Aug 5, Evanston to Vernal. 150 mi, 8500 ft.

Today--exhilarating and exhausting. We got our first taste of real mountain riding today, up and down the foothills, settling into a rhythm on the longer climbs, swooping down a descent only to go up again, finally reaching the summit (yesterday's was almost 8500 ft) then ending with a long, unbridled descent. Beginning in arid, high desert surroundings, as we moved up the desert got green, then small trees, then a full fledged pine/fir forest, then above, into the aspens. And this was all after lunch!

Our 150 mile route from Evanston to Vernal began with 28 miles on I-80, exiting at Fort Bridger to hook up with WY414, which became UT44 and took us through the Flaming Gorge NRA. The first 91 miles to lunch had about 45% of the climbing, mostly gentle grades through this really desolate land, dry, dusty; then sedimentary rock formations began to appear, and just as I realized we were in Dinosaur country these helpful signs began to sprout up, identifying the formation and what was found there. We came up a bit of a longer pull and came into the high, green valley of Manila, Utah. It was hot and I'd emptied one bottle already, so I stopped off for a refill. "You must be in pretty good shape," a voice said. "Not bad for an old guy," I responded to the group of motorcyclists. The conversation about what we were doing led to a look of admiration, a heartfelt "God Bless You," and a recommendation to avoid the 7-11 restaurant (good advice, but we ate there anyway because it was the closest place).

After Manila a climb led to a steep 2 mile descent through a canyon to the lunch spot by a river; the longest sustained climb (maybe 4-5 miles) was right after lunch, yielding fantastic views of brightly colored cliffs with salty looking water at the bottom. And crossing over the first summit took us right into the woods; as if a page was turned, and launched us into the mountains. The last descent took us down 3000 feet around ten swooping brake-free turns, back into the furnace of the high desert. And of course, because it's Pac Tour, the final ten miles were straight into a set of ferocious headwinds. I hated that! After a long and otherwise rewarding day on the bike, dealing with that B.S. really pissed me off, and I was screaming at the wind to stop at once! (surprisingly, it didn't make a bit of difference.) Even though it added at most ten more minutes to an 11 hour ride, it felt very unjust. It provided the final emphasis on how huge this world is we are riding through, and how the huge amount of effort it takes to accomplish this ride means nothing to the world--the only meaning is internal.

Easy day tomorrow; 52 miles to Rangely, CO. Not leaving till 9!

. aug 3 and 4. Jackson to Montpelier to Evanston-210 miles

Two more contrasting days I could not have invented; Today (hwy 89 to hwy 16) was easy & relaxed, yesterday (hwy 89) was hard and stressful. Today I floated along nearly effortlessly, yesterday it was a struggle to turn the pedals each and every stroke, until the end of the day. It made today like a dream. This is how it unfolds on Pac Tour; and yielding to it is a key element is having a successful tour. when I woke up yesterday morning, I was sleepy. I got enough sleep the night before, but I did drink two glasses of wine in honor of Eva's yartrzeit, maybe that had an effect, but by the first sag, about 20 miles in, I was beginning to feel dead, and this feeling continued to develop throughout the day. Despite the unrelieved beauty of the Snake River Valley, I felt myself sinking and could do nothing about it. So I backed off, didn't try to do anything except get to the next stop. y legs were good, but the rest of me was pretty beat up. I seriously thought of packing it in at lunch and taking a ride to the hotel, however the internal pressure to ride every mile is pretty real; being tired or grumpy means nothing. Anyway, the two climbs of the day were coming up in the next two segments, where it had been flat up to that point. I thought a bit of climbing would change the rhythm and the mood, which it did to some degree. The pesky headwinds were back too, making each descent a battle against a force so much larger than yourself tha there was really no option other than to keep on keeping on.

After the first climb, the sag stop was welcome, and I stayed there for quite a while, being tired, resting in the chair, and then when I left I rode really slow. REALLY slow. There was 18 miles to go, and if it took a while, no problem! Surprisingly, I started to feel good, so when we hit the mile or so of very rough gravel one lane construction with wind and sand and cars coming straight at you with your bike slipping around all over the place, it was fine. Then to top it off, I had a crappy dinner that night! but I got horizontal early and slept it off; and woke up today feeling refreshed and had an easy ride.

We rode along Bear Lake; which is huge; had a nice climb and an equally nice descent with no wind for once; then entered Utah and the high desert vistas: THe ride from the second SAG to lunch was in a paceline with Joel & Ruth, but powered by Lil and Ray; got there at 12:30 and I then stayed there for abgout an hour and a half; eating schmoozing and playing guitar; then rode in the 13 miles to the motel with the turtles, the self descrbed slow group, and played more guitar at the hotle: I feel apreciated for my playing in this group:

The lunch conversation included a talk on sustainable farming with Anna Cat Berge; an excellent cyclist and veterinarian who is quite passionate about both the animals and about feeding the masses. It was an interesting conversation; including "the Omnivores Dilemma;" she liked his descriptions, but doesn't see that he had a solution that would feed the masses. A good steak dinner with David, Joel and the Carl and Martha Stock.

So our community is developing; this is a major undertaking and shared experience, and by the end of the trip we'll all know a bit more about ourselves and each other.

Big day tomorrow; hardest one of the tour.

August 2. 135 mi, W. Yellowstone to Jackson

This was great day. Woke up to no wind and cool, but not cold, temperatures. The day began with a short climb of Targhee pass, our second crossing of the Divide, then, entering Idaho, we descended into wide meadows. Gentle ups and downs were guite conducive to bg gear spinning, which I did (probably 50x14 or 16 at 100 rpm). I made the first 60 mi in a shade over 3 hrs. After about 35 miles on Hwy 20, we diverted to Scenic rte 47, a good road through woods and water. We got our first, distant view of the Tetons. Spent a good bit of time ridng with Lon, talking about his projects. You should check ou the pac tour website for the work they are doing in Peru. In any case, the morning went very well, and I was a happy boy. There was a surprise descent in the middle of this, and when I rolled into Marysville, I just kept right on going, confidently making a left turn onto highway 20, aiming for lunch at mile 75; 76; 77; oops. Yes, I had missed a turn in my cycling bliss and ended up in St. Anthony, Idaho. I pulled off what by now had become a freeway, bought as sandwich at Subway and got directions from one of the locals to get myself back on the route, riding the old highway from St. Anthony to Teton, where I made it back to Hwy 33. However, my error added 25 miles on what was to be a 135 mile day. So I stuck out my thumb and got picked up by a sweet young couple who drove me up to the next SAG spot, and I was back in the group and on the road. I didn't want to miss the next feature, which was the climb and descent of teton Pass. Te last three miles on the uphill side averaged 10% but the descent was the real challenge --- 5 miles at what was called ten percent but I think was a lot steeper. Combined with a stong wind blowing, it made for some hairy moments. Nonetheless, with judicious braking and a steady hand, we all made it down to Jackson Hole and entered the faux western lifestyle for which Jackson evidently is known and loved..We stated at the Antler hotel, and I did find myself a good dinner, but the first thing I did was light Eva's yartzeit candle and say Kaddish. 11 years since her death. I still have no great reflections; I do continue to struggle with notions of forgiveness and redemption. I spoke to anne about this week's parasha and Rabbi Hyman's sermon; and I dug out the Antler's Gideon and read it. I won't go into the drash here; but I did find some interesting reading. Then to bed to face a 117 mile day.

I'm not going to write a post for tomorrow's ride; but will combine the next two days on Monday. I suspect I won't have good internet in Montpelier, Idaho. It also gets hard to do this daily. There is a lot of fussing to recover and get ready, and I need a bit of a break, especially because I'm having technical problems with my computer setup.

July 31 day3

[Luxurious morning; breakfast was indoors at the hotel, and we didn't leave till close to 8, as it was a short day of 101 miles to Bozeman. A chill in the air, it was 42 degree at the start. We rode out of town, turned on MT2 (then 359, 287 and 84 into Bozeman) and climbed pipestone pass for our first crossing of the Continental divide. Another nice, steady climb, maybe 1500 feet or so, followed by a very nice descent and miles of gently rolling farm and pasture land, surrounded on all sides by mountains. After the 2nd stop and only 12 miles of headwinds (I found a good group for that) we turned on 84 and tailwinds, shortly leading to a spectacular ride along the Madison River to lunch. Wide, flowing, in a steep canyon at first then opening out to a wider bit. Locals on tubes and rafts floated by (the temp was well into the 80's by then) Susan had a nice lunch of grilled chicken. I took out my guitar and played 5 or 6 tunes -- people said many nice things. Of course, my legs cooled down completely, making resumption harder. It took close to 45 min to start feeling good again.

So what is that about, anyway? Why do you feel good sometimes and not so good others; whether day to day oe hour to hour? Doing this kind of riding, repeated long days, some hard, I become a diagnostic machine, balancing the feedback from my body with my knowledge from past experience and awareness of what's ahead. So; I pull inti lunch feeling a particular way; and sitting there my legs fil up with fluid; then think that theyre done for the day; so when I get up again after a 45 minute break; I have treat them very gently to be able to get moving againb^ît takes about half an hour before I can start to push at all. I an strong; and habituated to the task at hand; but bargaining with my body is a big part of enduring moments like this.

So tomorrow is a shorter day, hopefully as easy as today, because Saturday is a big one.

August 1, Day 4. Bozeman to W. Yellowstone.

This was a hard day--not physically, but psychically. The ride was 90 miles, with about 3000 ft of very gentle climbing as we came up from Bozeman to W. Yellowstone, at about 7000 ft. (thats 191 to 287). BUT, the big challenge of the day was the strong, steady headwind. It was unrelenting...and did I say strong? So partly this was a day of unmet expectations; we expected a day of relative ease, and instead had a day of relative challenge. Now, in retrospect, it still wasn't a very hard day, but it was frustrating. (I ended up feeling pretty good the next morning.) I'm still measuring my strength carefully, not letting myself work too hard, but the same amount of work that yielded 17 mph on Tuesday gave me 12 mph today. Changes in terrain, while they may allow you to speed up a bit, provide no relief, because the wind is everpresent. Unending. No escape. Sigh. So I sucked as much wheel as I could stand today, but I'm not the greatest paceline rider. (A paceline is a long string of riders saving energy by riding in each others draft.) I'm happy to do my turn at the front, but want to ride at a steady cadence, so I need a paceline with very steady riders. Even then, I often get too tense, hunching my shoulders, and then my hands fall asleep. So I'll drop out of lines that I'm not comfortable with, because I'm not particularly skilled at it. That said, in the morning I hooked up with Lil and her son Ray (18. There also is a 16 year old on this trip.) An American in Paris, and a retired U.S. Army Officer, Lil manages all the U.S. Cemeteries in Europe. And she is an extraordinary rider, a 3 time rider of the Tour de France Feminin, among many others. They both are strong and steady. Then, later, I rode with my roomate Joel and John, which was good, but still later I hooked with a group following a tandem, which was a problem....I was 4th, and I yo-yoed enough to make it annoying. So, even though it meant being alone in the wind, it was easier to be steady out in the wind than sheltered and bouncing around.

Despite all of that, Montana is still beautiful. We spent the day in the Gallatin River Valley, where many movie stars have their spreads--and you can see why. The river, woods, ten thousand foot mountains on either side, and all leading to Yellowstone. We skirted the park, and a short climb opened onto a fantastic expanse of plain with mountains surrounding. An 8 mile slog into the wind took us to W.Yellowstone, our stop for the night. I played for an hour, had an hour massage, briskit at the Beartooth Barbeque, a talk with Anne, and, on the way back, saw a fun band engage the crowd in a rousing rendition of "Mustang Sally."

Tomorrow is a long day, capped off with our first major climb of the trip--Teton Pass.

Day 2, Missoula to Butte. 135 mi

What a very nice day! I felt good this morning--the various supplements and massage really did the trick, and I began the ride this morning feeling quite at ease. Mapping -- we left Missoula on 200, turned on 210, got on I90 for 17 miles, then took MT1 the rest of the way. We rode through lovely and dramatic river valley, then a long shallow climb into a headwind took us to lunch. After lunch we had our first real climb of the trip, about 1500 ft up to Georgetown Lake, then a Loooong 35 mph+ descent through Anaconda. That was a blast, particularly after slogging through the morning. But Anaconda was quite a sight! The town is surrounded by slag heaps 200+ ft high, some of which are greened but many of which are not. It makes all of those hydraulic mining remains in the lower Sierra look inoffensive. (It really made me want to see the hole, but that was not visible from the road.) The last SAG was at the bottom of the descent. I got in shortly after the first group, and it was a gas watching all these smiling faces come in. We then cruised in the last 20 miles on mostly side roads, punctuated by 5 more miles on I90. Riding on the interstate--- Not so bad! Wide shoulders, good separation, good visibility. Easy to see the junk to avoid on the road, mostly tire pieces. Better than massive logging trucks a foot from your head, like yesterday. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Oops.

My pattern of riding is coming into view. I'll end up spending about half my time alone and half in groups. Iusually roll out alone, the serially hook up with the fsst groups as they go by. I drop out for 3 reasons: 1. I don't want to maintain the concentration needed to ride in a group. 2. I can't match the pace--they are too fast, or I can't find the right gear to stay with them, or they go uphill faster than me. 3. A nature break.

So, as a day unfolds, I slip backwards. Now, I'm faster at the controls than a group is, so I sometimes have the option of rejoining. And on a day like today, which has terrain I do well in, I stay toward the front of the bunch. Riding in groups is a varied experience. Some are serious, some at ease--some quiet, some gabby, some friendly, some competitive. Over the next 2 weeks I'll have a chance to ride with most of them.

Newsflash

My PDA is not getting on the internet in this hotel, for some reason. I've written my post but you're going to have to wait until tomorrow to see it.

Sorry!

Todays route: Missoula to Butte. 135 Mi, 5000 ft of climbing. Beautiful weather and terrain. Roads: MT 200 to MT 210 to I90 to MT 1, then side roads to Butte.