ROCK SPRINGS TO PINEDALE
Our last century ride, we really start to see the desert of Wyoming this day with absolutely no shade. I started to forget what trees looked like, and went semi delusional from being on the bike for almost 9 hours.
At the host, a cowboy invited us to come have dinner at his house, and he gave us an awesome denim jacket and told us what it's like to be a cowboy.
PINEDALE TO JACKSON
We listened to Johnny Cash's "Jackson" as we ate delicious pancakes in preparation for our ride to Jackson Hole. Nothing prepared us for the ride ahead; it was gorgeous! We rode through Teton National Forest along a river with mountains and some awesome descents.
We stayed with Meagan, a B&B alum in Jackson, and planned to camp in her yard. She made us an awesome dinner and invited other alums and some of her friends to hang out and picnic in the park. Jackson is pretty cool- very tourist-y but right next to the Teton Mountains and tons of outdoor activities.
Megan lives right at the foot of the steepest ski slope in America, which makes for great hiking! After our picnic, a few of us decided to hike to the top of the mountain and camp under the stars. After a 45 minute hike up an incredibly steep mountain, we explored the top of the slope and the ski lift and illegally camped on the observation deck. We awoke at 5:39 to watch the sunrise over the Tetons- and it was just incredible. I don't even have words to describe how awesome it was that we chose to hike up a mountain after biking all day and wake up to watch the sunrise together.
BUILD DAY IN JACKSON
After hiking 45 minutes back down the mountain (I use the term hiking loosely...there was a lot of falling and butt sliding involved), I met with my friend Zoe's mom, Sally, at the local coffee shop. She bought me breakfast and we had an awesome time- so psyched I got to see a fellow Richmonder in Wyoming!
Apparently Jackson's Habitat chapter finished their big build two weeks early, so they had no work for us on our build day. The executive director came to talk to us about affordable housing in Jackson, which was really interesting and enlightening. This day turned out to be a sort of day off after our AH discussion, so we took the van up to Lake Jenny in Teton National Park, which was gorgeous and so relaxing.
That night we camped in Meagan's yard instead of on the mountain, since we had a 4 am wakeup the next day.
JACKSON TO IDAHO FALLS
We hastily packed our bins in the darkness before the sunrise, and prepared ourselves for the climbs ahead. This ride was through Teton pass, which involved climbs over 10% grade for over 4 miles. Luckily the climbs were all before lunch, so I took a much needed nap at lunch before finishing the ride with Zack, Lauren, and Conor.
First Presbyterian Church in Idaho Falls made us a delicious dinner of Idaho potatoes, and we snuggled and watched Django before passing out early.
BUILD DAY IN IDAHO FALLS
This may have been my favorite build day- we got to do DEMO WORK! I'm talking smashing in walls with sledge hammers and ripping up trim and flooring. We had an awesome time on this rehab job, and definitely made a big impact on the progress of the build.
TALLY:
Miles ridden with Jake in 1 day: 104
Fruit snacks eaten in 1 day: 10 packs
Sunrises over the Teton Mountains: 2
Illegal camping adventures: 1
Pairs of flip flops ruined: 2
Number of Bike & Builders it took to change Conor's flat: 4
Feet climbed on Teton Pass: 8,600
Lunch naps taken: 2
Walls destroyed: 8
Build site injuries: 2
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