Day Seventeen- Bore Ring

Day 17- (79 Miles) Wednesday, July 4, 2007- Dubois, WY to Riverton, WY

I am writing this in my room in Riverton, WY in the middle of a horrendous thunderstorm, Internet is down, so I’ll write it in Word and try to paste it later.

On the anniversary of our great country’s statement of independence, we stuck to the plan and rolled down the road (literally) through first a scenic canyon section and the through a hideously boring stretch of high, scrub desert and arrived in Riverton. Riverton is a dreadful burg. The town was shut downc ompletely(except for fast food and Wal Mart) in observance of the Fourth. Ever heard of that before? Me neither.

Following a festive group takeover of a local breakfast joint (Cowboy Café?) we ambled on outta town (that’s cowboy talk, boys and girls). The route was a good day for the directionally challenged- turn right out of motel, go east on Hwy 26 for 80 miles, turn left into motel. I get it- I really get it.

First 25 miles or so were huge scenically speaking. Like scenes from a western movie. Then, it all turned to dry, rolling, scrubby high desert. Every mile looked exactly like the last mile. The temperature rose steadily, til we were looking at low 90’s, zero humidity and a slight headwind. The Millers, Gary, Lenny and I kept a solid 18 MPH pace going, taking advantage of the generally downhill topo of today’s route.



Thought I'd throw in a couple pics of Will, Kelly and Jennifer pushing that big ole' triple rig down the road. God bless you guys, that looks like work to me.


We hit town in time for lunch and then good, relaxed pace around the hotel as I tended to the details of cleaning up and preparing for what could be a tough day tomorrow (120 miles- maybe into a headwind)

I’d just love to continue trying to amuse you people, but I’m going to go to bed- wake up’s at 4:00AM tomorrow.

Day Sixteen- Oh My Gawd (Part Deux)

Day 16 (91 Miles)- Tuesday, July 3, 2007- Jackson, WY to Dubois, WY (6,917')

First off, my apologies for not staying current with the blog. One of the things I'm dealing with on this tour, something I'm not at all happy about, is the pace of things. On our long days, and there have been a bunch, I seem to be in non-stop motion until my head hits the pillow. After spending all day riding, I must shlub my luggage to the room, unpack, take a shower, get dressed, eat dinner, go to rap, wash clothes, charge my electrical thingees, etc. There is very little pure down time. So finding the time to do the blog can be an issue unless we get in early, which sure didn't happen on day 16. Surprisingly, decent, free internet connections have been the rule- so I can't hide behind that rock.

Our ride today had everything you might want and a few things you'd just as soon avoid. We had breathtaking scenery, pretty decent roads, sags where they were supposed to be and good folks to ride with. However, we also had headwinds, a twenty mile climb, dirt roads to ride on, pickup truck shuttles and a very long day.

The route today took us from touristy Jackson Hole, WY north along Hwy 89N/26E/191N which skirted along beside the Snake River and the Grand Tetons. The views along the route, which also flowed past a large Elk winter range (saw no Elk- probably up in the high country now, but we did get close to some buffalo), were just so beautiful that you could spend all day being a goofy tourist. We stop and drank it in numerous times, but crossing the Continental Divide was on our list of things to do today, so we kept the pressure on the cranks. Our group today was The Miller Train, Gary and me and we kept a decent pace going through the first 30-35 miles in spite of a bitchy headwind that none of us were enjoying.

At mile 32 we turned right, put the Grand Tetons behind us and started to grind out the next 25 miles as we drew closer to Togwotee Pass and the Continental Divide. For those us us who slept through Earth Science class, I'll remind you that this is the ridge line at which water either trickles toward the left coast or the right coast. In fact, it actually works- the rivers we'd passed prior to this were flowing towards us and afterwards, they flowed away from us riders.

We'd bben warned ahead of time that there was significant roadwork underway and that there was a good chance we'd have to either ride dirt roads (not great on a road bike) or get sagged, or both. Turned out to be both.

The climb up to the Divide was not as steep as yesterday's epic climb, but it was much longer and still 6-8%. I felt maybe at 80% when I left the hotel, and by the time I started this 17 mile climb, my legs were really marginal. Its been days since I've had a solid eight hours sleep, we've riiden now for 15 of the last 16 days (over 1,000 miles) and the climb was very, very tough for me. The group dropped me quickly, then split apart and I climbed, solo and in pain, for what seemed like hours. By now, the day was warming and I was focusing on turning the pedals over and staying upright. At mile 49, we all stopped at a store and got word that the rode was impassable (Hey-they just announced school's closed cause of snow!!!!) and that we'd have to ride just a bit more, then get shuttled over the top. A "bit more" turned out to be about 7 miles (yes Virginia, uphill) and my eyeballs were bulging by the time I got to the stopping point- just two miles from the summit. We waited our turn to load the bikes into the back of the road crew's pilot truck and they took us up to the Togwotee Pass at 9,658'. I had the legs to finish the climb, but did not have the heart to put up a fight- plus there was no choice- the road was closed to us- they'd been dynamiting the night before and as we drove through the remaining two miles, you could see the mess, yea the boulders, that they were trying to get cleaned up. Good call.

The views from the summit were great, but nothing compared to Teton Pass. But everyone was in high spirits as we'd put two of the biggest climbs on our tour in the history books. The next challenge was a few more miles down the road and we were told that we'd again have to be shuttled through- the road was closed to cyclists. Although the heavy lifting was done for the day, we still hadn't eaten lunch and still had 30 miles to finish before we were done. The waiting game began as we waiting our turn to get sagged by the ABB vans. We finally got 9 bikes and rider aboard, took a 6-8 mile ride down part of the mountain and unloaded at about 3:30PM. Ate a quick lunch at the cafe we'd been dumped at and then started the remaining 20-25 miles. Derek and I did a repeat of yesterday, as I found some energy from somewhere, and we broke from the group and started hammering. We pulled into the hotel at about 5:00PM (that's 11 hours on the road, 90 some miles and about 3,500 feet climbed).

I showered, unpacked, ate, went to sag, cleaned my bike, cleaned my water bottles, changed the rear tire, cleaned and lubed my chain and by 10:00PM I was finished for the day. And I mean finished. Only 80 miles tomorrow. Piece of cake.

Dubois (pronounced doo-boys, rhymes with "new toys") is a quaint western town, not really oriented towards tourist, at least not like Jackson- which you can have, along with whomever ruined that place. Granted I spent all of 10 hours there, but it gave me the creeps with the in-a-freaking-hurry type AAA personality I felt. Why anyone who wants a western experience would go there is beyond me.

Day Fifteen- Oh My Gawd

Day 15 (92 Miles)- Idaho Falls, ID to Jackson Hole, WY

I am beat. Tongue hangin' on my lap, wobbly legged, blood shot eyed, stammerin', dog tired. The day was sensory overload in a plus size. Following a 4:30 AM wake up call (in no sense should what I'm doing ever be called a VACATION- no sir), breakfast at 5:30 and load at 6:00, my usual compadres left the hotel and headed out of Idaho Falls along a road familiar to me from my fly fishing and drift boat hauling times here. In fact we rode by the place I bought the boat some five years ago.

What looked to be another treat of a day weather wise, quickly turned on us and a headwind developed. The paceline tried to tighten up, but riding two abreast was impossible because of the traffic. So, even in spite of our attempts to organize, we had our spandex covered asses handed to us for about 25 miles, where we arrived at our fist sag. The entire group was a bit shell shocked, especially given the climbing we knew we had in front of us.

The views began to slowly build as we began inching towards the mountains. Today's ride featured a minor climb from mile 25 to 35, then a more significant bump at mile 59 (which took us to about 5,700') and then the big climb at miles 70-77 which gained us about 3,000 vertical feet and took us over Teton Pass at 8,431'. The first two climbs were non-events and following the second climb we coasted into Victor, ID at mile 65- I've read that the people who work in Jackson Hole live in Victor because of the cost of living in Jackson. In spite of that I thought Victor (also the name of the town I grew up in in NY) had a nice, non-touristy western town feel to it. Most of us pulled into a small market in Victor and took on whatever nourishment/refreshment we thought would get us through the big climb. The mood was tense and somewhat nervous among the riders as the climb facing us would be our most stern test since leaving Astoria- without question.

With no more possible excuses for delaying available, the riders began to slowly work out onto the road and headed towards the Wyoming state line. I don't recall what time it was- probably around 11:30 AM, but it seemed as though we climbed for hours. The road pitched up ever so gradually, at first 1-2%, then a little more until we finally arrived at the Wyoming state line at mile 70.8.

From this point, the climbing was difficult beyond anything I've ever done. Mind you the real climbing, the really difficult stuff, started after we'd ridden 70+miles, so I was anything but fresh. The climb from the Wyoming line to the summit (Teoton Pass) was about seven miles (we'd already been climbing for 5 miles) and it was unrelenting. There was never a leveling off or a drop-just up, up, up. First at 3%, then 5%, then 7%. The weather was getting hotter as we climbed and was probably in the mid to high 80's. With two miles to go and the grade now between 10-12%, people began to look for ways out. Some sagged (rode the van), some walked, some took periodic breaks and then pushed on and the real lions rode straight through- no stops. I was in the third camp- not strong enough to ride straight through, but able to pause, then keep on riding. The group I'd started with in Victor was now scattered all over the mountain, leaving each of us to deal with this sumbitch in our own ways. The Miller boys were dancing on their pedals all the way up- what amazing strength they have.

Anyway, I finally got to the top and I was floored by the view- it really was a very emotional thing. What a girly man. It made all of the suffering I'd experienced climbing this mountain worthwhile. The views were just spectacular, though my pictures don't do it justice. I waited around at the summit for the rest of my group to ride in and we did the obligatory photo's.

The rest of the ride was anticlimatic and consisted of a pile driving descent and then a 6-7 mile flat run into Jackson. Derek and I decided to stretch out our legs and dumped the rest, hammering into Jackson and the Day's Inn. This seems to be something of a pattern- I get frisky at the last 10 miles. Guess I'm not worried about bonking and still having a big ride left.

I spent a restless night, first dealing with some horrible hamstring cramping , then hotel lobby noise, then a case of the "too tired to sleeps". Our next leg is another very significant climb. In fact, while I was in a local bike shop in Jackson, the guy waiting on me said he thought tomorrow's ride was harder than what we did today. That didn't help me sleep much.

Day Fourteen- The Day That's All About Tomorrow

Day 14 (38 miles)- Sunday, July 1, 2007- Blackfoot, ID to Idaho Falls, ID (4,722')

In 2002, just after I retired, I drove to Denver, picked up my friend Skip and the two of us drove to Idaho Falls to pick up my new Clackacraft drift boat. From there we spent the next week or so drifting the Snake River, fly fishing for cutthroat and rainbow trout. So arriving in town today was quite familiar, in fact, we are even staying in the same hotel that Skip and I stayed in.

Today we rode our bikes through the little bit of remaining flat farm land we have in Idaho. The ride in was quick and easy and altogether unremarkable, given what we've been doing for the last few days- more of the same, with one exception. As several people remarked today, the mountains are looming. All through the morning, the mountains were visible way off in the distance. But today was all about taking 'er easy and getting ready for tomorrow.
Most of us arrived in Idaho Falls by noon and learned that our rooms wouldn't be ready until 3:00PM. So it was a slow, relaxed lunch, (that's big Ralph Antolino- a hammer from Columbus, OH in the picture below doing a pretty passable pirate immitation) a short tour along the bike path by the falls, and then to rap (where we discuss the next day's route).

Tomorrow we depart Idaho and begin our assault on The Cowboy State, better known as Wyoming.

At rap tonight, Mike Munk (or Chip, as some of us call him), talked in somewhat subdued tones about the ride tomorrow. His greatest caution was not about the climb, but about the descent. It will be a real test of our bike handling skills, with grades around 10% for several miles. Check in tomorrow and I'll report on it.

The picture below is of a very cool tree fort that we passed on the ride into Idaho Falls this morning. The fort must have been thirty feet up in a tree with an immense ladder leading up to it. Check the 6'3" rider in the lower left hand corner to get a perspective.. Somebody's got a really cool dad, for sure.

Day Thirteen-Working in the Seventh Century

Day 13- (111 Miles)- Saturday, June 30, 2007 Burley, ID to Blackfoot, ID (4,497')

Day thirteen was a long pull-110 miles- that turned out to be no big deal at all. The route was relatively flat with about 2,000 feet of vertical that took us up to about 4,500' with assorted ups and downs along the way. We got an early start- breakfast was at 5:30 and load at 6:00, so by 6:01 the riders were peeling out onto the road. I rode with a large and now familiar group to start- the Miller Train, The Three D's, The Paine Train (Joel and Allison) Gary from Wisconsin and a few others.

Since the ride was flat and the wind at our backs, the mood was relaxed and chatty. Gary and I had fun talking about Wisconsin Fly fishing (he's from Madison). He had me gut laughing with his story about meeting his roommate. It seems that this guy is rather, shall we say subdued, and sells tractor parts for a living. Gary was struggling to draw out some conversation and after trying Wisconsin sports teams and numerous other subjects- all of which got monosyllabic responses, Gary asked about this fellow's hobbies. The fellow said no hobbies and then, half an hour later, came back and said yes, he did have one- it seems that he enjoyed picking up lost tools along the road side. Gary asked if he displayed them. No, I just keep them in a box in the garage, was the answer. Dee-lite-full.

I felt good on today's ride. Having been on the bike for 12 of the last 13 days and having ridden nearly a thousand miles since we started, on top of the 9,700 miles ridden since last June, I'm feeling pretty strong. Not really fast (gravity sees to that), but I feel like I can go all day. In fact today's ride is my 7th century (or very close to century) in the last two months. So, ride all day is what we did, arriving at our hotel at about 3:330PM. However, that included three sags, a prolonged ice cream break, one sightseeing detour, and a great lunch break. Someone said our average speed was around 16- not bad for this old man.

The route today took us through more irrigated crops, mostly potatoes and alphalfa, and ocassionally skirted the Snake River. The Snake River plays a major role in this part of Idaho as nothing, not even front yards, could exist without the blessings of the river. The fields contain a maze of irrigation ditches, some major in size- I'd guess 30-50 feet across, sometimes crossing roads, and others just enough to wet a single field. At times you ride along and see, hear and feel the massive quantities of water being run through the towering irrigation rigs and you wonder about the battles, physical and legal, that have been waged over water rights out here. I suspect that in years to come, as water comes to be in shorter supply, folks will want to revisit how and by whom the Snake and it's siblings are used.

As we pulled out of Burley, a real one horse town, we were soon on a "chip and seal" farm to market road, which is rough beyond description. By the first sag, one of the bolts holding my water bottle cages had disappeared and the other three were well on their way to wiggling themselves free. (Now you and I both know that these kinds of bolts, really they're just screws, would never stand a chance out here. Not like some big bolt off a big, dull green John Deere tractor- these are city bolts. Whatever were they thinking??) At mile 47, we finally got off the torture rack and jumped onto I-86 and the smoothest pavement we've ridden. Our pace line tightened it's formation and we sailed about 8 miles in very short order, then returned to our two lane route, the wind still pushing us along on a mid 70 degree, cloudless, zero humidity day. And you did what?

About the time we'd start to tell ourselves how great life was, we'd be reminded that in two days the party is scheduled to be over. We'll have to strap on our big-boy boots and report for work. Yes my children, the Rocky Mountains can see us. They are licking their lips and want us to know that they have a few fun days in store for us.

At mile 72 we barreled down the main drag of Aberdeen, ID and one by one, the peleton began to call out for ice cream. As luck would have it, we stumbled into one of those old fashioned main street drug stores, like the one that used to be in Victor, NY (you've all been there right?), that sold ice cream- most of us choosing the "Moose Tracks" in waffle cones. After about a thirty minute break, including a session explaining our trip to the owner, we again sped on down the road in a well organized pace line. With Mariah (you'll recall that way out here they call the wind Mariah) flowing across our backsides, our posse began the hunt for lunch. (Ice cream, then lunch-it's legal when cycling). We finally solved the puzzle at mile 105 and stopped at a nifty little burger shack, where the locals gave us the kind of stares that are usually reserved for kids at the mall with multiple body piercings. But I must admit that 8 adults in garishly colored spandex, clicking and clacking in cycling shoes is a bit out of the ordinary in Idaho farm country.

Following lunch, Derek and I felt our Mojo's rumbling and we broke from the group and laid rubber down the road like two pro fuel dragsters (poetic license taken here). My thought was that we'd scald the dog the remaining 5 miles into town. But along the way we spotted Darrell, a fellow rider, up ahead. Darrell is a neat guy, retired surgeon I believe, who always seems to be alone and struggling a bit. So we decided to see if Darrell wanted us to "pull" him in the remaining 3-4 miles. He thought that was a great idea and for the first time ever, he drafted a ride. He kept saying how great it was and thanked us repeatedly.

After a dandy catered dinner (lasagna, Barbeque chicken cooked in a dutch oven) I retired to the lobby. I found Marianne and Michael there and I shared some of my music collection with them, introducing them to Mark Knopfler and David Gilmour. I crashed early and planned to sleep in as tomorrow's ride is a short one. Nighty night.

Day Twelve- Cyclist Gyped at Twin Falls

Day 12 (47 Miles) Friday, June 29, 2007- Twin Falls, ID to Burley, ID (4,165')

Today was a nice break from our routine- we got to sleep in and didn't load until 8:30AM, a good 2-3 hours later than normal. I really appreciated the extra sleep and the dandy sleeping accomodations we had at the Ameritel Inn in Twin Falls. Following a nice dinner at a Mexican Restaurant with the Millers and Joel and Allison, I crashed fairly early and slept soundly. We ate, loaded and got our scavenger hunt directions (not so interesting to this reporter) and were east bound by 8:30 AM. Though this is one of the shortest days (38 miles), we added about 9 miles by taking in detours to see Shoshone Falls (worth it) and Twin Falls (not worth it- plus it came with a tough 14% climb that kind of zapped me for the rest of the ride).

The ride today brings my monthly ride total to 1340, which is a record for me (May was my previous best at 1298. with two days yet to ride in June, I expect my total to be nearly 1500. But back to the ride.

The weather this morning was clear and downright warm by 8:30 AM, with the day promising to settle in around the mid 90's. In spite of that, my group decided to visit both sets of falls and as I said earlier, Shoshone was cool, Twin not so cool (I felt we got hosed on this one since there was only one falls-or is that Fall?-, not two-or "Twin" as I have come to understand the meaning of the word). The climb out of Shoshone was not bad- maybe 7-9%. But coming out of Twin Falls touched 14-15% and it set me back a tad. The rest of the ride into Burley, ID was very unremarkable- mostly flat and agricultural with little to see or comment on. I did get a good shot of Will, Kelly and their daughter aboard their triple at a scenic pullout along the Snake River Canyon. They've been real troopers given that an 8 year old is one of the crew members. Maybe heroic is a better word. Don't see how it's possible to keep a youngun' bolted down for that long.

One of the more interesting encounters of our trip came as we approached the McDonalds in Burley for lunch. As we tried to enter, an elderly couple was coming out and so we paused to let them come out and they began asking what we were doing. As we engaged them about our exploits, the man began telling us that he'd retired from The Ringling Circus as a "Master Clown". His name was Frosty Little and he gave me a card that was a copy of a JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) cover from July, 1981 that featured a copy of a painting that had been done of him and had ended up in a museum in France. Whew, that was a mouthful. Anyway, he was a neat old guy and we enjoyed making his acquaintance here in Burley, ID.
Whoda thunk it?

Tonight we prepare for a long and hot day as we stretch out for 110 miles and about 2,000 feet of climbing. The day is clearly not a big climbing day, but we're inching towards the Rockies and it's ahead of us, no denying it. Bern Miller and I were remarking today about the freakishly kind weather we've had- reasonably mild for the circumstances. No bitchin' from me. May have some more later, but I'll sign out for now.

Special Report- Pic Proven a Phony

Special Edition, The Twin Falls World News and Crop Report

Dateline: Twin Falls, Idaho


(Twin Falls) On the day following Paris Hilton's release from Prison, the world of long distance bicycle touring was rocked when first time crosser (not cross dresser -big difference, people) Bob Frame tearfully admitted that the picture he posted on his blog which Frame claimed to be a shot of his burst saddle sore was, in fact, the back side (no correlation, people) of a stop sign. As two readers separately pointed out (Joe Burch- a sometimes riding partner of Bob's in N. GA and Ralph Antolino- a fellow long distance bicycle tourist) the photo appeared to be a traffic sign which had been used to sight in a deer rifle.

The saddle sore fraud was apparently initiated when Frame and his companion Russel (a member of the Three D's) were waiting for-freaking-ever for Jen and Brett to fix a flat, and the pair became bored and spotted the vandalized traffic sign. The scheme was hatched on the spot. (Russell has been unavailable for comment, but you can bet that Frame will share some of the heat with that little weasel.)

Frame, however, did question whether anyone had any issue with him having claimed to have had alien encounters on two separate occasions. In fact, as the intrepid traveler pointed out, "Since Mr. Burch, offered useful advice on dealing with aliens, maybe I could still run with that one?" People, funny and terrible things begin to happen when you sit on a bike saddle too long people, and this reporter thinks we're beginning to see that now.

TV commentator Phil Liggett was quoted as saying "It's now time for cycling to admit it has a problem- first with doping, now with bogus pictures. I call upon Mr. Frame to put an end to this silliness now." Mr. Frame's response was "Get a life, Liggett."

Earlier this week unconfirmed reports of certain un-named long distance touring cyclists began to surface which alleged that digital pictures have been pirated from other cyclist's blogs and put on certain other rider's blogs. Frame was heard to say "You can't proven a thing."