Our last night in Wyoming

Well... in blog time, that State went FAST. But on the bike, lots happened. Long days and poor internet access mean that I haven't posted in a long time - sorry.

So, where did we leave off... Jackson? Seems like a long time ago...

The rest day was great. But it is always a good feeling to get rolling on the bike again. We rolled out of Flagg ranch under stormy skies and temps in the 40s. North along Jackson lake where normally there is one of the most amazing views of the Tetons, but that day they remained hidden behind the clouds.

As we left the park, I ran into George Holroyd, who recently retired and is riding from Seattle (where he lives) to Miami (where he was born). He thought it should take about 70 days. Check out his blog through the link on his name... a great adventure. In fact, there are a lot of touring cyclists in this part of the country as a lot of routes criss cross through here.

My route cut across Buffalo Valley and into the backcountry. Really nice country. After a few hours I popped back out on the main highway to climb Togwotee Pass and ran into George again. He was pretty excited about the Grizzly sow and two cubs that he saw aling the roadside - he had pics. This is becoming a trend - we bust our humps in the backcountry and everyone sees all the cool wildlife along the highways that we are trying to avoid!

We veered off onto another backroad after the pass - wow, just wow, some mind blowing scenery.

Camp that night was at Lava Mountain Lodge. Great little spot with a bar. Watched a little Monday Night Football then off to bed. The campground had too many rednecks that wanted to party late, then get up and start their diesel trucks around 5. Not a good night's sleep.

The next morning, we had some initial paved miles and downhill. Another cold start. Just before we turned onto dirt, I blew out my rear tire. I think I ran over some debris in the entrance of a construction site. Pretty big hole. I ended up patching it with duct tape and glue, and putting a tube in it. Fingers crossed that it would hold, as we were into the wilderness and a lot of climbing after that. The tire held until lunch, when I stole a tire off of Jordan's (one of the crew) bike.

Spent the afternoon riding with Jakob, Karen, and Frank on the back and we stopped a lot to see the views which were amazing. When we came out on the pavement with 20 miles to go, we were directly into a stiff headwind. Luckily, we had hooked up with Rob, and he and Jakob pulled us across. The last few miles into town were gravel, and the mag chloride truck was still ont he road. We pulled into camp in Pinedale completely covered with salty muck.

Pinedale turned out to be a nifty little town, with a great brew pub that we just had to check out. Camp was in an old (almost abandoned) KOA on the edge of town.

The next morning, lots of pavement to start. I jumped on with Rien and Wilbert and we peletoned until I couldn't take the pace, but it gave us all quite a head start on the rest of the group. The dirt section included a lot of historic sites, including crossing the Lander Cutoff Trail. Lots of history around these parts.

The day ended with the stiffest headwind that I can remember struggling through, especially in the rain which was hitting me so hard in the face that it actually hurt. But eventually we made it to Atlantic City, a quiet little burg in the middle of nowhere.

It looked like camping was going to be cold and wet, so the folks who were in before me (because they quit at lunch and got in the sag van) had taken over a small cabin with bunk beds and a shower. I decided to see what else was around, and talked this bar owner into renting me his A frame cabin which had just been vacated by 'a disgruntled employee'. It had 2 beds and a pullout couch, so the Hermosa crew crashed there as well.

We found a really cool restaurant bar next door called the Miner's Grubstake. It is run by this couple named Laurel and Dale, and they serve a mean Ribeye. Definitely stop by if you are through that way.

I am pretty sure that the cabin was haunted. The guy told me so when he was showing me around. Lots of strange noises in the night, and we all had weird dreams. No wonder with so many deaths over the pioneer years.

The next day through the Great Basin was full of highs and lows. But I will save that story for later - and add photos - time to go ride.