them below so it’s easier for me J
-They are only allowed a certain amount of water, which is regulated though water rights depending on who was their first.
-The cattle are raised until they are about 1 year old. They are then sold to a feed lot who feeds them grain before they are slaughtered. They sell for a little over $1 a pound and they are usually about 600 lbs.
-Almost all the farmers in the US use hybrid plants now a days.
-The huge irrigation systems that go around in circles actually move with little electric motors in each of the wheels.
-The problems with the cattle and sheep are: coyotes, wolves, mt. lions, and eagles. The eagles actually eat the baby cattle and sheep.
It was interesting to hear how against the wolves and mt. lions he was because I personally think they should be able to live where they want. But after talking I realized that it’s really hard to be a farmer and the federal government protects the mt. lions and wolves but doesn’t have any system to repay the farmer for lost livestock. I know that if someone that owned a store had someone come in and steal something worth $600 every night, they would do something about it, like an alarm system. But farmers can’t because it’s illegal to shoot the animals. It was very interesting to say the least. They are allowed to shoot coyotes though and the issue with that is that a lot of states are trying to outlaw guns. This is one of the only ways for the farmers to protect what they have. His point was that criminals are going to get guns no matter how outlawed they are and he being a law abiding citizen won’t be able to protect his livelihood. It just opened my eyes to what type of people are fighting for what and why they fight for it. What do you guys think?
Ride on!
Share/Send
posted by Todd Johnson @ 10:21 AM
Comments: 0
