I kinda feel bad about today's riding distance, but with this being the holiday weekend and there being bears about, I decided I would stop at the first place that had room for me .
That would be the fabulous Lava Lodge (43.67129 , -109.9478). They have lava lamps in the dining room so you know it's good.
Yesterday could have been the best day yet, save for the TWO flat tires. When I got the second flat, I was in trouble because I had already used the tube which was miraculously given to me in Pinedale which, unfortunately, was the second flat.
The wind was howling (another familiar theme) so I wasn't even sure that I could find the holes in either of the flat tubes and patch them.
Those following this journey closely will know what happened next:
Miracle
A car with two mountain bikes on the back almost went by when I urgently signaled them to stop: did they have a spare tube they could...spare?
Even though both bikes were using tubeless tires, the woman had a tube in her seat bag which she should have gotten rid of a long time ago. Instead, she had been hauling it all over the planet so she could give it to me.
WOW!
Since the new, smaller tire flatted twice, I decided to swap tires, putting the wider tire in the rear to bear all of the weight of me, water and supplies. Happy to report that I've ridden about 60 miles without a flat in this configuration.
It was a drag riding out of Pinedale because the landscape stubbornly remained sage brush, but 30-ish miles out of town that all changed: I was in the land of pine trees and aspens, blue skies, soaring hawks, mountain vistas. Some of the aspens were already wearing their golden, autumn leaves. Absolutely gorgeous.
Adding to the visual delight after such a long stretch of riding through sage was the fact that the howling wind was at my back! Even when the climbing was slow, having the slight, constant nudging from the wind at my back was WAY better than it being a headwind.
At one point a fellow divide rider was struggling against the wind as I was cruising. She yelled out:
"Lucky you!"
I was going to explain that I had been fighting the wind for three solid days, but she did not stop for the customary northbounder / southbounder conversation. For the record, she is the only person who hasn't stopped. Everyone else is anxious to tell their story. For instance, yesterday 71 year old Doug wanted to tell me that he's started to lose things, most notably all of his maps!
After the woman called out "Lucky you!" I had two flats...
I reached the location on the map where there was "informal camping" and I found a place on the edge of the trees that worked just fine. I aligned the tent parallel to the constant wind to reduce the stress on the tent. Good thing I did...
... last night was the wildest night of the trip. The wind got worse if that is even possible. It just howled and roared. Continuously. Add to that the lightning and thunder and it was downright frightening: would a tree blow over on the tent? Would baseball sized hail pummel the tent? How about just getting struck by lightning?
Guess what I did? I pulled on a cap, snuggled down into my warm sleeping bag and went to sleep. Evidently I was exhausted.
This morning there was no evidence of the raging storm. Had I dreamed it?
Today was still more climbing, punctuated by thunder, lightning and rain squalls. Unfortunately, the road turned south from time to time so I was facing my headwind nemesis again.
Through the massive, purple, roiling rain clouds, I actually caught a brief glimpse of a Teton. Once. But that was exciting to see!
The rain muddied the roads which made travel all that much more of a challenge. One of the gozillion atv riders stopped and suggested that I must be in great shape after a couple weeks of riding. I don't feel like I'm getting any stronger...
My bike, gear and me were splattered top to bottom with mud on the delightful 4 Mike decent to highway 287 which I was last on leaving Rawlins several days ago. The waterproof bags kept the stuff on the inside nice and dry and clean. My face, on the other hand, looked like I had been splattered by a dry wall gun.
The TERRIBLE bike shop in Pinedale is going to cost me a couple days. I'm hoping to stay at the Jenny Lake campground in Teton National Parktomorrow and bike down to Jackson to buy a couple spare inner tubes and better tires. It's a LONG way to the next major town and I'd rather feel more confident about the drive train.
I haven't planned beyond that, but after Colter Bay in the Tetons, it's nearly 300+ miles before reaching a decently sized town.
That's it until the next update. *Might* get an update in from Colter Bay in a couple days.
I hope all is going well for you and your loved ones.
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