Here comes the rain again...

The cabin in Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton proved to be small, but very adequate for 3 tired, hungry cyclists who wanted to stay indoors.  The cabin was big enough to fit us, barely, including the spot on the floor for the sleeping bag.  But it was indoors in an area infested with mosquitoes and bears.  Neither of which I wanted munching on me.

Cabin at Colter Bay

We got up this morning, ready to move on towards another hill climb day.  From what Adventure Cycling says, the Togwothee Pass would be the second highest peak we would climb on the trip.  Based on the mileage between cities, however, it would also be a somewhat short day. Only 65 miles, which would be fine based on our climbing.  Not a bad day.  We bought some breakfast, and went to the general store to buy some packed sandwiches for lunches, not knowing what was ahead.`

The day didn't start well for me.  As we left the Colter Bay Village complex, we started riding up the road.  Because of the activity of the bears in the area, the Park Service set up orange cones on the shoulder of the road, to discourage people from parking there to gawk at any bears who might happen along.  Apparently this was a prime place for them.  As we rode in single file, I looked up and Jerry quickly swerved to avoid an orange cone, which knocked over and went straight into my path.  I had no chance to avoid it, so down I went into the culvert next to the road.  I got up and looked at the bike, which had a bent front fender, and worse, a bent front rim.  I spun it around and it wobbled, wobbled, wobbled.  Crap.  It wasn't anyone's fault, just one of those things, but I wasn't happy about it. I cooled down eventually, but that, combined with the car, truck, and RV fatigue from yesterday, I wasn't happy with the crowd of bear gawkers up the road who happened to park - of course - in the road shoulder where we were supposed to ride.  I may have mumbled a few choice words as I went by.  Jerry felt so bad that he kept trying to straighten the wheel all day, bending and bending it against the wobble in the wheel.  At the hotel tonight he continue this, and darned if he didn't just about take all the wobble from the wheel.

Riding away from the Grand Teton National Park

Outside of that incident, the day went pretty well.  And then the rain came back, with a vengeance.  We saw clouds approaching and put on rain jackets.  As we were in the climb to the Togwothee Pass, it began to come down in buckets.  Had we suited up a few minutes before, we may have been okay.  The sight of Pat and I trying to hold our bikes up and put on rain pants and gloves, while it's pouring down, must have been quite a sight.  So by the time we got on the proper gear, we were soaked anyway, and very cold.  Luckily up the road a piece there was a lodge and restaurant.  Even thought the restaurant was closed, we were able to eat our packed lunches under their porch, and they did supply coffee.  What a difference, as we were able to  shake the rain from our stuff,  dry out a little, and get back on the road.  The Pass turned out to be long in length, but not horribly steep, or at least within our abilities.  

The view across Jackson Lake in Grand Teton Park

Foreboding clouds ahead

Pat had made arrangements to meet a friend at the top of the Pass, so he moved on ahead.  Jerry and I made our way, slowly but steadily toward the top.  By the top it had cleared somewhat, but we kept our rain gear handy in case of a return.  We met at the top of the Pass, including Mike, Pat's friend.  Because of my wobbly wheel, I thought it best to take it slow going down, so we sent Pat and Mike ahead and Jerry and I took it slowly.  What an afternoon.  We had about 32 miles to go after the Pass, but it went incredibly fast as we were going downhill and downwind at the same time.  Once again, it began to rain, so Jerry and I threw on our jackets and headed down.  A mile later we found the Lava Resort, another bar/restaurant/inn, so we pulled in there to avoid the rain.  Hot coffee, and some Lava cake later, we went out into the sunshine again.  The rest of the day we cruised towards our destination in Dubois (sound the "S") Wyoming.  A nice, small town with some choices for motels and restaurants.  We found the local joint, the Cowboy Cafe, and had a great big dinner with pie to finish it off.  A good day overall, with a few obstacles, including orange cones and the inevitable rain.

The top

Always a welcome sign to see

We're really looking forward to some sunshine, somewhere!