July 30 - Red Rock Wildlife Preserve
 |
| Riding companies from left to right Cheryl, Tracy & Karen, Phil & Eva |
Before leaving Lima I ran into two other couples who I hadn't seen in over a week since Big Fork, MT south of Whitefish. Tracy and Karen are from Indiana, near Chicago and Phil and Eva are in transition. Phil is from the UK and Eva is from Texas and they are on their way to live in the UK when Eva's immigration is approved.
So it looked like I would have company on the route today. I ran into Mike from the UK at the gas station where I was picking up snacks for the next couple of days and we rode together all day. It was a pretty uneventful ride with only rolling hills and no big climbs and not a tree on the route, just wide open plains with a lot of marshes, so plenty of mosquitoes. Thunderstorms were all around as we got within 10 miles of our campsite at Upper Lake in the Red Rock Wildlife Preserve 57 miles west of Lima.
 |
| Mike flying his drone |
We got our tents up quickly but the storms just blew around us and within a couple of hours it was sunny skys. And by 5PM the two other couples rolled into camp.
Mike is an interesting guy. Born and raised in London, is a private yacht captain for a Mexican billionaire, the yacht is registered in the Cayman Islands but based along the Mexican Baja peninsula and when not on duty as captain he lives on his sailboat in Florida. As captain of the yacht, he has duty 3 months on and 3 months off and with all the convoluted international confusion he pays no income taxes! Tough duty... So during his off time he sails his own boat or does bike touring.
It was nice to have somebody to ride with and I mostly kept up since there were no long climbs. He is 15 years younger and considerably lighter than I am so he climbs a little faster than I do.
July 31 - Warm River Campground (and it wasn't too warm)
 |
| I may have lost a pound or two |
The next part of the ride should have been a cake walk, 31 miles of rail-to-trail with a whopping 215' of climbing... HOWEVER, the so-called rail-to-trail was pretty much a dedicated 4 wheel ATV trail. It was deep sand with deep washboard and very difficult to ride. After a couple of miles there was a parallel service road which was much better which I rode for about the next 20 miles. The service road crossed the trail at that point and it didn't look too bad so I gave it a try and I was glad I did. Within a couple of miles the trail improved and followed the Warm River as it descended through a narrow canyon. The final 7 miles were awesome!
The trail ended at Warm River Campground where I called it a day. The two other couples showed up an hour or so later and we groused about the poor condition of the trail.
Aug 1 - Flagg Ranch Campground, Tetons NP
I was up and ready to roll before the other group so I set out toward Teton National Park. I had received a text from Cheryl, who I had ridden with a few day days earlier, that she had stopped early the day before and was only 10 miles ahead at a lodge. As I got to the lodge, I rode in just just to see if she was still there. She had just finished breakfast and it sure looked like it had been good. I asked if I could get breakfast as well and that was no problem. Eggs, sausage, hasbrowns, toast and coffee for $10 really hit the spot.
 |
| Cheryl and Phil taking a dip to cool off, bike clothes and all before a big climb |
By the time I was done with breakfast and Cheryl was packed up the others had passed us, but we caught them taking a break just a short was down the road. From there on the 6 of us rode more or less together to Flagg Ranch Campground. It was 4 PM and the restaurant didn't open until 5:30, but the bar served a limited menu, so we all chowed down. That is one thing about riding all day, you are always hungry.
I had already gotten a campsite before eating for the low cost of $40 for a tent spot which included access to a shower and laundry. I am in no hurry now that I am within 50 miles of the Jackson Hole airport. Plus when I came back to the campground, it was completely full, so I am glad I took care of that first. The others planned to ride another 15 miles to Coltier Bay campground and I hope they find a spot to camp there. We said goodbye, but expect we will meet up again at Jenny Lake campground tomorrow night.
It has really been nice the last few days to have some company on the ride. This is more like what I had expected given my experience in New Mexico last fall. I met people along the trail all 3 days that I was out riding. But I am still glad I am about to head home. It has been a great adventure but I think 3 weeks in some beautiful country is enough for now.
Aug 2 - Jenny Lake CG, Teton National Park
Today was the last official day of riding on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail. As I turned toward Jenny Lake at the 21 mile mark I was leaving the official route. Nearly 1100 miles in 23 days of riding averaging over 51 miles per day and almost 3100' of climbing per day on a bike with gear and water that weighs at least 70 pounds. It's no wonder my legs and bit are a little tired.
 |
| Sunset over the Tetons |
I arrived at the Jenny Lake CG to a sign that said "Full", but fortunately there is a hiker-biker only area which had plenty spots for me and the 5 others who arrived later in the day. After every one had arrived, Tracy, Karen and I decided to ride the 2 miles to Jenny Lake Lodge for dinner, however when we got there we were informed it was by reservation only, no shorts, and collared shirts are required. Well la-di-da... I left my tux at home. Anyway we were allowed to sit in the lounge area and have a drink so we hung out for a while, had bee and wine and used their WiFi which was about the best I had seen in a few days. It was a nice sundown ride back to camp.
Aug 3 - Jenny Lake rest day
Since I was a day ahead of my schedule, I had a free day to catch up on things and get ready to head home. I did some laundry by hand so I would have some clean clothes to wear on the plane, did a little cleaning on the bike and tried to make sure I could get the pedals off for shipping the bike home. That was a problem. The pedals were solidly attached to the cranks and my 8mm hex wrench was pretty worn out. I had already decided I would ride to Moose for lunch and there was a bike shop there where maybe I could borrow a better wrench.
 |
| End of my great divide ride at Jenny Lake In the Grand Tetons NP |
Before I rode to Moose I said goodbye to Tracy, Karen, Phil, Eva, and Cheryl as they were going to move on down the road 25 or so miles on the way toward Pinedale, WY. I made the quick (with no gear) 8 mile ride to Moose (really Moran which is right next to Moose) and had lunch then dropped by the bike shop. The tech there really liked my bike and yet another person was fascinated by my Kaddy Rack that Jim had bought me. I need to contact Kaddy Rack and see if I can work out a commission. So in the course of the conversion I asked to borrow an 8mm hex wrench and his was long enough and in good enough shape to break the pedals loose.
I rode back to camp to find Mike the yacht captain I in camp so I had company for the afternoon as well. I think I am about as ready as I can be for a very hectic day on Friday. I have a car reserved at the Jackson Hole airport, I called a bike shop in Jackson Hole that has a bike box, I have checked in with the airline (super big hassle because of slow cell service at the camp ground) and I have tossed or given away what I can.
So tomorrow starts with a 13 mile ride to the airport to pick up a car, then drive to Jackson Hole and pick up packing supplies, go to the bike shop to get the box, pack the bike, shop the bike and then back to the airport by 2:30 to catch my 4PM flight to Phoenix, then on to Albuquerque. It will be a busy day.
Aug 4 - Heading home
Everything went pretty much as planned. I was up and out of my campsite by 7:45. I said goodbye to Mike on my way out and wished him a good journey. He only has a little over 2 weeks before he has to head back to work, so he is shooting for central Colorado as an end point.
Everything went pretty much as planned. I was up and out of my campsite by 7:45. I said goodbye to Mike on my way out and wished him a good journey. He only has a little over 2 weeks before he has to head back to work, so he is shooting for central Colorado as an end point.
The 13 mile bike ride to the airport was quick along with picking up a Toyota Camry. With the rear seats down and my bike seat and front wheel removed I easily got the bike and equipment in the car. A short drive to Jackson to pick up packing supplies and I got a big bike box at Hobart cycles. I packed the bike and most of my gear into the box right in the parking lot, then slid the box in the trunk with a little over a foot sticking out the back the few blocks to the UPS store. With the bike and gear the box weighed 80 lbs, so I got to pay the jumbo fee to ship it but it was at least all taken care of. Now I'm hanging out at the airport waiting for my flight home which I hope is on time and uneventful.
 |
| Heading home... |
