What a Great Day it was!! Today we rode from Idaho Falls (around 0800) to Teton Village in Jackson, WY.

It was reallyreallyreally cold and windy. I was the first rider. It was one of those days I really wanted to whine. I was thinking things like: most of me is really tight and sore; I really don't want to bundle up in all of these clothes; it is just generally a really crappy weather day. On the other hand, the weather could be WAY worse (after all, it wasn't snowing). And my choices were (1) feel whiny and spend the rest of the day in the van, or (2) feel whiny and spend the rest of the next few hours riding on my bike, which was what we are here for, and the spinning will loosen my back and hips and knees .... So, I bundled and off I went.
Within 10" I was on a 2 lane Highway following behind a Combine that took all of the lane, plus the entire shoulder, and onto the dirt drop-off. Hmmmm.m.m... Now what do I do??? I was following off of his right shoulder, drafting off of his bulk, moving between 21-23 mph in an easy spinning mode. I could just stay here. OR, I could really suck it up and sprint to pass him (I never was good at sprints, hence, the IronMan), weaving amongst the oncoming traffic that isn't expecting me, and the traffic behind me that doesn't expect me to pass that may get really frustrated with me; then when I get past him I would have to maintain 23 mph so that he won't get upset and/or mad at me slowing him down. Keeping that pace when you are in front breaking the wind, factor in a bit of fatigue ... Hmm..m..... really, not much of a choice. So I smiled and waved at him in his rear-view mirror, thumb-down hand signal so he knew I was staying just far enough behind so he could keep an eye on me, and close enough to keep me in his drag. This lasted for the next 32 miles!! Hooray for me!!

I pedaled on another 2 hours on a rolling, windy course, however, the wind was primarily from my right and back.

New adventure for me: Near the top of one of the many mountains, traffic was backed up for 25-30 minutes. I, of course, rode to the top and stopped. There I chatted with the workers, who wanted to throw me and my bike into the back of the lead truck in order to get to the end of the 5-ish miles. It was all newly paved, so I asked if I could just continue to ride it, being off to the side, not veering into traffic. They wanted to know just how fast I could keep up since she would ride 20-45 mph. All I answered, was my PR was 58mph. They agreed that would be fast enough (I didn't tell them that was tearing down the Tetons many years ago) and said, "Fine". So off we went. Actually pretty exciting to ride on totally new asphalt on a wide open road with only one way traffic.

Then we switched at Swan Valley. I drove Thee van and Mark and Ken took off for the Tetons. The first mountain climb took them a full one hour to climb. That was the warm up. The next mountain was Teton Pass, with 6+ miles @ 10% grade. Pretty intense and I was really glad I was in the van supporting them. That meant driving past them, finding somewhere on this narrow 2 lane winding mountain climb to pull over, standing alongside to pass off water or food supplements, catching thrown empty bottles and clothing being shed.
Fun watching Mark transition through this ride (of course, I'm married to the man.....). First he removes his sun glasses (cool outside - high of 58; steamy inside the glasses due to intense sweating). Then he tossed off his "sleeves". A wonderful creation. Spandex sleeves that starts at your wrists and ends just below the armpits. Really tight and really warm. You roll them down as you warm up, then can remove them when hot. Finally, he unzips his riding top and is pouring sweat. Yes, this is a grinding uphill climb.

Ken is on his tail and grinding hard. Kudos to him!!! A big success as he has not done anything quite like this before. I have a great pic of him at the top, but for whatever reason, right now, my camera and computer won't talk......maybe tomorrow.

Then at the top, incredible view. Absolutely!!! Then the screaming downhill portion!! Ken said he preferred to live after today, and Mark was having minor mechanical difficulties, so Ken touched 45mph, and Mark went 50.9. The wimps.....sigh.....I so love those throw-your-body-off-of-a-side-of-a-mountain-and-screech-downward-as-fast-as-possible moments. Of course, I am the most crippled of the three of us. Maybe there is a connection....?

Quite the celebration at the bottom!! Great day!! Now a really expensive night for hotel & food since we are in gasp the Teton Village @ Jackson, WY. Yes, big sky & big mountains come at a big price. However, for all of those who really know me and work with me, sit down now. You won't believe this!!
I ate a real hamburger tonight!! Yup, real beef!! The beef here really is very different from the rest of the world, and me, being from Montana, said, "For old times sake!!". So far, it's staying down; I'm still in one piece; the earth hasn't stopped rotating!! Life goes on!!!

The pic attached here is from our very first day of riding. It is a great pic, so double click on it to see it more closely. Ken is carrying his bike, and Mark is walking behind him toward the ocean. Ken ceremoniously dipped the tires of his bike into the ocean, and will do so again when we reach the Atlanta Ocean. My camera died at that very moment. Fortunatly, and amazinginly, I remembered I had a cell phone, which took pictures. Who wuda thunk?? So I did. Haven't a clue what to do with it in the phone, but I'll figure that out in a few months after we are home again.

These little things that really make life worth living!

Thank you-Thank you-Thank you to ALL of you posting comments to us!! It really spurs us on. The evenings as we unwind and do the "computer thing", (including finding a motel for the next night) we find great delight as I bring up the blog and say, "We have .... comments!!!". Then read them aloud. All smile.