Cycling and other musings
120 miles, 2539 feet climbed
This is our longest day of the tour. The weather cooperated, with arm warmer temps to start. It did get into the low 90’s at the end, so I reloaded my water bottle with ice as well as water at the last few opportunities. Rob, Dan, and I were out relatively late due to Rob having 3 flats. Tailwinds near the end helped me hit an 17.4 mph average speed.
Continue reading “Day 18 – Riverton to Casper, Wyoming”80 miles, 1385 feet climbed
Today was mostly about losing altitude, with the inevitable bumps to climb along the way. The highlight was the red rocks of the Wind River Valley leaving Dubois. Once we passed them, it was generic rangelands from central casting.
Continue reading “Day 17 – Dubois to Riverton, Wyoming”53 miles, 3301 feet climbed
Until recently, this was about an 88-mile ride, actually beginning in Jackson. But the most recent Wyoming Department of Transportation permit for commercial tour operators prohibits cyclists from riding on Highway 191 through the National Elk Refuge on the east side of the Tetons. The what’s about this prohibition have been dribbling out over the past few days but the “why” (rationale) remains a mystery. There is a separate bike path along the highway for the first third or so leaving Jackson and individual cyclists can use the highway. Just not us. So we put our bikes on the roof racks of our vans and drove to our starting point a little east of the turnoff to the eastern entrance to Yellowstone National Park. It took two trips to get everyone up there.
The Tetons were pretty much obscured by clouds and taking photos from the opposite side of the van wasn’t giving me anything worth posting. I’m included a shot from 2004 instead.
Continue reading “Day 16, Jackson to Dubois, Wyoming”91 miles, 5505 feet climbed
This entry is a day late because it was a busy day, with two thunderstorms delaying my arrival and just being rather tired and then slow WiFi in Dubois. But I made it over Teton Pass, and down into Jackson.
Continue reading “Day 15 – Idaho Falls, Idaho to Jackson, Wyoming”67 miles, 768 feet climbed
Today was another generally clear day, with comfortable temperatures. We left our hotel by reversing the way we came in yesterday and then eventually turned north. That part was annoying. The road had sunken pavement grooves all the way across it, sometimes as closely spaced as ten feet. My wheels would slam into the far side of the groove and then climb out. This was worse than the typical irregular pavement that we encounter and has me thinking about a suspension seatpost, both to reduce the wear on me and my digital camera, which is a little too big for my jersey pocket and rides in a bag suspended from my seat. Two of the four bike shops in Jackson–tomorrow’s destination–are open and I’m going to see what they have in stock.
Continue reading “Day 14 – Pocatello to Idaho Falls, Idaho”86 miles, 2211 feet climbed
Headwinds just about all day. But the chip seal wasn’t as bad as the day into Twin Falls. Another day of sunshine with just a couple of sprinkles let loose from a passing cloud.
We left Burley, crossed over to the north side of the Snake River, then over to its south. Nearly 20 miles was spent on Baseline Road, pretty much the middle of nowhere. We didn’t see the free-ranging cattle until near the end but kept eyes out for their road deposits. Some more time on the Interstate, this time I-86, which had less traffic (at one point I thought it had been more than a minute since a car of truck passed by in my direction) and cleaner shoulders.
Continue reading “Day 13 – Burley to Pocatello, Idaho”43 miles, 1621 feet climbed
Today did not feel as easy as it should have, what with light headwinds but mostly dried out chipsealed pavement, which as yesterday wears you down with constant vibration. Makes me wish I’d brought my suspension seatpost from my old bike.
The route has two options to visit the Shoshone and Twin Falls on the Snake River. In 2004, I chose to visit Twin Falls. One of the “twins” was diverted to generate electricity and barely trickled, if that. I was told that Shoshone was much more impressive and today I saw that to be true with my own eyes and lens.
Continue reading “Day 12 – Twin Falls to Burley, Idaho”98 miles, 2838 feet climbed
Another day with great cycling weather. The start was on the cool side and it wasn’t too hot on arrival in Twin Falls. I wore a jacket until the second SAG. Mostly a helping tailwind. Even though the marching orders of the day were to keep moving, don’t dally at the two SAG stops or taking too many pictures, I managed to get good selection for you, including Joe’s broken crank (he’s fine).
Continue reading “Day 11 – Mountain Home to Twin Falls, Idaho”53 miles, 1634 feet climbed
Today was a short day, made shorter still by pretty strong tailwinds. We left Boise on a bike path along the Boise River, transitioning to I-84 for a while and then roads roughly paralleling I-84.
I had another flat, on the Interstate and before the first and only SAG stop. Rob, our chief mechanic, and I could not determine the cause. Yesterday’s patched tube was installed and the tire held fine for the rest of the day. We'[re definitely in the Idaho desert, reminding me more of southern California’s desert than the agricultural area I now live in.
Continue reading “Day 10 – Boise to Mountain Home, Idaho”No riding or climbing.
Today, I took care of laundry, updated the blog, and went for a walkabout in downtown Boise. Staff was off checking the bike path we will use tomorrow at the beginning of our ride.
Downtown Boise appears to have a vibrant restaurant scene. I was more interested in the Capitol building, which we passed on yesterday’s route, and a local bike shop that I vaguely recall from 15 years ago. I found a second bike shop and took some photos:
Continue reading “Day 9 – Boise, Idaho (rest day)”