Today we broke up into riding groups via geographical locations. I wasn't sure whether I'd be placed as a Chicago representative or North Carolina representative, but I ended up in the group that I'm pretty sure should have been just called miscellaneous or everybody else. It was me (Chicago), Brady (Oregon), Dan (Ohio), Patricia and Katrina (both Arizona). They called it the Wild West and Midwest... but psh...
Anyway, the day started with an early climb up the side of a typical Rockies mountain, meaning long, long but very gradual. Near the summit, we ran into a beautiful lake that we just knew we had to have lunch there. After spending what seemed like an eternity there, we finally rode up the remaining half mile up to the summit and took a ton of pictures. As it is whenever we arrive at beautiful places, it was very emotional to remember that Jamie should have been here with us, with us on the trip all along. But to the best that we can, we honor her (Emily Lake is riding Jamie's bike today) and remember her.
The day became a lot tougher as we descended down the mountain. First, we encountered a crazy headwind that just made it impossible to go much faster than 25 mph, which might sound not so bad, but seeing as my usual goal is to reach 50mph at some point down the mountain, it wasn't all that great... We even had a few uphills on the descent (which I just don't understand... ok I do, but it makes descending less fun *sigh *). I also had a flat tire mid descent, and thankfully I managed to flag down Dan, who has a very bad but kind of functional frame pump.
I look like a giant in this picture (standing on hill)... the one time I'll look tall *sigh*
The continental divide, we meet yet again
6% is gradual (not quite as thrilling as the Appalachians, in which you just drop down the side of the mountain), but 17 miles of it isn't bad
As we headed into Jackson, we realized that the route had a couple of problems. The only road that went from where we were to Gros Ventures camp site (actually outside of Jackson) is terrible terrible gravel, which our team tries to avoid at all cost. However, the other way into it, we'd been told, adds some number of miles and more importantly, the shoulder is not so great. We decided half of the team would shuttle, while the other half would ride into Jackson, just to save some time and gas. I was originally in the group to be shuttled, my bike loaded up on the roof and everything, but at the last second I changed my mind and offered someone else my seat so I could ride. And I'm really glad I did. We knew the Tetons were close and that we'd be encountering them soon, but the views that we saw were spectacular and pretty much unbelievable. The mountains became just taller and taller as we got closer to them...
Tetons... no explanation required, really
Also, buffalo. Out here they are completely wild and cross the road whenever they feel like it (and trust me it happens more often than you would think)
When we arrived at the camp site, our teammates had been incredibly kind and already set up the tents, the fire, and somehow cooked chicken for us in the campfire with essentially no cooking equipment whatsoever. Smores and other fun things followed. It was a long day, but worth every mile.
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