We left Grand Teton National Park on Wednesday the 7th and headed south, deeper into Wyoming. I was glad my legs felt rested and ready for the short 54-mile ride into Pinedale. As we left Jackson Lake and the Tetons, we stopped often to relish our last views of their beauty. The smoke that was hiding the peaks had mostly cleared so we had our best view of them so far.

We rode down the highway for many miles until we reached a small lake where we turned east. The road became gravel and started to descend through beautiful peaks. There were some excellent photo stops along the way:

Once out of the mountains we were soon to enter the Great Basin in Wyoming. The Basin is noteworthy as any water that enters it does not flow out - instead it evaporates. The Continental Divide bounds the Basin on either side.

The Basin is also remarkable as inside it there is n o t h i n g.

The only sights are sagebrush and dirt and the only sounds are the wind and tires churning gravel.

As you can imagine, with no trees or structures there's nothing to stop the wind. On our second day in the Basin the wind started blowing in our faces at the halfway point. With over forty miles left we were worried, and unfortunately no matter which way the route turned the wind still blew directly against our direction of travel. This meant we cycled at 4-5 mph for hours, including a stretch on a highway where the speed limit was 70. Terrifying and exhausting.

As the day wore on the wind blew in a fog and the temperature dropped. The last ten miles of the ride were steep uphill, and after fighting the wind for hours I was dead tired. I extracted every last drop of energy from my legs and finally made it to camp. I think if the van had stopped and offered me a ride I would have taken it - so I'm glad they didn't.

In camp the crew had a fire going and were ready to help us warm up. My friends Flo and Ted arrived soon after me and were struggling in their own ways as well.

The next two days were dedicated to riding out of the Basin. On the first I had a mechanical halfway through the ride where my shifter cable broke. With help I installed a new cable but the bike wouldn't shift. We set up the bike single speed and I rode about fifteen miles to where I swapped bikes with someone taking the van - his bike was a speed machine and I ripped through the last 25 miles of gravel at nearly 20 mph!

In camp the bike wizard and beloved crew member Don was able to extract the end of the broken cable from my shifter.

I was so relieved that the bike was working again as the next days would be difficult with only one gear!

The next day we finally left the Basin. Riding towards the Colorado border, we started to see trees again. We felt a strange excitement with the change in scenery. I had been looking forward to reaching my home state for weeks and it was just within reach! The hills gave way to mountains, and when I saw a road sign for Routt County I was thrilled.

Several of the group had not been to Colorado and I wanted them to see its beauty. We spent one more night on the border and the next day rode south to Steamboat Springs. On the way we rode up an incredibly steep mountain pass to nearly 10,000 feet - I rode the entire climb but had to stop a few times to catch my breath. I was impressed with the other riders who had come from sea level or, in the case of the Dutch, below!

The road was lovely smooth gravel with aspen groves everywhere.

Riding into town, I was in a pace line behind two other guys. Off in the distance we saw someone pull into the road on a bike. We came up behind him and he pulled off to the left, into traffic. Cars sounded their horns and I thought he was a lunatic local. As I rode past he yelled, "Know any good gravel rides around here?" I looked at him for a second and he said, "Yup, it's me!" It was my dad!! I was speechless.

We spent the rest day in Steamboat together, visiting the hot springs and having a great dinner.

After months it was great to see them and we had a great time together. The other riders were surprised and impressed they had come out from Boston to see me.

Leaving was a sorrow, but the next day was possibly the most beautiful of the entire trip so far. The morning rain ended, leaving wet gravel roads and the smell of fall behind. We climbed up Lynx Pass and around a lake, then descending into a valley carved by the Colorado River.

 

Descending to the river was a blast on the twisty roads traversing the hillside. We crossed the river and climbed up the other side to our destination in Kremmling.

Kremmling was unimpressive after such a long day. Our campsite was foggy and damp in the morning. A few hours into the ride the sun broke through for the climb up Ute Pass. We had lunch at the top where the mountains complemented the yellowing leaves of aspen trees.

(Disclaimer: not my bike)

The descent was cold and soon a rainstorm caught us. Riding through Silverthorne on the bike path we were in the rain, but after a quick coffee stop the sun was back out. We rode up to the reservoir and along the bike path into Frisco where we stayed for the night. The highlight was the beer and barbeque we had for dinner!

Today we rode out through Breckenridge to Hartsel via Boreas Pass. Many of us stopped for coffee in Breckenridge before the climb.

The climb was gradual and had great mountain views. We stopped for many photos at the top.

The high peaks were dusted with snow already, likely from the rain the previous day. The back side of the pass took us into South Park, another high plains full of sagebrush. The wind had kicked up in our faces again of course. I sat behind anyone who passed me for most of the ride until the very end, when I helped pull into town. I went to the local saloon with a few friends for several beers and unsteadily rode into camp just in time for dinner.

Tonight we're sitting in the barn at the ranch listening to classic rock and anticipating an easy ride into Salida for the rest day tomorrow.

It's great riding through Colorado. The northern part of the state is incredible and I'll be going back as soon as I can.

We are all praying for tailwinds as every windy day but one has had a headwind. Now that we're more than halfway done the touring fatigue is setting in slightly. With a few rest days soon hopefully we will all pick up some more energy.