The Tour de Wyoming concluded its 28th annual cycling expedition where it began six days prior — in the Powell High School parking lot — following a 378-mile long tour of the Big Horn Basin.

Starting with a loop of the area between Powell and Lovell on July 12, the tour moved north to Red Lodge, returned to Wyoming through Cody, completed an out-and-back section down the South Fork of the Shoshone River, followed the Sheep Mountain Uplift to Lovell, and returned to Powell on July 17. By the end of the route, participants surmounted over 14,000 feet of elevation gain.

“It was a challenge this year with the heat, that took true grit from the riders,” founder Amber Travsky said. “Not that it wasn’t already difficult enough, but this year the heat was more sustained than usual.”

The route was decided by the organization’s all-volunteer committee following last year’s successful trip through Fremont County and the Wind River Mountains. This trip marks the eighth visit to the Big Horn Basin by the group since their founding in 1997.

Members of the tour are determined via a lottery system in order to be able to comfortably accommodate roughly 280 cyclists, including the planning committee. Logistical considerations include luggage transportation, overnight accommodations, mapping through RideWithGPS, rest stops, mechanical support, catering, tour merchandise and entertainment.

“One area that’s really grown in recent years are the people who follow along with RVs,” Travsky said. “We’ve got people who’ve been doing the tour for years now who’ll follow up in a caravan so they don’t have to sleep on the ground or have more consistent access to air conditioning.”

Despite the grueling nature of the tour, participants were encouraged to take advantage of daily yoga sessions provided by Theresa Hansen of Little Lotus Yoga in Cheyenne, morning coffee provided by Coal Creek Coffee in Laramie and massages courtesy of Kathy Milks of Dynamic Endeavors Massage Therapy, also in Laramie.

The route for next year will be decided around Thanksgiving, with the registration lottery becoming available in February.

For more information regarding future tours by the group across Wyoming, visit the website at tourdewyoming.org.