Tag: cyclotourism

Day 27: Dillon to Salida

December 14th, 2015

After an amazing nights rest we woke up, ate eggs and said our goodbyes. As we were leaving, Jackson, Jesse’s son, told us that he was a expecting us to have ridden on a tandem, he seemed a little disappointed to find that we each were riding our own bikes, but it was a good laugh! We set off down the bike path from Dillon and rode up and up and then down a short descent into Breckenridge. After 30 minutes of Matt dealing with Post Office shenanigans, Brett discovered the glory of peanut butter on blueberry muffins. We left town and climbed up Borealis Pass. The leaves were finally beginning to change and the views were amazing. The descent was fun and as things flattened out we followed a handful of nice gravel roads before turning onto a stretch of paved highway. A short storm was coming our way and we pressed on a couple miles to a convenience store. During that time something went off in Matt’s Achilles and he was barely able to stand. Luckily we tapped into the science of K-tape, which instantly helped. We cruised along a series of washboarded gravel roads until sunset. We still had aways to go as the path suddenly turned into a hard, steep climb. It got dark as we spun our way up the climb and shortly after summiting, we saw the lights of Salida. We donned our headlamps and started down. It was pitch black outside the illumination of our awesome Dynamo headlights and every few minutes a new corner would reveal the lights of Salida getting closer. Fueled by hungry stomachs, we crushed the descent. We soon found our way into town, and smelled our way into an open bar and feasted on Beer and Burgers. With no rooms available in town and the nearest campsite miles away, we opted for stealth camping down by the river. Sleep came quick.
Day 22: Diagnus Wells to Rawlins, WY

March 25th, 2015

We woke up to the solitude that is the Great Basin, packed our things and set off from the remote Diagnus Well. A tailwind offered us some hope for the days ambitious goal of making it to Rawlins. As we continued deeper into the emptiness of the basin, we encountered wilded horses and pronghorn. It was incredible to see the horses, wild and free, unlike any horses we had seen before. The pronghorn always seemed to be in a hurry, running at FULL SPEED, constantly, with no signs of slowing down, ever. The wind and mellow grade helped us crush through more miles than we had hoped in the early part of the day. We passed through an oil field and after a short climb, the road switched directions and we started into the wind. It was incredible to think how quickly you take a tailwind for granted. The silence and peace of the tailwind was soon replaced with white noise and suffering. At times we were blown sideways, making little progress. After an effort, the road turned and the wind was in our favor. We pressed on, taking advantage of the helpful wind, but knew that soon we would face another long section of headwind. We made it to a junction and after debating if it was worth a two mile ride to fill up on water, we decided to press on and take our chance on what we had left. We continued and began a 10-15 mile section of death wind. Our progress was slow, and full of swear words. The suffering finally abated as we reached a paved highway that turned us in favor of the wind. After a quick lunch of the usual PB, Nutella and Jam bagel – maybe some string cheese in there for good measure – we set off into the final stretch of highway that would lead us to our destination of Rawlins, Wy. We rode into civilization, feeling completely haggard, but a cheap motel, delicious burgers and mediocre beers did the trick. We fell asleep feeling content with our effort for the day.
Day 21: Witches Brew to Diagnus Well

March 19th, 2015

After a nice nights sleep, we woke up and packed. As we were nearing the Great Basin, we decided to get pedaling to cover as much ground as possible. There would be no services until we hit Rawlings, WY and that was still another hundred fifty or so miles away. We set off and wandered through the desolate landscape. Storm clouds soon gathered all around and we happened upon the tiny towns of South Pass and Atlantic City. We decided to take a quick break and eat lunch in South Pass, hoping the storm would switch directions or dissipate. Unfortunately, soon after we ate, the storm came through with a vengeance. The wind picked up, thunder clapped, and hail fell with force. We took cover in the bathroom to wait it out. Eventually the storm seemed to have passed, so we tried our luck to see if Atlantic City had any rooms. We left South pass and made the 3 mile trek over and the town was as closed as could be. We wandered around but to no avail. Shivering, wet and cold we decided there was no point in waiting and continued on. The climb out from town was short and steep, but just as we crested the top, the rain stopped and the sun came out. We continued on another 20 miles or so to Diagnus Well- a small spring in the middle of desert. We found an area near the well and made camp. We made a nice sage brush fire and cooked our dinner. It was so quiet and peaceful in the middle of nowhere.
Day 20: Pinedale to Witches Brew

March 12th, 2015

Per usual, we had a slow start in Pinedale. We packed our things and found a good breakfast down the way. After satiating our appetites, we set off for the days tasks. We had ordered replacement front racks a few days before as Matt’s broke and had been held together by a string for the previous week and they were due to arrive today. Like most times you are waiting desperately for a package, Fedex arrived much later than expected, but that was fine as we had errands to run. We dropped off postcards at the post office, attempted to pickup some general delivery packages, got a new water filter, stocked up on food and supplies for the next couple days and used the public library to back up our photos to hard drives. Once our racks arrived, we set about installing them with haste. When all was said and done it was half past four. Definitely not ideal. We shrugged it off and set out, leaving the small town of Pinedale behind. The ride was nice and windy, with intermittent rain. We trudged on into the night. Eventually we got tired and after a bit of searching, we found a decent spot to camp off the road next to a stream. The rain picked up as we set camp. We got dry and sheltered under the tarp and cooked a nice meal of rice, zucchini and sausage. We ate the delicious meal under the makeshift awning as the rain let up and the clouds scattered, exposing the full moon’s light on the eerie landscape. A couple pulls of whiskey and we were off to sleep.
Day 19: Middle of Nowhere, WY to Pinedale, WY

February 26th, 2015

After enjoying a warm night in the cabin, we slowly got up and took advantage of the breakfast treats the lodge had to offer. After a muffin, coffee, tea, and sausage egg and cheese sandwiches, we stepped outside only to realize the weather did not look promising. With storm clouds already gathering, we set off with a bit of trepidation, hoping that the weather would hold. The guidebook told us we would spend much of the day riding at 9,000 feet of elevation and the threat of heavy storms was not ideal. After a couple miles, we turned onto a gravel road and began a steep climb. It was tough to tackle so early in the day, but was reasonably short, only about 4 miles. We soon crested the top and entered Union Pass high country. The wind picked up and storm clouds gathered all around us, the cracks of thunder became louder and louder. We put our heads down and pressed on, trying to stay ahead of the storm. The high country was a roller coaster terrain, with a few steep climbs thrown in for good measure. Somehow luck was on our side, as our route just skirted the edge of most of the storm. But soon we stopped to eat lunch and the storm finally got to us. The wind was horrible, blowing rain straight into our faces, which made for challenging riding in the rough terrain. Once we descended back down to 7,000 ft elevation, we contemplated calling it a day at a nearby campground, but ultimately pushed on the remaining 35 miles to Pinedale, a majority of which was paved. It was definitely the right call. We caught a nice tail wind and cruised along the smooth pavement, with the uncertain weather of the high country behind, us we basked in the glow of the golden light of the sunset on the empty highway. The sky was beautiful and we were in good spirits as we neared the last turn of the day onto the last few miles of gravel leading the way to Pinedale. Once we arrived in town, we got the obligatory snack from the first gas station we found and set off to find the campground.
Day 17: Warm River to Colter Bay

February 18th, 2015

Today was a little tough. Our legs were sore and the heat was on for most of the day. We rode by Idaho Potato fields on pavement, then entered Wyoming on the Ashton-Flagg Ranch road. The road became severely washboarded as we wound our way through the Targhee National Forest. We eventually made it to Flagg Ranch, after what felt like forever, and stocked up on food. We turned right onto US 89 and enjoyed a glorious golden hour descent down to Jackson Lake. We were told that there was a great pizza place nearby and we found it. Leeks Pizzaria and Marina was a most welcomed spot. We drank a couple beers and ate a couple pizzas. Our worries and soreness soon washed away. We then rode a few short miles down the road to Colter Bay, where we camped and met a great family. They invited us to use their campsite, as they had a nice RV, and we chatted and ate smores.
Day 16: Big Springs to Warm River

January 30th, 2015

After a great night sleep on real beds, we cooked breakfast and set off. The day was pretty tame for GDMBR standards, until the ride dropped us on an old rail line that was washboarded with loose volcanic sand. We were forced to ride it for 2 miles, but eventually we made it to a section where a nice dirt road paralleled it. The up and down of the washboarding combined with the loose volcanic sand, made it the worst section imaginable. To us, it made absolutely zero sense to be forced to ride it another 15 or so miles, especially when there was a perfectly good dirt road that was 30 feet off the side. We both highly recommend you get off the lava sand as soon as you can, your insanity will thank you later on. We continued on and found a very nice camp a short while later at Warm River.
Day 15: Lima, MT to Island Park, ID

January 23rd, 2015

On the GDMBR, there is nothing quite as satisfying as starting your day off with a huge serving of bacon, eggs, hash browns and pancakes. After we ate, we took off on a roller coaster of a day. We set out from Lima and traveled a small dirt road with lots of little grinds. It was getting quite warm and dry, but we happened upon a small creek and splashed water on our faces and soaked our helmets. We had favorable winds for most of the day, until we took a turn and faced an 11 mile section of absolute agony. The 20-30 mph direct headwind had us traveling at a crawl. By this point, we had come to the conclusion that climbs are fine, because they are finite, but headwinds are ruthless, unpredictable and relentless. We eventually made it across the section of death and were greeted with ominous clouds across the valley. We took our chances and took a quick break for food, and then picked up the pace. A little while later and after a short climb, we made it to the border of Montana and Idaho! As we stopped to grab our arm warmers, Matt realized that his bag had been open and one of his had flown away. He was in terrible spirits because there was no way we would backtrack 30 plus miles to find it. So we pushed on and made it to our warm showers stay for the night.
Day 14: Grasshopper to Lima

January 21st, 2015

After a good nights rest, we powered up in the morning with a hot breakfast of oats, nutella, and pb. We probably threw pop-tarts in the mix for good measure since we knew today was going to be a long one. We set off, continuing down the second half of the descent we had started the night before. It was fast and fun. After bottoming out, and sending off a package at the post office in Polaris, MT, we continued on paved roads. About 40 miles in, we turned onto a gravel road, The Big Sheep Creek Back Country Byway, where we almost immediately encountered a headwind. The road was decent, but it was a slog, slowly leading us through remote wilderness where we gained elevation for the next 25 miles. It didn’t help that this was the first hot day of the trip and there was no shade to be found. We pushed on, cursing the headwind and finally, after a short steep climb, we crested the Medicine Lodge – Big Sheep Creek Divide. We stopped for lunch and after talking to a hunter, began the descent. Having said some pretty awful things about the wind all day, we were forced to eat crow (in the best way possible) as the wind shifted and became a tailwind. We were now cruising, averaging well over 20mph for the next hour or so. The road followed down a narrow canyon with epic rock outcroppings. As the sun began to set, we could see the lights of Lima in the distance. We took a right turn onto a dirt frontage road and right into a slight headwind. The next hour was a slow grind and we eventually entered into town, found a cafe just before close, and chowed on delicious Bacon Cheeseburgers. We then rolled across the street and set up camp behind a motel. Sleep came pretty easy that night.
Day 4: Pollock Creek to Eureka, MT

October 13th, 2014

Today was intense. We left camp at 9:30am and arrived in Eureka after 10pm. We did about 90 miles and 7k elevation. We started with a big pass called Cabin Pass that was 12 miles long. After the climb we gradually dropped down into the wigwam valley, the clouds cleared and we stopped to eat lunch and shed our layers. We continued on, slowly gaining elevation, until we reached the turn off to the infamous hike-a-bike. After some rugged singletrack, we saw the wall ahead of us. A nearly vertical wall of mud, rocks, and roots .25 miles long. We slowly made our way up, pushing our bikes inch by inch. We finally made it to the top, expending way too much time and energy. We took a breather and then continued the climb up Galton Pass a 7 mile climb that gained close to 2000 feet. After cresting the summit, it was a gnarly descent that dropped 3500ft in less than 9 miles. We made our way to the border and camped the night in Eureka, MT.