Day 15 -- Climbing out of the Falls

July 5, 2004

ROUTE: Idaho Falls to Jackson Hole, WY               

DISTANCE:  88 miles               
WINDS: Light headwinds turning to kicking tailwinds for the climbs

WEATHER: Couldn't ask for better; though it hailed and flooded in Jackson Hole yesterday, today was clear, sunny, and breezy      
TERRAIN: Mountain goat country; one gradual and two big, steep climbs, with rolling in between
TOTAL CLIMBING: 6,123 feet

MIKE'S RIDE OVERVIEW: Really tough to get out of bed this morning at 5:00, but we needed an early start today. It's a tough day by anybody's definition.  We had two passes to climb; you might say we climbed a bump and then a real big bump!  It was pretty cool when we departed, around 46 degrees according to the weather channel. We expected cool temps all day, and got them. It never got much out of the 70s, an absolutely glorious day for cycling in the mountains.

For the first 10 miles out of Idaho Falls we were on pretty flat terrain. We crossed several RR tracks on this stretch, and on one of these Dar thought he had gone the wrong way, so wheeled to turn around and fell. Did a job on his hip, but the three docs worked him over and he said he was good to go, or was that gore to go? His abrasion bled copiously enough that the docs had to change the dressing on it a couple of times before the day was out.  He was pretty sore in the evening, but he'll keep riding.

Shortly after the flat stretch out of I. F., we started a gradual climb until about 45 miles where the real climbing would start.  While we were in the foothills, wheat was the dominate crop. They were even growing wheat on the slopes of the foothills. It looked like a glistening carpet after he irrigation system spread water over the fields. The only break in the wheat carpet was the tracks where the pivot watering system rolled through the field as it swung around. Everyone was in good spirits as they arrived at the first SAG. Why not? The temperatures were cool and the sun was shining. We picked up a little headwind for the first 30 miles on our gradual climb, but we expected it at the base of the mountains. 

At 45 miles, we started to climb to Pine Creek Pass at just over 6,800 feet.  That climb started out gradually for the first 6 or so miles then the slope started to increase as it neared the top.  Probably the last 3 miles were in the neighborhood of 6-7%.  As it turned out, this climb was just a warm up for the second ascent to Teton Pass at 8,431 feet.  On the descent from Pine Creek Pass, we got our first glimpse of the Teton Mountains . . . just a glimpse . . . a tease for tomorrow.

Just after we left this sign, we started one of the toughest long climbs we've ever had on any of our rides.  I think everyone would have liked this climb better if they'd had bigger gears.  I used to use my 23 cog for a bailout gear, but last year when I rode this leg I found myself in my 23 a lot and most of the time I was wishing I had much more. Usually, I shift up a gear as I stand, but on this climb, I had to stand just to turn over the 23 gear! The slope was an average of 10% for the last couple of miles with no let up.  Quite a test...hors category climb for this group...actually even for the Tour de France. Everyone who crossed the summit was spent and glad that struggle was over, but their sense of accomplishment was keen. Even the ones who walked some of the way were proud to have made it to the top.  As everyone celebrated at the top, taking the obligatory pictures of the summit (left), we couldn't help but look in awe at the scene before us.  The view of the descent and the town of Wilson below was magnificent.  Now that we are up here...now what?  

Many riders stopped for lunch at a small cafe in Victor, a small town at the base of the Teton climb. Shortly after they started the climb, we finally departed our second state and entered Wyoming.  As I took this photo of some of the group, I didn't have the heart to tell them about the 10% grade sign behind the Wyoming sign...they would find out soon enough.  But what a beautiful start to our tour of our third state. 
The descent was a screamer (left)!! That's a runaway truck stop on the left--one of two. It always give you pause when you see a sign announcing a runaway truck ramp. Both had to be on the left side of the road, of course, so if a truck ever did lose its brakes, and if a car were chugging up the mountain . . . well, it's not worth contemplating.

It was a wide open descent but it had several turns before the bottom that were marked with a 20 MPH limit.  That's assuming that you could get that slow in the first place.  I was bending the turns at about 40 MPH as I flew down the side of the mountain at 55+ on the straight-aways.  In places, the road surface was a bit bumpy, which dictated caution as we neared the turns.  It would have been nice to have had a smooth surface...I'm sure speeds in excess of 60 would have been possible. 

I, and some of the other riders, stopped at a Bike and Bagel shop in Wilson and grabbed a snack on the back veranda when we weren't being cajoled by a winsome border collie who really really wanted to fetch. The dog brought a whole tree branch and laid it at my feet, then backed off, bowing and grinning, and asked, "Are you gonna throw it, huh, huh, huh? Throw it, pant, pant, throw it!" He'd catch the limb mid air, leap into the water to fetch it, and drag it back to me over and over. Then he decided he didn't like the branches on it, so held it down and pulled them all off until he had a pretty neat throwing stick.

Everyone got down the mountain safely, making me one happy ride leader.  Tonight's dinner was an all-you-can-eat pizza at Pizza Hut. The riders have earned it.  The Hut had plenty of pizza to go around, so guess they knew from past experience how hungry these folks are.    Mike

SUSAN'S BIKE SHORTS: Okay, here's the skinny: Both Mike and I are developing this website. (Actually Mike is trying to teach me and I am a slow learner.) Let's face it, although the man has the energy of 20, he does need at least 5 free minutes per day. The website takes a couple of hours minimum each evening. So, sometimes Mike will write a bit and I'll finish it in his voice, or sometimes I'll pull over boilerplate from a previous North ride and revise it to fit the day's ride, or sometimes I'll speak in my own voice, or sometimes I'll ghost most. Take your pick. The long and the short of it--Susan's Bike Shorts are bowing out and I'll try to let you know when I'm me and not he. One clue: Whenever you see sentences strung together with unspaced ellipses (...) or multiple ???? or !!!!, that's Mike and not me. Hey, I'm a retired English teacher. Would I fling around my punctuation so carelessly?

The faster I go the behinder I get. Here's four more from Andrew that have been languishing in my notebook.

Bill B.
The man they call hammer is Bill,
In front he goes for the kill. 
He'll never stop"
Til you have to drop,
Be the headwind ever so shrill. 

Rich
For Richard speed is the thing.
You're in granny; he's in big ring.
A bat out of hell
He's the first to motel
He rides like Hermes on wing.

Andrew (the poet hisself)
Andrew's a sensible sort.
For him bike riding's a sport.
To make the ride last
He will not go fast,
Endurance, not speed is his forte.

Bill G.
Tall Bill does not trust in luck
He rides a bike big as a truck,
With flashing light
And rear end so bright
By a car he will never be struck.

HEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY:  

• " Are you going skiing with all those clothes on?"   
• "I think we are above the oxygen level up here!"    
• "Yeeeeee Hawwwwwww!!"  
•  "I didn't think I could even walk up that one!"  
•  "I was riding at 2.8 MPH or walking at 2.5. It really didn't matter."

DUH! OF THE DAY: Liisa trying to air up her tire in front of the motel this morning without opening the valve.

DOUBLE-DUH OF THE DAY: Andrew arriving at Mechanic's Hour to find out what was causing an annoying noise. Turned out to be his rear cantilever brake, unattached and banging against his seat stay. He'd come down Teton Pass on 1.5 brakes! And this after being told to check his brakes and tires before descending from Teton Pass.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:

And to think, this guy got up at the crack of dawn to reserve his Fourth of July parade seat and then slept through the best part of the parade:  ABB riders passing by on their way to Jackson Hole.

Andrew enjoying the view from the overlook at the first SAG Stop.

Bugs in his ABB cap cheering riders to today's summits from Red.
Notice photographer Josh's reflection in the van window.

Steve negotiating a mile-long section of construction. Just as we entered this section, two Trailways buses passed us and we were coughing dust.

Something fishy here? One big kahuna fish reels Robert
 in and snags the $5 he was going to use to pay for his
lunch at the café in Victor.

Riders happy to reach the summit at 8,431 feet. From this summit
one looks down on Jackson Hole and realizes how it got the second part of its name.