Jackson - Idaho Falls
91 miles
8 hour and 23 minutes in the saddle
35.3 mph max speed
10.8 mph average speed
Today we blew away the cobwebs from too many rest days in a short space of time and headed west from Jackson and off the Adventure Cycling route that we have been following. In the interest of saving time and visiting Ken in Boise we have decided to cut the route short and miss out Montana, we will make up for it by cycling from Oregon to San Francisco instead.
This morning we left Jackson in glorious sunshine and headed for Teton Pass, a 5 mile climb at 10% grade. It was a killer hill and probably our toughest climb on the entire trip, even tougher than some of the climbs in Appalachia. We had to stop several times on the way up to admire the view and to stretch muscles that were close to cramping. The descent from Teton Pass took us over the state line and into Idaho, our third last state on this trip.
Our second pass came 10 miles after Teton Pass and it was nowhere near as hard work. However, it took us through dense forests that reminded us of the ones in Yellowstone where we had seen bear. In the attempt to fend off any bears lurking behind the trees we talked as loud as we could, while cycling uphill. We saw no bears, either they were not around or they didn't like our English accents.
The descent from Pine Creek Pass took us into the wide, lush and green Swan Valley. It reminded us of Switzerland as we could see snow capped mountains all around. We stopped at the petrol station in Swan Valley for lunch and enjoyed our noisiest lunch stop of the trip. The road in front of the petrol station was being widened and there was a multitude of construction machinery in constant use.
The remainder of the ride followed Snake River into Idaho Falls. According to the receptionist at the Super 8 where we are staying the only reason people come to Idaho Falls is because they are passing through. From what we have seen we have to say we agree.
It is nice to see the comments on the blog. We enjoy writing it and we hope you enjoy reading about our trip.
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2 comments:
Hey Guys! Just so you know, I am loving your blog, it is such an adventure!
What do you do with the bikes when you reach the east coast?
Are you totally super fit now?
Good stuff!
Hi Michael,
When we get to California we will ceremoniously dip the bikes in the Pacific, and then go for a well earned beer!
The plan is to send the bikes home via FedEx or some other carrier.
Yes, we are totally, super duper fit, Stephen is thinking of chaning his name to Lance Legstrong :)
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