So what are these Teton things?

We had been hearing about the Grand Tetons for a couple days and the ride to Jackson was going to be our first opportunity to see these things. I myself had no idea what to expect. There were so many mountains in the distance that day, I wasn't quite sure I would be able to tell the difference. Before we departed for Jackson a bunch of us decided to get coffee, chat on the phone and ride a giant Jackalope. I mean we did only have to ride 80 miles so we didn't really have much to do.


After all that was over we were off. We had a great gang and we were not afraid to stop every 5 miles. At the first stop Marie, Nate, Win, Lauren, Courtney and I had to pee. At the next stop we picked up Brianne, who was fixing her flat tire. The next stop was a bit of a delay. There was major construction going on so we couldn't ride up part of the mountain, we had to be driven by a huge truck! We were ecstatic.






Once we got off the truck we were about 20 miles into the ride which meant about 5 more until we hit lunch. The problem with this leg of our ride is that everything is so beautiful, I want to stop every 5 minutes and take pictures.





After eating some PB&J @ lunch we rode about a mile and hit the continental divide, we stopped. Then we hit more construction, we stopped again.



Then we saw it a sign that would provide our destiny, at least for the next 17 miles.


We had the road all to ourselves for a while and we were coasting down it at 30mph. No trailers. No cars or pickup trucks and no tractor trailers. But soon our victory ride was over and we were back down to a mere 23 mph with traffic on the road and thats when a bizarre freak accident occurred. I was riding behind Lauren and all of a sudden her seat broke off her bike and she went flying onto the road. Thankfully there were no cars around and we got the situation under control. Lauren is ok, just bruised and sore. She rode in the van the rest of the way and we carried on the next 60 miles riding a little slower than usual. The good news is that we finally saw the Tetons!

Hail Storm

I usually do my blog posts in order; neatly and efficient. Today is a little different. This is only because I am so excited to tell you all that I am in a little library tucked in the woods of Idaho with Greg and Win, I can't even believe they have Internet.

The day began with a beautiful bike ride through a national forest and a hike down to a waterfall with a perfect "Lucky Charms" like rainbow. 10 miles later we sat down at a gas station for lunch where we found out our plans for tonight were not exactly nailed down. We are supposed to camp in Yellowstone tonight at a campsite that we have already reserved and paid for. Then the leaders found out that it was 40 miles into the park, and then they found out that it would cost us $400 altogether to get in, not $75. So after that little bump in the road everyone at lunch went crazy. How many miles are we biking today? How much will it cost? Will we see Old Faithful? How many minutes every hour does Old Faithful erupt? What if I don't want to camp out? Win, Greg and me just couldn't handle it so we biked on, but about 10 miles down the road it began to rain. We stopped and put our electronics away and that's when a little cafe caught our eye, we decided we would stay out of the rain and lightning and enjoy some hot cocoa. As soon as we stepped in the door of the cafe it began to pour and hail. The hail storm was unbelievable! We sat sipping our hot cocoa for about 30 minutes until the sun came out again. Soon enough our fellow bikers came down the road soaking wet, they apparently did not find shelter as we did. After making some clever jokes their way we continued on and we didn't even go two miles until we saw a sign that said "library." I looked to see where the arrow pointed and according to the sign there was a library off the highway in the middle of the woods. This we just had to check out. So here we are, in the middle of the woods in Idaho, using the Internet. 20 miles to go and we will be in West Yellowstone. Although i have no idea whether or not we are camping tonight or biking through the park or even seeing Old Faithful. Right now that really doesn't matter.

Tourists Galore

We moved off Route 20 and onto apparently "Route Tourist." Gosh that was like a bad Sam joke. The trailers that pass me at about 90 mph have made me too tired to post about Dubois but here are some photos.

And then the backboard shattered...

As I'm sure you've realized by now we usually stay at a lot of churches, YMCA's, schools, etc...Well in Lander we got a real special treat, we got to split up and stay in peoples homes! Yes I said it, real houses! This meant showers, dinner tables, and most importantly, beds!!!! Before I get into that though, let me tell you how amazing the town of Lander, Wyoming is.

We got into town around 11:30, here's a picture from the ride. We finally started seeing some mountains.



Once we got into town of course we were starving so Greg, Marie and I went to a local Pizza bar. We sat down and ordered two pizzas and root beer floats. To our surprise when we went to pay the bill, one of the regulars who had been sitting near us already paid it! This was just the first of many signs that the people of Lander are so generous and caring. I mean they let 30 smelly dirty bikers into their homes!

After dinner at the park, our hosts took us to an amazing natural Lander wonder, Sinks Canyon. Sinks Canyon is so named because the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie river flows out of the Wind River Mountains and through the Canyon. Halfway down the canyon the river abruptly turns into a large limestone cavern, and the crashing water "sinks" into fissures and cracks at the back of the cave. The river is underground for 1/4 mile until it emerges down canyon and then continues its course into the valley below. Where the water goes while it is underground is unknown.






Not only was this Canyon amazing but just the drive during dusk was enough to make me want to pack up and move to Lander. The mountains were gorgeous and just minutes away was a natural water slide and tons of hiking paths. Blocking the rode during our ride were two huge big horned sheep, the first I've ever seen outside the zoo!



I was exhausted after the day in Landon and was super excited to get back to my host site where I was staying with Bronwyn, Terra, Eric, Lauren and Katie. On the way home one driver stopped at Safeway and told Terra's car to buy anything they wanted and he would pay for it. He said he understood what living on the rode was like and knew we must be desiring certain foods! He pretty much hit the nail on the head there. They came back with lots of goodies.

Before they came home however Katie and I walked into our host site where we didn't exactly have hosts. The family was away for the weekend but the 18 year old son was home. Well he had some friends over and they accidentally smashed the backboard to the basketball hoop that just happens to be in their living room. Oops. It made for an eventful night to say the least but in the end I slept in a bed!!!!!

A 30 mph tail wind!

Terra and I had the wind at our backs the day we swept the bikers from Route 20 and it was awesome. This 100 mile day was yet another sandy and hot endeavor but we did have a fire house to look forward to staying in once we got to Shoshoni, and anyone who knows me knows I love firemen! My motivation was there. We had also been hearing about an infamous malt shop in Shoshoni so we could cool down from the 103 degree heat.

The day ended up being a show consistent ride in the beginning but it was great to ride with Terra because she is one of the, shall we say "speedier" riders on the trip and she also doesn't lolly gag in the mornings, so I don't get to ride with her often. She told me about the time she spent in New Zealand and her first bike ride which was apparently a lot like my amateur century ride on a mountain bike.

Our big scenic adventure of the day was first lunch stop, Hell Half Acre. Little known fact, this is where the huge blockbuster hit "Starship Troopers" was filmed.





Another little known fact. It's a lot bigger than a half acre.


After first lunch and second lunch Terra and I were lucky enough to receive an amazing tailwind. We were easily going 30 mph on flat land all the way to Shoshoni, so we brushed through the last 60 miles. It was amazing. I have decided that wind is the end all be all to biking. Hills and mountains are nothing, it all depends on the wind.

When I woke up everyone had mohawks

You've probably noticed that in many of my photos people are missing the hair on the sides of their head. This can all be explained in Sam's posting from his blog. I cannot give an accurate account because I was napping when everything went down.

Stolen from Sams blog:

Okay, so we've been tossing around the idea of mohawks for a week or so now, and yesterday in Gordon, Nebraska, we finally got around to it. We'd ridden for 8 hours from Valentine, NE; we left at 4:30 AM Central Time to avoid the heat and we crossed into Mountain Time Zone about 30 miles in to the 94 mile day. Most of us finished the near-century before noon, leaving ample time to appreciate the two businesses open on Sunday: a gas station and a grocery store. We all swam in the public pool, and then when we got back from the pool decided to follow through on the mohawk option. Each looks different: Logan looks very 80's rocker, Derrick 90's club-goer. Nate's pulling off the emo look very well, and Amelia looks like a badass biker chick. Greg looks like he's always had one. And, as you can see, I'm rocking the "real" fauxhawk. I think we were all inspired by the extremity of our 600-mile week, and exhilarated by the prospect of a 46-mile ride into Chadron, NE the next day. I know I was ready to let off some of the anxiety built up from the week of 90+ degree weather and intense distances.

Casper: Jackalopes and Dick Cheney

By the time the fifth or sixth Halliburton gas guzzling truck passed me on the highway coming in to Casper I thought something was up. Then when I found out good ol' "shoot your friend when you go hunting" Dick Cheney calls Casper his home, it all made sense! We got to spend two days in this lovely cowboy town because day two was a build day. The Drum and Bugle Corp let us stay in their air conditioned space where I napped for a good part of day one, until I woke up to make chili dinner for the 30 of us (it was my chore groups turn to make dinner).


A 6am wake up call was in store for day 2 so that we could meet Dean at the build site, and let me tell you Dean was quite the treat. At build sites I usually like to sit back and see what all the tasks are before I decide what I can do best, at this one I decided cleaning up would probably be my best bet. So Marie, Pat, Amelia and I went over to house #2 and swept up saw dust. We swept and swept, Dean would interject with positive reinforcement saying things like, "Once you think you're done sweeping, then just keep going." This went on for 3 hours! Finally we were finished and allowed to do a second sanding of the floor...then more sweeping. Then the fun began. We used power drills (I actually used one of these things) to put a new floor down as a base to go under the nice wood kitchen floor that would go down later. It took about 3 more hours to measure and cut the pieces and drill them down, but during that time Dean loosened up quite a bit and began singing. This build day was so much fun and we couldn't think of a better way to end it but to go to the Home Country Buffet. Yum Roast Beef and Mac n' Cheese.

Down home livin' on the Ranch

Before I can begin this post I would love to show you this beautiful house we were lucky enough to see on our ride.


God Bless America.

After that patriotic ride we were lucky enough to visit Pastor Struck's Ranch. We stayed at his church the night before and he invited us for dinner at his ranch 55 miles away the next night. As soon as we all arrived the fun began. There were horses, pigs, sheep, cows and ATVs!






Now Pastor Struck doesn't have to take care of this ranch himself. Between his kids and their kids there are 30 people that live on the Struck ranch property! Their were kids everywhere, just going buck wild in cowboy boots. I ended up staying late on the ranch, taking the last van shift home. This meant I got to hang out around the fire roasting s'mores with lots of little kids. They were hilarious, and I found out, living in the middle of nowhere does not mean that you don't have Akon and Carrie Underwood ring tones.