I’m super psyched to add a new voice to the blog. Greg S. has wrote up his first few days on the road. He has some photos he’d love to add as well, but we just don’t have the bandwidth to do it at the moment. I don’t want to delay the text version while we wait, so here’s the first cut.

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Day 1 (31 miles)
Traveled from San Antonio to Jackson Hole airport with bike in a box.  Met Paul at the airport and assembled my bike and bags.  Was also greeted by Greg McFarland, Dean, Chris and Dean’s son.

After bike assembly, Paul and I road to Colter Bay Village.  On the way we entered the Grand Teton National Park.  I stopped at the entrance and received a free admission card because of my VA disability rating.  Then the attendant charged Paul $20 to ride his bike through the park. Point of fact, Paul had been riding through the park without being charged previously.  Then when they noticed he was with me, they decided to charge him.  Sorry about that bro.

The ride to Colter Bay Village was on smooth bike trails and road surfaces.  It was mostly flat and we had great weather.  Great way to start the trip.  The cabin at Colter Bay Village was actually a tent with a wood stove and bunks.  There were showers for charge and a toilet facility about half a mile away.  No problems.  Everything worked out well.

Day 2. (53 miles)

We left Colter Bay Village about 8AM after stopping for coffee at their grocery store.  

We met some other tour dividers at the grocery store and as each of us looked at what the others were using for gear, we also discussed how to cross the Great Basin between Pinedale and Rawlins Wyoming.  Water resupply options are limited so we asked about the other people’s plans then, instead of taking notes, we just listened and then forgot all their wisdom almost instantly.  Our current plan is to call the ACA once we get to Pinedale so we have all water resupply options clarified so that we can plan how much water to bring from point to point.

The ride for the day started out nicely on pavement and we made it. About 25 miles in with little effort.  That all changed as we entered a 14/15 mile climb in the dirt.  I’m not much of a climber and usually only experience rolling hills at most in Texas.  The prolonged and consistent climb took a lot out of me, but was very achievable at slow speeds.  We finished the day going downhill to the Lava Mountain Lodge where we were greeted with a room, dinner, and laundry facilities. 

Day 3. (58 miles)

We left Lava Mountain Lodge at about 730 after stopping for breakfast food and a little standard bike maintenance in the morning.  We rode down hill about 6 miles the started an 8 mile climb.  Not as bad as the day prior, but these days are having a cumulative effect on my performance condition so it was a little harder of a climb for me.  

Jerry, one of the tour dividers, was on the route at the same time so we talked a bit and it was nice to see another person working through the same stuff in slightly different way.  Some of the things he did differently included exclusive use of paper maps to navigate and he also used some type of ultraviolet pen to purify his water.  

After the climb was over we were pleased to see mostly downhill for the rest of the way.  The reality turned out to be that the roads made going downhill challenging as well.  There was lots of loose gravel so going slow was essential because of loss of traction while descending.  Then came the big rocks and washboards.  Initially going through these obstacles was fun; in a fun downhill mountain bike kind of way. We paid a price though. It took a lot of energy to descend and each descent was slower than it would have been if we had better roads.  We made it through, but not as fast or in as good of a physical condition as I initially hoped for. No problem.  Our plan was and is adjustable. We stopped earlier than originally planned and wound up at Kendall Valley Lodge, which is about 30 miles north west of Pinedale Wyoming.

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The group has changed dramatically over the last week. It’s a little convoluted, so I’ll bullet point.

• Day 12. Paul and Greg M. take a rest day in Lima. Dean and Chris move on so they can make a scheduled rendezvous with Dean’s son.
• Day 13 – 15. Paul and Greg M. continue on but switch up the route in order to head to Jackson, WY.
• Day 16. Everything changes. Greg S. Flies into Jackson Hole airport, gets his bike ready and officially joins the tour. Yay! BUT, there is major suckage as well. Greg M. decides that it’s time for him to leave the tour, and with much emotion I say goodbye to my best friend.
• Day 16. For one brief moment, we’re all together at JAC. Both Gregs, Dean, Chris and me, sharing tales of the road, saying goodbye, and finally driving and riding our separate directions.
• Day 17 and on…. the tour continues with Paul and Greg S.

This marks two weeks on the road for me, and it looks like I’ve put in about a third of the miles. I’m right on track for my 6 week goal. After yesterday’s slog through headwinds and bad roads, we decided to hit the highway for the first part of the day. The first part was awesome, but then we hit bad roads again for the second half. Oh well, that’s the way it goes. Still, it was beautiful Idaho country until we got to pass over into beautiful Wyoming country. Idaho, we barely knew ye.

This was a long, slow, windy, very bumpy ride through sage brush, a wildlife preserve that didn’t appear to have any wildlife, and through a few very scenic mountains and lowlands you’ll probably never hear of unless you’re right next to them (or read this blog).

After yesterday’s beating, a rest day was in order. Dean and Chris did not have this luxury because they had plane tickets, hotel reservations and a meetup with Dean’s son in a couple of days. But Greg M. and I decided to stay in Lima, MT for a day of nothing. There’s not a lot to say about this except that after the horrible day 11, it needed to happen and had the desired effect.

One nice bonus, we ate at “Pete’s Hotel” in Lima, and it was awesome. Truly great food. You could plunk it down in Arlington and it would quickly become one of your favorites. All this from a town of exactly two restaurants.

This day was utter hell. Not only the worst day on the tour, but the single worst day of cycling I’ve ever experienced. Like so many bad days, it started out with an inaccurate weather report.

I remember the weather report very well because there was a good chance we were going to get rained on. Most of the day was a 10% to 20% chance, but for an hour in the early afternoon, the chance jumped to 40%. They said to expect accumulation of 0.04″. We set out with that in mind, wearing rain coats, and when we got rained on early in the morning, even rain pants. The rain was cool and the air was cool, but not unpleasant, especially if you’re working up a sweat. We had a hard day ahead of us and expected to reach a 7900 foot peak.

Some of us had trouble in the mud generated by the morning rain. Bikes became unrideable. It was unpleasant, but we worked it out and got through. When we reached the apex of our climb, we saw storm clouds ahead, and were pretty sure we’d get wet again. With that in mind, Greg M. and Chris, the two most at risk in the mud, rode ahead in an attempt to outrun the storm.

The rain came. Big, fat drops. It picked up the pace and drove harder. If it behaved the the morning storm, this would be no big deal. It would soon back off and turn to light rain once again. But it was not at all like that storm. This one began pelting us, and the rain began to sting, and that’s when we realized it was actually hail.

The video below tells most of the tail of what happened next, but not all of it. Natural rain is notoriously hard to catch on camera. The storm was driving and relentless, but you don’t really see it, even though it kept pelting us every minute of this ride. Another thing is the temperature. It dropped from ~78 degrees to ~34 degrees in less than an hour. We were freezing. But because of the very heavy rain, we were reluctant to stop to put on extra clothes for fear of soaking through the new layers before we could put them to use. We were looking for shelter, but as you can see in the video, all we have is sage brush as far as the eye can see. Not even a tree to huddle under. We knew where we were, but not the details. Sure, we were on the right road, but how long until we see a farm house? How long until we see a car? We were at very real risk of hypothermia, and when we did finally find shelter, we were shaking uncontrollably as we tried to put on more clothing.

The weather eventually got better, but there were still many miles to go. It was an 80 mile day, the longest of the tour so far, and that’s fully loaded with gear and a 7900″ hill in the middle. But we were all strong, we were going to make it. Except in all the haste, confusion, and pain of the storm, we forget to eat. And we bonked.

For those of you who don’t know what bonking is, it’s basically running out of gas. You put out energy to ride hard, but don’t take enough in, and your body starts to rebel. The last 7-10 miles were flat, and many paved, and despite that, I could barely make it. When I showed up to the cabin, I was beaten down. Greg M. and I were sharing a room, and he suggested a hot shower. When I got it, the water immediately started to cool. The water heater was tapping out, too.

The video I’m going to link to, the same one from another post, is not actually the worst. There’s one more where the ice gets thicker. I’ll try to post that one later. For now, I’m tired. But I’ll ride tomorrow. Not giving up.

This was a fun day for a bunch of reasons. To start with, it was all pavement, so we got done fast. Nice change of pace. Then we got to camp. First time camping with the whole crew (we’ve mostly been staying in cabins and motels). And then there was the ghost town at Bannack State Park where we were pitching our tents. The town was the first capital of the Montana territory, and people flocked their for the most Western ghost town of reasons… Gold! I really wish Laury were here. She would have loved it. But I am bringer her back a very small surprise. Don’t tell her 😉

I feel bad that I didn’t get any pictures of the tents or other camping activity. Maybe next time.

What a day of riding! Like many of our days, we got to go up a hill, then we got to go down a hill. I highly recommend you set up your rides this way, because it’s hella fun letting gravity do its thing after you’ve spent all day working hard. Especially if you’re dropping into the beautiful Wise River Valley on a road just steep enough to be fast, and just slow enough so you can look around and enjoy.

Day 8 was an easy day on paper, but after Day 7’s excitement, the short, uneventful ride felt plenty tough and we were quite tired at the end. We ended the day in Butte, which was mined extensively for copper over the last decade and left an ecological disaster in it’s wake. And that’s kind of a metaphor for the small city. It’s a mix of super interesting history with the terrific Montana people we’ve come to expect in this great state, but also sketchy stuff you’d really rather avoid.

We’ve been out of cell range for the last few days, so I haven’t been able to update the blog, but a whole lot has happened, so a bunch of posts are coming. To whet your appetite, check out this video. I’ll give a more detailed description in another post, but for now, I’ll just say that if you can’t watch the whole thing, definitely skip to the end to compare/contrast. (There may be a few f-bombs. I think you’ll forgive me as you watch things play out).