THANK YOU Tailwind!!!

We had a calm and relaxing day off in Casper, WY yesterday.  I really needed it.  A day for my legs and bum to rest and a day to catch up with everyday things.  Casper is in need of some revitalization.  I left the hotel at 10:00 AM to spend the day "downtown" and by 10:30 - I was done.  The most exciting thing to happen in Casper yesterday was that Lucy chose to add a little color to her hair (see pic below).  But it forced me to relax instead of run around all day like I did in Boise which I am sure my body appreciated.

Nothing like starting the next segment of our trip with another Century ride.  Today we rode 106 miles (yes, 106 miles) from Casper, WY to Lusk, WY.  When I walked outside this morning, I knew we were going to have a LUCKY and fun day.  The flags were blowing so strongly towards the east - the direction we are heading.  Needless to say, the 106 miles felt more like 56 miles.  (I NEVER thought I would ever say that.)  There was a nice tailwind for most of the day and we had mostly rolling hills, not much climbing at all.  Plus my legs were fresh from our day off.  It was a great day.  So, I've now finished my second century ride.  Unbelievable!

Lusk is pretty much "Small Town USA".  Every year they have a town parade and then they re-enact the skinning of Americans by the Indians - I know, quite barbaric.  I have chosen not to go to the "skinning event" but the parade went right by our hotel.  See pics below.  No need for marching bands or cheerleaders when you have covered wagons and livestock.  Luckily we were here to watch the parade because I think the entire town was in the parade. 

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Wyoming and head into South Dakota.  I can't believe how fast Wyoming went. But I guess when you ride  96,120 and 106 miles in 3 days - it will fly by.



Lucy added some color to her hair.



The cowboys opened the parade.

Then came the livestock



Then the wagons



Finally the Indians.

My FIRST Century Ride... Woo-hoo

For those of you non-bikers out there, a century ride is a 100 mile bike ride.  Today we rode 120 miles (YES, 120 miles) from Riverton, WY to Casper, WY.  Yesterday's 96 miles was my previous personal best and today I rode 120 miles.  I am so excited to have joined the century club.  I will tell you that the real motivation for getting up this morning to ride 120 miles, was that our Rest Day was waiting for us at the end of the day.  The ride overall was pleasant with rolling hills and flats most of the day but not a lot of scenery.  I was excited in the morning (see pic below) and pulled out at 5:30 AM.  Mentally, I broke the day up into smaller periods corresponding to our SAG stops, so I was never really thinking about the full 120 miles.  I moved along steadily throughout the day and felt good, but I will be honest, at mile 105.87, I was ready to get off the bike.  But I kept thinking - only 14 miles stands between me and my Rest Day.  While we didn't have a strong tailwind today (Thanks to everyone who prayed for it), we only had a few brief periods of any other wind - so we are very lucky.  120 miles is our longest ride, but we still have 4 century days left with two coming up this segment.

Believe it or not, I have actually run out of songs that I know the words to (I did a long Billy Joel medley) so I just started making up words - I know, shocking!

Our rest day is in Casper, WY.  The town looks a little run down, but I have found a place for a massage - so I will be very happy.  Looking forward to sleeping past 4:30 AM but I am sure we will all be re- energized and ready to ride 106 miles on Saturday. 

Me at 5:30 AM, ready to pull out.  I know the sleeves look like Wonder Woman - it is the reflectors on my wind jacket.

Personal Best

First, I want to thank all of you for your continued support through comments, e-mails and text messages.  I know I am not able to answer all of them but it definitely gives me that extra push when I get them!!!

Today we rode 96 miles from Dubois, WY to Riverton, WY.  Our original route was 79 miles, however part of it was flooded out - so we took a detour.  Most people just wanted to get the day done.  After two days of massive climbing, we are pretty tired.  Most of us were thinking about tomorrow - a 120 mile day.  So the extra 17 miles + the climbing that it brought was not ideal.  Additionally, we ended up with crazy winds that always seemed to be in our faces no matter where we turned.  For me, the first 40 miles were fun with lots of downhills.  But overall, 96 miles is my personal best so I was very excited.  Today I sang show tunes all afternoon and had to remind myself about "the little train that could" to get myself up some of those hills.  Compared to what we did the last two days, these hills were reasonable.  However, my legs were like jelly so it was all mental. 

Today I passed the 1000 mile mark for the tour so it was extra special.  Overall, the ABB tally is 1255 miles and the Sharon Griff total is 1024 miles.  If my math is correct, we have covered 30% of our miles.  UNBELIEVABLE!!!

It was a beautiful day - and pretty amazing that yesterday we were in the snow capped mountains and today it was completely different (see below).  There were more pics from yesterday that didn't make it on due to technical difficulty - Enjoy!!

Please pray for a tailwind for our 120 mile from Riverton to Casper. 

Riding out this morning from Dubois - what a difference a day makes.

This morning

Yesterday morning riding out of Jackson Hole



Ed and Wanda climbing up yesterday's mountain pass. I was taking a break in the shade,



Yesterday, on the way out of the mountains.



The view from our first SAG stop yesterday.

Lucy on the Jackalope in Dubois.  Not much going on there.

Pictures tell 1000 words

Today was MAGNIFICENT.  I will let the pictures do most of the talking but here are some details.  We rode from Jackson Hole to Dubois, WY.  It was an 87 mile ride starting through the town of Jackson Hole - riding with the Tetons embracing us the entire time.  At mile 40, we started to climb for 18 miles to the highest Summit of our trip at 9658' - the peak was on the Continental Divide.  I was thrilled to be able to ride to the Summit and as I finally saw the ABB van at the top, I started singing the Rocky theme song!  It was an amazing feeling.  Pretty much the final 30 miles of the ride were downhill - so the plan was for me to bypass the sharpest section so I returned to riding and rode the last 20 miles downhill into Dubois.  Overall, I ended the day at 77 miles and elated.  Today was probably the last day for awhile that a van ride will be necessary.

Finally, before I get to the pics, at Rap tonight we found out that part of the route we were supposed to ride tomorrow is flooded out.  So we have a detour, turning our 79 miles ride into a 95 mile ride.  I'll let you know how it goes.



At the Togwotee Pass at 9658'.  The Continental Divide.







Worth every pedal stroke!!!

On Monday I did not have wi-fi to share the day, however, it was a MONUMENTAL day so I am doing two posts today.

Bye, Bye, Idaho - Hello Wyoming

Monday was probably the hardest day of the whole trip.  We had two massive climbs and a head wind most of the day - which doubled the effort.  The ABB plan was 88 miles from Idaho Falls to Jackson Hole, WY, the Sharon Griff plan was 70 miles - massive climbs equals massive downhills.  The ABB team was AMAZING.  They let me climb and climb and then at each Peak, they would drive me to the bottom - so I could start climbing again.  The final climb was is by far the hardest climb of the trip.  We were climbing to Teton Pass Summit at 8431".  The final 3 miles of the climb were at a 10% grade.  It was a hard push at the end.  I was with 6 other riders and one said, "if I can't keep my bike at 4MPH, then I'm walking."  So for the final 2 miles, the 6 of us walked up with our bikes. Every pedal stroke and step I took I kept saying - this better be worth it.  As we curved around the Summit - it was BREATHTAKING!!!!! 

Everyone was very excited at the end of the day.  Downhill speeds were  a hot topic - the highest I heard was 54.6 MPH.  CRAZY!!!!  We were all pretty tired too.  We had an awesome dinner at a local Jackson Hole Mexican restaurant.  Some folks went into town for the holiday.  Personally, I was sleeping by 9 PM - knowing we had an 88 mile day with a huge climb waiting for us on Tuesday. 

When I see this sign - my heart rate skyrockets.

Entering Wyoming!!

I did not ride down this one!

The July 4th morning - the storm bypassed us

Riding up!

Walking Up!

The view

Walking Up

The Summit of Teton Pass

No words to describe this - after 70 miles of climbing for the day

Wonderful Weekend Riding Through Idaho

Wow, What a weekend!  Yesterday, we rode 85 miles from Burley to Pocatello, ID.  It was a great ride, clear blue skies and farms forever.  I don't think there is a water shortage in Idaho because the irrigation systems here are unbelievable.  It was a hot day, about 97 degrees by the time I pulled into the hotel.  As you know, this is a fully supported trip and they support until the bitter end.  The vans are always visible and are there for tons of water.  It was the type of day where I just poured water over my head!  On most days, I feel that the last 5 miles are the hardest - regardless of whether it is a long day or a short day.  Well, on Saturday, the last 5 miles were the hardest!  I thought it was just me, because my legs were tired and I was hot, but when I got in everyone was talking about the 5 mile uphill at the end.  Once I got in it was crazy busy with mechanics, dinner, RAP and then we did a special safety check on all of our bikes to get ready for Monday.  So I apologize for not writing but I was exhausted.

These days I am feeling great, my legs feel good in the morning, my bum has also improved and overall, I am used to the routine and schedule.  Today we rode 65 miles from Pocatello to Idaho Falls, ID.  I had my first flat tire today.  Luckily, I noticed it before I left the hotel so I had experts to fix it.  Typically, when we start the ride, we start from the hotel and continue east.  Today, we backtracked the last 5 miles from the night before, so it was nice to go down the hills that we rode up last night.  It was a nice ride, great weather, blue skies and Idaho farms. We got in pretty early so I went out to lunch with Nancy and Adrienne, mom and daughter, who just make me laugh hysterically.  Then over to the Falls - see pics below.  One thing about the ride - lots of dogs in Idaho.  It seems that every house has these dogs that sit outside and wait.  As we bike by, they come and attack.  It is really scary because you never know how far and fast they can run. 

This morning I was singing Barry Manilow (dedicated to Lisa and Jack) - it was a peaceful morning. 

Tomorrow we will head into Wyoming.  We will be doing our hardest climb of the trip - 8431 feet to the Teton Pass Summit with the last 3 miles at a 10% grade.  There are 3 climbs - and three downhills.  We have worked out a plan for tomorrow because the downhills are sharp, fast and long.  Nothing I want to attempt.  But I do want to do all of the uphills so overall, hopefully I will only be in the van a total of 15 miles (out of 88 miles).

The Dutchmen, Jan (front) and Andries (back), brothers from the Netherlands.  Awesome guys, amazing riders!!  Cleaning their bikes during mechanic time.

Jim Benson, our amazing mechanic - fixing my brakes.

Idaho Falls

Idaho Falls