Day 15 Idaho Falls, Idaho to Jackson, Wyoming.. 93.6 Miles with 5191' of Climbing

Today started out on the cool side, 52 degrees at the start and the wind was blowing out of the SSW at 20-25 MPH with predictions of 30 MPH after 10AM.  Luggage load was split in 2 groups today to allow the slower riders to load and then eat breakfast at 0600 and get on the road.  Luggage load for everyone elsewas 0615.  Everyone ate at the same time and they had another breakfast buffet at the restaurant next to our hotel.  We have been getting really good food daily and today's breakfast was great.  They have plenty of food and you can eat all you want.

After breakfast and we loaded our luggage there was a group of 10-14 riders that all left at the same time, about 0630 and we stayed together for about 20 miles.  The listed mileage was supposed to be 88 today but due to road construction that was impassible on a bike we had to detour and this added 5 miles to our day.  The wind got revenge today from the 3 or 4 days that we had it a our backs.  We had a crosswind of headwind, it just depended on how the road went.  After 20 miles we started climbing and the wind was into us quartering and it made riding difficult.  We continued up the road and there were many irrigation sprinklers that were on and they were blowing the water on to the road and there was not any way to avoid the spray.  Due to the cool and the wind, I wore my arm warmers and wind vest today as we had 2 climbs and with the arm warmers you an peel them down your arm and leave them there and them when you decent after the climb you can pull them back up.  This is what I did on both of the climbs today.

The 1st rest stop of the day was at mile 29 at a nice road side rest area and everyone had a snack, used the facilities and filled the bottles as we had a climb up to the Summit of Pine Creek at 6764'.  This climb was a gradual ascent of 5-6% and I unzipped my vest and put the arm warmers down to my wrists as I really get heated up on the constant climbing and need the air to circulate into my unzipped jersey.  We had our 2nd water stop of the day at the top of the 1st climb and I ate, refueled, and put my arm warmers back up and zipped up my wind vest for the decent into the town of Victor which is at an elevation of 5820'.  It is a great rush going down the mountain roads and the wind in your face and the smell of the pine trees is really invigorating.  After after arriving at Victor they suggested filling the bottles again at the store as the second climb starts out of town.  I stopped at the Food/store and bought a Chicken Wrap Sandwich as it was noon and I am always ready to eat while burning calories on the bike each day.  I ate half of the sandwich drank a Gatorade and put the other half in my pack that I had with me today to carry extra cliff bars and other snacks in case I got hungry between food stops.

After leaving Victor we left town and 7 miles down the road was the Welcome to Wyoming sign.  Another state down with 8 More to go along with Ontario, Canada.  Karen who is one of the staff members was there with the support van and we all gave her our cameras and she took a group photo of the 4 of us which is on the blog below this posting.  Tom, Kim, Rick and myself, we were all on the same team a few days ago for the scavenger hunt.

We then started the last and biggest climb of the day, starting out in Victor at an elevation of 5820' and we had to climb to 8431.  The climb started out gradual from 3% then up to 5 then 6 and the last 4 miles it was at a 10% grade.  I have climbed other mtn passes in Wyoming and Colorado last year, but this climb with the percent and the wind in our face most of the way was really a challenge and I had to dig in the reserve bank for the strength and energy to get to the top.  I was riding at 5MPH all the way to the top and thank full that I was moving at all.  It was one of the toughest climbs I have done yet, and when we reached the top it was a great feeling knowing another hill had been climbed.  After taking a short picture shot of the valley below I once again zipped up the vest and put on the arm warmers and started the decent which was 10% for 5 miles. I rode the brakes all the way down as the cross winds and the grade made it a white knuckle ride all the way to the bottom.  At the bottom was the town of Wilson and I stopped at the bike shop for some new supplies I had to have and then we rode the last few miles into Jackson and found the Hotel. 

Everyone made it in safely but Michael and Matt on the tandem lost their rear disc brake on the decent and it was a tense moment getting their bike stopped and they did get it stopped and Mike the ride leader loaded their bike in the Van and took them to the bottom of the hill and then fixed their brake so they could continue on to Jackson.

I have one other story about one of the sag stops, Margot and her husband Gary got a care package consisting of gel, Electrolyte solution and Chamois Butter. For those of you that do not ride that are following my blog this is used to assist with chafing and you put it on your rear or on the chamois of your bike shorts.
I took one out and told Beth that there were more left and she said that she needed 2 as her rear was twice the size of mine.   Everyone on this trip really has a great sense of humor.  We have all become a big happy family and everyday is a new laugh.

I haven't looked at the route and mileage for tomorrow, so I will find out after Rap tonight and let everyone know what tomorrow is like when I do my blog.  That's it for now.