Drew bid us farewell early this morning. With his bike shipped off and bags packed, he caught the bus down the road on his way home. Now it was only me and Andrew S. The morning in Jackson was chilly and wet, but what we were most worried about was the climb ahead. There is a reason they call Jackson Hole, WY a "hole." Jackson lies in a deep valley, surround by tall and steep mountains climbing past 10,000 feet. Looking at our route, we decided to take the shortest way out which was also the steepest, the infamous Teton Pass on WY 22. Through the rain and fog, which was making us dirty with grit and water, we were able to see just how steep this road would be. The smell of hot breaks was constant, the clammer of semi trucks slowing down with their Jake breaks echoed down the mountain. A sign greeted us, Caution: Steep Road 10% grades! Within the first half mile, gravity began to take its toll on our bodies. The gears on our bikes could only take so much. Even in granny gear I found myself pumping the pedals with great force for even slight forward movement.
As we crawled up at 3 miles per hour, the fact that semi trucks were but mere dots descending the mountain dampened our resolve. This, along with our hearts pounding out of our chests, gasping for oxygen in the thin air, we decide to take our breaks by walking. After 3 1/2 hours, we made it to the top. 8700 feet, from a start point at 6000 ft. Usually, conquering a mountain would bring the satisfaction of being able to fly to the bottom at great speed. However, the descent was rife with hair pin turns and on coming traffic, a death wish for a biker traveling over 30 mph.
Thankfully our brakes held up and we made it down the mountains and across the border into Wyoming. After one more mountain pass, our goal of Idaho falls was in sight. Or so we thought. Just as we were coming out from a long valley nestled between mountain ranges, Sauder yelled to me ahead that rnhad a flat. Thus started 3 hours of frustration.
Whatever puntuted the tube was my entolyntemoved tesiing in another puncture. The new tube then put on burst because of the tire bead coming loose.. And so on.. As frustration mounted a I got a call from our warm showers contact Carolyn. She had just got my message I sent a day prior and said we were welcome to stay in her yard, also she is a bike mechanic at alocal bike shop. After spending a hour working on Sauders tire, we were finally moving, only 30 miles left to Idaho falls.
However, I too got a flat. This, due to various factors, took a hour itself. The sun not waiting for us to fall over the horizon. We knew we had to rise quick to make it before dark. This was hard because we had no time during the day to eat anything substantial. Running off body fat is possible, but not fun. Luckily, Idaho falls lay at a lower elevation than us and we had a tail wind, Allowing speeds up to 24mph.
We pulled into out hosts yard near dark, tired, dirty, hungry, yet happy we made it through the day. Pictures will come soon
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