Day 5 - 3 States, 1 Day

Something clicked for me this morning. After yesterday, I was feeling really down. I couldn't put my finger on it, but then I got an email that made me realize - I'm taking this a little too serious. Lighten up. You had a hard day. So what? Tomorrow is new - so go out and enjoy that. It also reminded me to keep my sense of humor at all times.

I decided to stay with the PacTour route instead of going with a few others through Yellowstone Park and the Tetons. In the end, both routes resulted in great days for all the riders.

We left West Yellowstone at 6:40. After a short warmup we climbed Targhee Pass to an elevation of 7072. This is also our 2nd crossing of the continental divide and the boarder to Idaho. We came down a great decent and formed a good size group of about 6 or 7. At the rest stop, Andrew Puddy said that he had planned to take it easy during this day and to try and help 2 other riders have a great day. It seems that Janet and Tom, both from Butte, had a couple of rough days and since we were going to take it easy, we could be a good 4-some and help through the majority of the day. In the end, this worked out great.

We took back roads through the eastern part of Idaho. On one scenic byway the road was newly paved and felt great. Also no cars at all. We had a stop at Mesa Falls, a stunning waterfall on the Snake River. Idaho was beautiful. We passed many farms and rolling countryside. I kept hearing voices though - "if you build it, they will come' ;)

After a short while we could see the Tetons off in the distance. They would stay with us all day until we got to the town of Driggs when we were closest to them. After Victor, I began to climb the second mountain pass of the day, Teton Pass. Wow!! This is an amazing place and climb. It's about 12 miles long, but doesn't really start to kick up until the last 3 miles, where it runs from 11%-15%. This was really hard, especially considering we were at mile 122 when the steep started. Got to the top and took a breather and stood in awe as I looked down on the town of Jackson from 8670 feet.

The decent was at 10% and you could really pick up some speed. I hit 51 mph here. A little scary ;). The ride continued and it was interesting to be in an area where there were so many people. I met with my Aunt Chris and her friend Willy for dinner. A very special treat.

Stats:
West Yellowstone, MT to Jackson, WY

Day 5 - 136 miles
RT - 7:51
Avg - 17.1
Elevation gain - 5604 ft.
Weather - Excellent















A word about this last pic. I was standing in the town square in Jackson with Craig and David under the arch of antlers. There's a webcam on the corner. I called Dan and he saw us on the cam and made this screen shot. David is standing on the right waving. I have the phone next to my head (speaking with Dan) and Craig is next to me. Once I hung up the phone, I got the webcam on my iPhone. Crazy :)