At 120 miles, today’s ride is the longest of the tour. So an early start of 6:30 makes good sense. Riding into a bright sunrise, I made an early scenic stop at Boysen State Park, casting a long morning shadow in the picture below:

SAG (Support And Gear) stops are set up every 30 miles or so for filling up water bottles and grabbing some food. On a long ride, it’s essential to stay hydrated and well nourished. A cyclist can burn over 8,000 calories on a ride like this. SAG stops are also great for mid-ride chats and check-ins with fellow riders.

Pace-line groups also tend to form on long rides – groups of similar-speed cyclists that draft off one-another to help preserve energy. I fell in with a steady group of 3 other cyclists today, forming a team-traverse across the wide open Wyoming landscape. Winds were light and the pace was high – until a dreaded flat tire brought us to a halt. No worries, a collaborative group fix and we were back at it… until about 2 miles later when a second flat struck the same rider’s other tire. Double rotten luck!

Eventually we made it to an interesting geological feature in the middle of endless sagebrush prairie, named Hell’s Half Acre. It’s a buffalo-jump site, where native Americans would stampede unsuspecting bison over cliffs and into a ‘pit of misery’.

And speaking of misery, our cursed rider would be rewarded with yet another flat about 13 miles from Casper. Triple rotten luck! But it didn’t dampen our spirits much, as a nice tail wind developed during the second half of our ride and more than made up for the time we lost fixing tires.

After a 120 mile day, we are rewarded with a day off tomorrow. I’m looking forward to sleeping in and giving my legs a well-deserved break.

~Dan

Today’s ride flowed like a river. More precisely, like the Wind river – through reservations, farmland, red rock formations, and wide open sage country.

A good day starts with a good breakfast. Today’s fare was a hearty homemade breakfast buffet provided by some good folks in Dubois. Pancakes, REAL scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, and OJ provides optimal fuel for a 79 mile spin. A brisk 40 degrees at the start – but the rising sun and declining elevation warmed the air as we rode along.

Feeling inquisitive, I stopped at a point of interest on the roadside. I should stop at these more often, since they are usually enlightening and thought provoking – like exercise for the mind while the body cranks those pedals. The hand-carved description told of a legendary battle between Shoshone, Bannock, and Crow Indians for supremacy of hunting grounds in this river basin and surrounding buttes.

Interesting to reflect on how this area has changed over the last 150 years since that tribal battle. Or perhaps, how little has changed? The wind and water keep flowing while our human footprints fade into memories. What will the next 150 years bring?

Time to rest the body and mind, tomorrow is a long mileage day.

~Dan

Waking up to rain while on a bike tour is generally not ideal. That was the case in Jackson this morning. So we delayed our start a bit, waited for the clouds to clear, and pedaled away from the Tetons towards the Wyoming cowboy town of Dubois (pronounced like DEW-Boyz). The clouds eventually yielded spectacular views of the snow-covered Tetons.

Pedaling up Togwotee (TOGA-tee) pass brought us to the highest point on the cross-country tour: 9,584 feet at the Continental Divide. The Pacific watershed behind us, the Atlantic ahead of us. In theory, it should be mostly downhill from here, all the way to New Hampshire?

It was really cold up there at altitude, with a biting North-west wind. Thankfully I had my rain jacket with me, and fortunately, the wind was in our favor, blowing down-valley to our destination. With a 20mph tailwind, it felt like I was riding an e-bike (electric-assist bicycle). In actuality, I guess it was a w-bike (wind-assist bicycle) today.

Remember motel keys? Not those plastic card things that take 3-4 tries to work, but actual metal keys? That’s still the tried and true method employed by the friendly western folks here at the Stagecoach Inn. Not much changes in the town of Dubois, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

I can see and hear the aptly named Wind River from my room window. Tomorrow we follow the river, and hopefully the wind, down to the easily pronounceable town of Riverton (RIVER-ton).

~Dan