Howdy! Today was a great day of riding, and boy, am I high up! I'm camped at over 8,700 feet, and twice today I climbed well over 9k. Luckily, I'm pretty used to the altitude now. This might be my best RAGBRAI training yet.
My rest day was awesome. I slept in nice and late, ate a ton of food, watched a bunch of ranger programs, and swam in Jackson Lake (which was freezing.) I met a retired guy from Canada touring on his motorcycle at the lake and we talked for awhile, and later that evening he brought me ice for some beers I had warming up all day (I bought I 6-pack the night before but only drank two, which I snuck into a ranger program about stars and space).
As Coltier Bay intersects the Trans Am bike route I met a lot of different bike tourers as well, but I was the only Divide rider. I camped near a couple of dudes from London (but originally New Zealand and Czcech) who are on the Trans Am east to west, and told me great stories about bike touring in Kazichstan. I love hanging out with these types of people, it's a peer group I don't get to spend time with often. These two guys were especially fun and easy to talk to.
Today I climbed Togowotee pass, which is something like 9,600 feet and there was still snow. I first climbed it back in 2003 on my first trip with RoadShow USA when we are on the trans am for awhile. This time I climbed it mostly in dirt, and when I got to the top immediately went to more dirt and went even higher.
Today the views were spectacular when off the paved roads. The Divide is easily the most beautiful and breathtaking tour I've ever done.
I had a tailwind this afternoon, so after the pass (I crested it at mile 42, that's a lot of morning climbing) I decided to go past my planned stopping point since it sucked anyway and was only 53 miles. I ended up doing 66 miles, including another 4 mile climb at the end to put me back up to 9k feet, where I was looking back through a year or two old burn at the valley I had descended into from Togowotee earlier. It was an enjoyable climb, and mentally good as well, since I believe it to be a sin to waste a tailwind.
Now I'm up on high meadow land watching the sun set from my bug proof tent. Today was 8am to 6pm (that's getting in rather late) with 6:07 on bike. However, I'm getting stronger and healthier, and my camp chores are getting more efficient - giving me lots of down time even though I got into camp late. 16 days (15 riding) apparently is what it takes for me to hit my stride on this thing. I feel pretty good considering the thousands of feet of dirt climbing I did today. :)
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