Friday, September 12, 2014

A Trip Down Brontosaurus Boulevard

Friday, September 12, 2014
Vernal, Utah to Rangley, Colorado
57 miles
2,177 ft. of climbing

Today was sort of a "recovery" ride of only 57 miles, with only 2,000 feet of climbing, which was much-appreciated after the strenuous ride we did yesterday.  It was sunny all day, but the air stayed very cool; the temperature was only in the low 60's while we were at altitude, but warmed up a little as we dropped down into Rangely.  It was a very pleasant ride.  At mile 33, we crossed the state line into Colorado, where, incidentally, marijuana for recreational use is legal under certain circumstances (see Colorado Amendment 64).  We then rode into the town of Dinosaur, which, as you might imagine, is dinosaur-themed.  For example, several of the streets are named after types of dinosaurs.  We rode into town on Brontosaurus Boulevard, off of which are Stegosaurus Freeway, Ceratosaurus Circle, Tyranosaurus Street and Allosaurus Lane.  I'm not kidding.  The town of Dinosaur is also home to the Dinosaur National Monument, a beautiful national park where visitors can hike, camp, go river rafting and see petroglyphs and dinosaur fossils.  Art & I, and several other riders, took a side trip into the park and rode around to see some of the sights.  From there, it was a quick, mostly downhill trip into Rangely.  We arrived in Rangely about 1:00 and, because it was a short day, PAC Tour served us lunch there in the city park.  It was nice to have some down-time to do laundry and relax.  Ed & I played a couple of games of Scrabble.  He won both games and promised me a rematch.  At 7 p.m., we gathered for a PAC Tour ice cream social.  What a great day; I got to ride my bike, play scrabble, and eat ice cream - three of my favorite things!

Elevation profile of today's ride (not including side trip to Dinosaur National Monument)
Views from the road to Rangely
Jonathan & Art at a scenic overlook 20 miles outside of Vernal
The road ahead of us
Hello, Colorado!
"Ed" - a phenomenal cyclist and a great Scrabble player

Ethan



Art coming up the climb at Dinosaur National Monument


Mark at the lunch table
Ice cream social!
Tom, Art & Ken


A Granny Gear Kind of Day

Thursday, September 11, 2014
Day 10 - Evanston, Wyoming to Vernal, Utah
149 miles
9,067 ft. of climbing

Today was the longest and most challenging day of the tour (so far).  It was also the most scenic day of the tour, as we rode through the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, which took us up an over some beautiful climbs.  We met the big climb of the day right after lunch at mile 92 - a 12-mile climb with an average grade of 8%.  During the climb, we had amazing views of the Flaming Gorge Dam.  After we reached the top of that climb, we had about 16 more miles of ascending and descending terrain before we met a speedy-fast descent at mile 129, which took us to within 5 miles of our destination, Vernal, Utah.  There was one last little climb at mile 140, just to keep us honest.  We reached our hotel in Vernal just after 5 p.m., and I was more than happy to get off my saddle.  I believe the feeling was mutual, because my saddle was not being very agreeable, especially in the last 30 or so miles of today's ride.  Let's just say I did a lot of standing on the pedals today.  Vernal is a nice little town, the main attraction of which seems to be Dinosaurland, a large recreation area that offers all kinds of activities and dinosaur-related artifacts.  Art, Sid, Ed and I walked over to the local brew pub and had a very nice dinner.
It was a long day, in the saddle - just over nine hours of riding time.  Another fantastic day on the bike!  Now I'm looking forward to a good night's rest.  : )

Elevation profile of today's ride - a great deal of climbing, but a sweet descent at the end.

View from the road through Ashley National Forest

Winning smile

Beautiful sights like this all day


Welcome to Utah! (again)


The Flaming Gorge Dam

Yeah, baby! 8% descent , next 9 miles!

View on the descent

Ken taking a break from descending to take in the spectacular views

View as we descended into Vernal

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

A Three-State Day on Two Wheels

Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Day 9 - Montpelier, Idaho to Evanston, Wyoming
94 miles
2,732 ft. of climbing


A fairly chilly morning, only 44 degrees - not freezing, but cold enough that I had to start the ride wearing my cold-weather gear, yet again, at least until the sun came out and the temperature warmed up.  Far be it for me to complain, but the morning temperatures have been really cold so far on this tour - just sayin'.  Today would be a triple-state day: we start the day in Idaho, cross over the state line into Utah at mile 26, and then cross over the state line back into Wyoming (for the second time) at mile 82.  Thus, it was entirely appropriate that I ate three fun-size bags of M&Ms during the ride . . . at each rest stop.   : )  Our route was essentially flat for the first 40 miles, with very little wind. Art & I rode in pace lines for most of the flat terrain, which made those miles click by very fast.  We rode along Bear River, which provided a pretty view while we cruised along.  The only climb of the day was a 4-mile steepish climb that started at mile 41, followed by an fast 8-mile descent.  The remainder of the ride was basically a gradual climb all the way to Evanston.  Beautiful scenery the entire way.  We finished the ride relatively early - around 2 p.m., for which I am grateful because I like to give my legs as much recovery time as possible before the next day's ride.  So we had a nice relaxing afternoon at the Motel 6, catching up on e-mails, doing laundry, blogging, and drinking beer (Art).  For dinner, a bunch of us walked across the street to the local diner.  We sort of took over the place and practically cleaned them out of all their food.  I believe they ran out of the day's special.  I felt sorry for the other customers - the "normal" people - as they tried to eat their meals in peace in the midst of a long table of loud, hungry cyclists monopolizing the attention of the only waitress.  The waitress, however, couldn't have been nicer while also keeping us in line, as she busted our chops as necessary.  We laughed our sore, achy butts off!  A fun end to an absolutely fantastic day on the bike.

Tomorrow, its back to Utah as we pedal over some mighty big hills to Vernal. 


Elevation profile of today's ride
Bear Lake
Art at the Utah state line - "Life Elevated"
    
View going up the big climb of the day

Andrew starting the descent
At the rest stop - view of the road from whence we came

. . . and the road ahead of us
Me and my great bike at the Wyoming state line (again)
 



When Hail Attacks

Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Day 8 - Jackson, Wyoming to Montpelier, Idaho
117 miles
4,834 ft. of climbing

Today's ride ran the gamut in terms of weather, levels of comfort and emotion.  This morning started with a peaceful ride through the valley.  The temperature was cool, but not cold, and winds were calm.  We rode through the Snake River region, on a quiet, smooth road amidst majestic mountains.  You could see that some of the leaves have already started to change color high in the mountains.  As the morning went on, the wind started to pick up and became a moderate headwind.  Nothing too strenuous, and the fact that I rode much of the morning in pace lines, sharing the work, made riding in the mild headwind essentially a non-issue.  Around mile 72, however, the headwind really picked up and the sky stared to spritz raindrops.  As is usually the case, the spritzing turned into steady rain as we rode.  Something I didn't expect, however - it started to hail.  Then it started to hail harder.  Within minutes, large globules of icy hail the size of bowling balls (okay, not really the size of bowling balls, but pretty big - at least the size of big marbles) came pouring out of the sky, hitting us like pellets.  It really stung when it hit the skin!  At this point Art, Andrew & I were only about 6 miles from our lunch stop and we are completely drenched and getting attacked by a storm of mutant hailstones - in a headwind, no less!  When I arrived at lunch, I was soaked, freezing, and reeling from the sudden and adverse change in the weather, to which I was basically defenseless because I had not carried my rain gear with me, which, I'm ashamed to say, has become my M.O.  Rather, I had put my rain gear in the lunch trailer, as it was my hunch that it would not rain until later in the afternoon, even though the weather forecast showed a slight chance of rain earlier in the afternoon.  In any event, I was able to retrieve my rain gear at lunch (classic example of closing the barn door after the horse escapes) and, after warming up at lunch with a hot cup of tea, Susan loaning me her tights, and Veronica loaning me her long-fingered gloves, I was able to continue the ride.  From lunch, we had another 40 miles or so to go, which included two climbs and then a long,10-mile descent into Montpelier.  While the rain let up, the headwind did not, but, absent the rain and militant hail, the headwind wasn't so bad.  Eventually, the sun came out, and I was warm again.  The first climb was a 6-mile, gentle climb up to the top of Salt Lake Pass.  From there, we had a long descent, during which, at mile 99, we crossed over into the state of Idaho.  At mile 105, we began our last climb of the day, which was a 2-mile, steepish climb to Geneva Summit.  From there, we enjoyed the 10-mile descent right into Montpelier  Unfortunately, my speed on the descent was dampened by the headwind, but I didn't care - I was just happy to be warm and dry and not being battered by heavy artillery from the sky.  We arrived at our hotel in Montpelier just before 4 p.m., which gave us plenty of time to clean up our bikes, do our laundry (lots of wet, dirty clothes), and walk over to the local Dairy Queen-like burger joint / ice cream shop, called "Arctic Circle," for a fine dining experience.  I say "fine dining" because, although you order your food at the counter, by the number, they actually bring it out to you when it is ready, rather than you having to go get it.  Highfalutin.  Many people from our group were there at Arctic Circle, and we had a good time sitting with folks and talking about the day's ride.  I look back on today's ride with pride and amazement - pride that I was able to persevere through adverse conditions and not only complete the day's ride, but enjoy it; and amazement that heavy hail can actually bruise the skin.  No kidding, my arms and legs have little red marks where the hail hit me.  Battle scars.  My own fault - that wouldn't have happened had I carried my darned rain gear.  Someday, I'll get it right.  I hope.  : )
Tomorrow, we cross back over into Wyoming with a ride to Evanston, Wyoming.  No rain in the forecast!

Elevation profile of today's ride

Getting ready to ride out of Jackson this morning

Snake River
Art & Sid wearing their namesake jerseys - "Art's Cyclery" and "Sid's Bike Shop"

John & Art pacing in the headwind
Elkhorn archway welcoming visitors to Afton, Wyoming
Hailstorm offensive - an unprovoked attack
My own private Idaho
A welcome sign at the top of the last climb of the day
Art at the top of the last climb
Moving right along!