TA 2 - September 11

Well...... that was an interesting day. Given the forecast and a relatively short distance to cover, we planned to meet at 9 and assess things from there. In retrospect, an early start would have been the way to go. It had started to rain during breakfast and rained steadily harder the longer we waited. Then the rain turned to snow by the time we were finally ready to go. We had 7 women who were keen to start cycling and see how long we could go. The first 10 miles was to be uphill to the Continental Divide and Togwotee Pass at an elevation of 9658 feet. Another 7 women wanted to take a “bump” to mile 19 and then ride the rest of the way. Everyone else was happy to just pass on riding today and take the van over the pass and in to Dubois.

By the time we got the go-ahead it was around 11:45. Here’s a photo someone took of me heading out.

And one of Cy loading up the van.

As we climbed higher the snow started to accumulate a bit, and before long we were riding through slush. No pics through here as I wasn’t about to unbundle and expose my phone to the elements.  It actually wasn't a bad ride.  We had a wide shoulder and the traffic (which was light) gave us lots of room. I found the faceful of snowflakes kind of meditative.  But - about 6 miles into the ride my pedals stopped turning and I realized the slush had accumulated on the drivetrain and frozen in place.  Hard to go uphill if you can’t pedal!  Right at that moment I spied the van & trailer ahead with Cy pulling us off the road. But - there were still people at last night’s lodge waiting to be shuttled over the pass. So we drove back down, loaded up, and headed out once more. Here’s a shot of my bike on the front of the van as we approached the Divide.

I think the picture  below was taken as we offloaded at 19 miles to ride again. My (rental) bike on the outside.  Had to chip the ice off before I could ride.

Cy negotiated the drive superbly and breathed a sigh of relief after we were over safely. We did pass a snowplow going the other way but our side had not been cleared yet.  Four of us jumped back out of the van at mile 19 and started riding again from there. We were below the snow line but it was still raining pretty good. Thank goodness for good rain gear and warm layers!  All went swimmingly for about 7 miles and then my chain twisted itself into a knot which I could not undo. Of course there was no cell coverage out in rural Wyoming so I had to wait for another rider to make it in and alert one of the guides to come back and fetch me. They were still shuttling riders from last night’s lodging so I managed to walk the bike over 3 miles before Sue was able to come and retrieve me. But - I still made it in before some of the shuttled passengers. I just took a look outside and Cy is busy putting a new chain on my rental bike. Hopefully that will solve this issue as well as some other shifting problems the bike has had since day 1.

All in all a pretty crazy day. Part of the fun of “epics” I guess.  Sue is busy in the kitchen stirring up a stew for us. Should be good!

Stats for the day:
Moran WY to Dubois WY
14 miles. 23 km. The whole route was 39 miles.
688 ft up. 1329 feet down. For the whole route:  1921 feet up & 3582 feet down.
Temps:  We started at 1C, dropped to -2C (when my drive train froze up), and then back up to 4C by the time my chain jammed. Precipitation  of one form or another all day.