Tuesday, July 3, 2007, Jackson, WY to Dubois, WY, 80.5 miles, 10 hours, 40 min, 7 hrs 14 min on the bike, Ave. speed: 11.1 mph, Climb: 3000 ft.

This turned out to be a very interesting day. Today we rode up over the continental divide - with help from a construction crew!

The ride out of Jackson was visually specatular - we had the Tetons on our left for miles and miles and miles. We actually rode through Grand Teton National Park for some time. I finally stopped occasionally to take some photos too. I didn't have any oomph in my legs, so I was moving slowly, but I did enjoy the view!

One extra special treat was seeing a buffalo - up close and personal! A very BIG buffalo was grazing on the side of the road probably not more that 30 yards from me. I did not stop to take a photo however - the buffalo was much bigger than me and I didn't want to call any attention to myself.....

After about 32 miles, we started climbing, and climbing and climbing. When I stopped to catch my breath, if I looked behind me the Tetons were right there - more breathtaking views to enjoy. The stops had mixed blessings - the wildflowers were in full bloom, so I got to enjoy those, but the horseflies were out in force too, so I got to endure those also. Did you know that horseflies can fly much faster than the 5 mph I was going?!!!

When we got closer to the continental divide, the climb was not as steep and we stopped for food at the Hatchet Resort. There we found out that there was road construction up ahead and that we would not be allowed to bike through it. We biked to the front of the stopped line of vehicles and the pilot truck would take 5 bikes and riders at a time up the 1 1/2 miles to the top of the continental divide (I was not complaining - the last bit was a 6% grade up).

Once at the top, we had food, fluid, and lots of rest - we had to wait almost two hours before we could bike down the other side for 6 miles. At that point, we had to load the bikes on the vans and get shuttled through about 8 more miles of construction.

After that, we had 20 miles of cycling to get in to Dubois. Because of the 2 hour shuttle delay, I didn't get in until 5:30 pm, which left me just enough time to get showered and to dinner before our rap meeting. Did clean my bike - lots of dirt from riding around construction, and then Cindy, Colleen and I got ready for the 4th of July decorating contest. We were up very late - at least 10:30 pm - but that was OK - the room was hot because there was no air conditioning. It was supposed to cool off, but it never really did.