Day 22 (6/23): Dubois, WY; 105 miles

Team Pictures

Highest point of the whole route today! Woke up at the church at 6:30 am (yay for sleeping in) and racked up the bikes on the vans…the first 30 miles of the day were backtracking what we had already ridden so in the interest of time we decided to drive em. Dibs and Pops came to see the whole morning operation…wake up, rack-up, breakfast…and also joined up for circle up which was awesome, so they got to see the plan for the day, the dedication, and prayer…all the good stuff.

Our van had a couple complications on the ride up to the start point…had to pick up some ice from McDonalds (always an interesting experience in spandex…but they are always really nice about giving ice). When we were packin the coolers back into the van Ezra got a nice finger smash by the back door…youch! After a little first aid we were back on the road and up with the team at the Moran junction. Actually only got to ride 5 miles or so before having to rack up the vans again because the road was torn up for re-paving. Said the final goodbyes to momma and poppa who had come to see us ride for a little before rolling up to Yellowstone for the day. Love you guys…best part of the trip yet!!

After about 10 more miles of van time we were finally on some good road and got crankin on the bikes. Almost immediately hit the beginning of a pretty intense 17 mile climb up Tegowotee Pass. Kept the miles clickin away with some stories some great stories from Justin and in no time we reached the top – our final pass over the continental divide and the highest point we reach on the whole trip, 9658 feet. Obviously had to take a sick pic at the sign. Our glorious 9 miles of downhill were rudely interrupted by more road work and blasting…so after only riding 4 we racked the bikes back up to van it for 15 more miles or so…but after a delicious crew-chief lunch (with pistachios…thanks mom and dad :-) )

Finally we were on the final leg of our trip to Dubois…a quick and easy 20 miles on nice road with a little tailwind. The scenery changed rather abruptly from the evergreen-covered grassy hills and mountains to a more desert effect with cool reddish-rock hills. We rolled into Dubois…a teeny town of about 1000 people. Passed by the site of the giant jackeloupe statue…a big town attraction…before pulling into the local middle school for lodging.

Had a nice couple hour nap before dinner time (these naps are a necessity of the trip). At 7ish the ladies of the local Cattlewoman’s Association came into feed us some of the best slow-roasted beef brisket I have ever tasted. Wyoming is huge cattle ranching country, and these ladies were veterans of the industry (over 40 years in it!) They and their husbands raise about 250 cattle each and sell the calves off to the feed farms every fall…but have been having tougher times lately with the rising grizzly bear and wolf population eating the poor little calves. It was fun hearing about what they do, and they even hinted at the idea that they could sponsor food along the whole trip next year…beef all across America! That’d be some good eatin.

After dinner it was already getting a little late. I rocked out the swing in the back for a little while (higher than any I got to play on as a kid, very cool), catch up on a few phone calls, and now its about time to turn it in for the night...