Day 16
Oh, the beauty of this area

Everyone got on the road anticipating a spectacular day of scenery, and they weren't disappointed. Every cyclist dreams of a day like this. Even though it was an 88-mile day with climbs to 9,800 feet, it was almost like a rest day...at least the first part. We cruised easily from photo op to photo op all morning-- Tetons, balloonists, cyclist pacelines, wildflowers, group photos against mountain backdrops, antelope, elk, ground squirrels and chipmunks, bison, and osprey.

Even though we had a great morning, we did have our challenges today.  After we passed in front of the Tetons, the road from there to just after the Divide was under construction in 3 places.  One section right after our first SAG was gravel and several very rough patches had to be negotiated.  We were scrambling to get the word to everyone that we could shuttle them through or they could ride, but dust and traffic would have to be tended with.  Everyone decided to ride through that 2 mile stretch so one obstacle cleared.  Our next challenge was construction just before the final mile or two before the Divide.  Luckily, DOT had it in their contract to shuttle any cyclists through to avoid the heavy equipment.  The riders worked their way through in the back of a pickup.  That guy was pretty busy all afternoon taking 5 at a time as they approached the construction.  By the time I got there, I loaded a couple in my van to haul them through...then it was check out the downhill portion that was dirt after the Divide.  That section had pretty hard pack for a surface, but several places were soft and there was only the tire lanes between the loose gravel.  Any error on the descent or a car passing would have put a descending cyclist in jeopardy so we decided to haul everyone through that portion.  Everyone cooperated and with lots of grunting and back breaking lifting, we finally got all the bikes, tandems, and a triple down the hill safely.  It made for a long afternoon, but it was well worth it.

When the riders crested the Divide and we got them all through the shuttle, talk was of it being all downhill to New Hampshire.  I hate to break it to the riders, but they've still got the Black Hills in South Dakota and the Berkshires in the east. Maybe riders will be so seasoned and strong they won't notice . . think?

The terrain on the east side of the Divide was again spectacular (sorry, I just don't have a varied enough vocabulary to use anything else), albeit different. The mountains turned to big rollers and were covered with sage instead of the fir trees that were abundant on the initial descent. We also picked up some pretty stiff headwinds as the afternoon warmed up and the riders started to level out after the descent.

About 10 miles out of Dubois, there is a memorial to the Scandinavians who once worked this area making ties for the nation's railroads during the mid 1800s. They were called Tie Hacks. According to the memorial, they were professionals who hewed ties (from Lodgepole Pines) precisely 7 inches X 7 inches X 8 feet as required by the tie inspector. They were paid $0.10 a tie and on a good day they could hew 30 ties . . . that's approximately $3.00 a day. By the way, their room and board was about $1.50/day . . . leaving precious little for their hard efforts. It took 2,500 ties to build 1 mile of railroad...that's a lot of Lodgepole Pines!  And a lot of work, but in the 1800s, their efforts supplied ties for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, which required tracks across Wyoming.

As we neared Dubois, it looked like two different worlds on either side of the road.  On the right were green mountains with ranch houses, horse corrals, and the romantic Wind River, which we'd been following most of the latter part of the day. On the left, the landscape was identical to the painted desert. The mountains were multicolored with shades of red and yellow. It was amazing how the difference was so stark with just the road dividing the two landscapes.  

Dubois is a small western town with rustic buildings common to this area. They have planked sidewalks, each plank branded with the names of the person or organization who paid for the particular board. Riders scouted up the America by Bicycle plank, which we purchased in 2003. Although the town's population is only about 900 residents, they have several motels and seem to be a bit of a tourist town with several gift shops, art studios, and many cafes. One motel on the way into town is definitely unique to this area.  You don't see many horse corrals included with the room when you stay at a Best Western anywhere else...but it might catch on.

We see several things out here we don't see back east.  Today we saw signs warning of grizzly bears in the area. The sign at right indicated that food storage was required. . . meaning don't leave food out unprotected. After seeing these signs, several of the smart riders started pairing up with someone slower than themselves, reasoning that they didn't have to try to outrun a grizzly, they just had to be faster than the other rider. That's why Team Buffington has Russel in its membership...he's the bear bait...he stops a lot to take photos and drink in the magnificent scenery. I wonder if the team has allowed for the fact that he may be faster than they have allowed if a grizzly was chasing him...hmmm. This may be worth further study.

Well, it's time to put an end to another day. These pages are getting too big to do in a day.  I hope you are enjoying following our progress. See you tomorrow when we get to Riverton. We are looking forward to more adventures.