Day 57: 0 Miles

Jackson Hole, WY and Grand Teton National Park, WY

Today was the first 0 mile day I’ve had since State College, PA. I’ve taken a few days that I considered rest days, but they have all involved 10 to 15 miles of riding. I’ve gotten into such a normal routine of waking up and getting on the bike, that this little break in the trip is definitely going to throw me off. I had a later night than usual last night, but was still awake around 6:00. I think it was good that I woke up early because I don’t want to get too comfortable during my time off.

During this trip I’ve gotten used to having the bare minimum in terms of amenities. Over the last couple of days Adam has made sure Greg and I have everything we could possibly need. It has been absolutely amazing, but I’m hoping I find it easy to slip right back into the routine I’ve established over the last 8 weeks once I start riding again. I went downstairs this morning around 7:30 and did some minor work on my bike. I was planning to take it to get tuned up today, but wanted to make sure I looked it over first so I could give the bike mechanic some direction on what I thought needed to be done. Soon after that Greg was up and Adam made us both breakfast sandwiches to start off our day. Adam also made sure we had sandwiches and food packed to take with us and get us through the rest of the day.

After breakfast we decided we would drive through Jackson so I could drop my bike off for a tuneup and then we’d make plans from there. The east side of Jackson borders the National Elk Refuge, so Greg and I decided to drive through before heading up to Grand Teton National Park. We didn’t see much wildlife on the Elk Refuge, but I was able to snap a few good photos.

After leaving the National Elk Refuge we drove through Grand Teton National Park to Jenny Lake. As we were driving we noticed a group of 20 or 30 people standing on the side of the road taking pictures. We weren’t sure what was causing the commotion, but decided to hop out of the car to check it out. There was a moose with a baby not far from the road. It was an interesting sight, but nothing that I thought warranted the traffic jam that was piling up on the road. I hope this is not what Yellowstone is like, because it is going to be a tough place to ride through if people are parking their RVs in the shoulder of the road all over the park.

We got to Jenny Lake and it took forever to find a place to park. It’s crazy how many people are in the park this week. I know this is a busy time of the year for the national parks, but didn’t picture it being this packed with cars and RVs. We decided to do a short hike around part of Jenny Lake. Greg was super excited about it and gave me a big thumbs up on the trail. There is a shuttle boat on Jenny Lake, so you can hike around part of the lake and then take the boat back. I think the one way hike is only 3 miles, but there were a lot of people who were doing a round trip on the boat and skipping the hike completely. The hike was fairly scenic and not too difficult. All the people doing the round trip on the boat definitely missed out. The hike ended at a waterfall which was a pretty amazing sight. From there we were only .25 miles from the boat back to the car.

After the hike Greg and I headed back to Adam’s house to shower and change before heading back into Jackson. The plan for tonight was to meet our friend Mark for dinner in Jackson. Greg and I know Mark from high school, but haven’t seen him in years. He has been living out in Jackson since 2009. Mark and I went back and forth this morning on a few options for places to eat but hadn’t made a real decision. I was not aware that my amazing friends back home had started what they were calling a GoFeedMe. They all put in some money and purchased a gift certificate for me to use at a restaurant in town called Local. Local is probably the nicest restaurant I’ve been to during this trip and definitely not a place I would have treated myself to without the gift certificate. I was blown away that they had organized that for me. I can’t wait to get back to NYC and thank them all in person for the great meal. It was great to share that meal with Greg and Mark and catch up with Mark for the night.

The plan for tomorrow was to go fishing in the morning, but the river is flowing to strong for that to be possible. Adam has found some other plans for us, so we still have something to look forward to tomorrow morning. Tomorrow night I think we are going to make it to the top of the mountain at Jackson for dinner and some entertainment. The top of the mountain is at over 10,000 feet elevation, so it will hopefully offer some great views. I’ve been asked by a few people how the elevation has affected me during this trip. I honestly haven’t noticed any difference between riding at sea level from the 11,500 foot pass in Colorado. At most I’ve climbed a few thousand feet elevation in a day, so I think that has given me enough time to get acclimated before climbing higher. At this point I’ve been at over 6,000 feet elevation for 2 weeks, so I think my body is totally used to it. I guess I can test that out tomorrow night by having a few beers above 10,000 feet.