Help with route in WY

[ReCycledNE]

Happy New Year everyone!

Looking to ride out to Yellowstone this summer from Nebraska and need some help from anyone who has ridden Wyoming.  I have the Adventure Cycling map for section 5 of the Transamerica route but that only covers from Rawlins, Wy to Yellowstone.  Section 6 doesn't help because it drops down into Colorado.  I need some help finding a route to get from Cheyenne over to Rawlins.  I'd appreciate any information someone might have with that area?

[jphatcher]

  Depends upon where and when you are starting out from Nebraska.  I rode across Wyoming this past summer with a friend as we traveled across the US.  Our route was of our own design and worked out well for us, but a bike shop in Ogalalla, Neb told us that if we were later in the summer we would have had major problems with goatheads on the road.  We, going West to East, entered Yellowstone from the West Yellowstone entry, crossed through the park and exited East over Silvan Pass and onto Cody, Wyoming.  We traveled South out of Cody to Shoshone, Wy.  From Shoshone, Wy we then proceeded to Casper, Wyoming and onto the route to Scottsbluff and Ogalalla.  Crossed Nebraska essentially following the Oregon Trail through Grand Island and then down to Lincoln.  You could do a reverse of the route.  Be well prepared for not having a lot of services on sections, many of the little towns have very little to provide, but the people were wonderful.

[jamawani]

I have lived in Wyoming more than 20 years and have biked nearly every paved, non-Interstate mile of pavement in the state.  I would urge you not to ride from Cheyenne to Rawlins, but rather to ride from Scottsbluff through Casper.  In the Panhandle, Hwy 92 generally has far less traffic than US 26.  Hwy 29 in far western Neb is a lovely, empty road - then connecting with US 20 heading west.  I prefer that to using US 26 thru Torrington to the service roads paralleling I-25.  From Orin Jct to Douglas there is a parallel paved service road - then Hwys 93 & 95 keep you from having to ride on I-25.  US 20/26 heads west to Shoshoni - great milkshakes at Yellowstone Drug - and Riverton and you can then continue on over Togwatee Pass along the TA.

Be aware that, heading west, you will encounter significant headwinds which are almost always worst in the afternoon.  If you are doing a loop with a return trip, I would suggest the section thru Sylvan Pass to Cody - Wapiti Canyon along US 14/16.  If you have your cycling legs by then, I might suggest continuing over the Bighorn Mountains - fabulous wildflowers - to Buffalo and then via Kaycee and Wright to Newcastle - then through the southern Black Hills to Hwy 2 and to Crawford, Nebraska. 
Hwy 2 in far northwestern Neb is empty and magical.

[ReCycledNE]

Wow, lot's of great information to chew on, thanks!  I've ridden many miles around Nebraska....the sandhills are a beautiful ride!  I'm admittedly a novice outside of the state however and was really only considering the route from Rawlins up to the park because the Adventure Cycling map did such a great job of laying out the details.  My son and I were going to start our ride somewhere along the NE/WY boarder and just east of Cheyenne seemed like a logical choice to eventually connect to the Adventure Cycling map section I have.  The goal is to end in Yellowstone where other family members would meet us for a family vacation in the park.

Having said all that, I think I need to re-assess the plan and look for a start town other than Cheyenne and one that gives us the number of days of riding we're hoping for, but also allows for a more northly route as you gents are recommending.

Stay close, I'm bound to have more questions...

Thanks so much for the replies!