Category: TransAm 2017

Hamilton, MT to Missoula, MT

Today didn’t start out great. I was on the road right around 7:00 AM, but not more than 5 minutes into the ride I took my first fall off the bike this trip. I giant piece of metal wire got caught in my front wheel, bent my fender into the tire and stopped me in my tracks. It happened so quickly that I was on the ground before I even knew what happened. Luckily, I was only going 5 mph, because I otherwise would have had more injuries than the slightly skinned knee I ended up with. My bike sustained no injuries which was great because the piece of metal could have easily broken a few spokes.

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Wisdom, MT to Hamilton, MT

It was weird to start the morning knowing the rest of the group I’ve been riding with was 17 miles up the road. This trip has been defined to some extent by the groups that have formed for a few days or weeks at a time. I’m fine riding on my own, but my decision making and experience has been very different in a group versus riding solo. I was on the road this morning at 7:30 and had thoughts of pushing all the way to Missoula to catch everyone else as long as the conditions were good. Read More

Dillon, MT to Wisdom, MT

Lots of climbing today. There were two large climbs that took me from 5,000 feet elevation in Dillon, MT to 7,400 feet at the highest point. I knew today was going to be tough and was happy to be in a motel last night so I could get a good night of sleep. That sleep was interrupted for a few seconds by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake about 100 miles away. I woke up and it felt like I was all of a sudden sleeping on a waterbed. It didn’t last long though and I fell right back to sleep.

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Ennis, MT to Dillon, MT

The 4^th of July celebrations were loud in Ennis, MT last night. There were 7 of us camping behind Willie’s Distillery in town and everyone got into their tents around 9:00 PM. As I was trying to go to sleep, some fireworks started going off. It was clear that it would be a while before things quieted down. I heard Noah get out of his tent and he mentioned he was going to head to the bar across the street to wait out the noise. I of course followed him and we had a few beers. I wasn’t surprised this morning when I woke up and found only 3 tents still set up. There were four cyclists heading west who were on the road before I woke up. Noah and I were left with the one cyclist heading east. He was also on the road before us. Everyone was up early, so even though I was the last one on the road, I still started the day before 8:00 AM.

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Yellowstone National Park, WY to Ennis, MT

Another long day today. I started off at Madison Campground in Yellowstone National Park. Noah and I said goodbye to our Aussie friends and got on the road around 8:15. It was a quick 15 miles from the campground to West Yellowstone, MT. There was nowhere to get food in Yellowstone, so Noah and I found a place to grab some breakfast when we got to West Yellowstone. After our meal we headed to the grocery store to pick up some food for the day. The only stopping points along the route after West Yellowstone were campgrounds and RV parks with no convenience stores or gas stations.

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Grand Teton National Park, WY to Yellowstone National Park, WY

Today was the first day back on the bike after a long stretch of rest days. I was a little worried it would take a few days to get back into the routine, but I felt great riding today. I left Adam’s house around 7:00 AM. Adam drove me back to a point in Grand Teton National Park that I had passed through on my way to Jackson. I wanted to keep my continuous tracks on the trail, so I made sure I started today slightly behind where I had left off 5 days ago. We stopped by Jackson Lake Dam where I unpacked my things from the car and said goodbye to Adam and Greg.

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Grand Teton Nation Park, WY and Jackson Hole, WY

Today was the last day of my break in Jackson Hole, WY. I started the day early, heading out with Greg and Adam to do a guided hike to Taggart Lake in Grand Teton National Park. At first it looked like we would have a small group to walk with the ranger, but at the last minute a family group with 18 people showed up. The large group wasn’t great for the hike, but did provide good people watching as we covered the 1.5 miles from the parking lot to the lake.

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Yellowstone National Park, WY

I’m going to make this a really short post today. Greg and I left around 9:00 this morning and headed to Yellowstone. We covered a lot of ground and saw a lot of stuff in the park. We never got too far from the car, which probably wasn’t the best way to see Yellowstone, but it really is impossible to see everything in just one day. We were in the park almost the entire day and didn’t get back to Jackson until 8:30 pm. I hope the pictures are enough to give a sense of what our day was like.

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Jackson Hole, WY

The water in the Snake River has been flowing very fast, so we had to change up our plans to go fishing this morning. Luckily the water was perfect for a nice float down the river. We packed up some food and beer and got out of the house around 9:00. On the way into town we picked up some breakfast sandwiches from a cafe that were really good. We then headed to a rental place to pick up a raft and meet Adam’s friend Taylor who would be our raft captain for the day.

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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.

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Moran, WY to Moose, WY

I got a great night of sleep in the teepee last night. There were some mosquitoes, but I just set up my tent as a bug netting. The mattress on the bed was one of the more comfortable I’ve slept on during this trip. I didn’t set an alarm last night because it was supposed to rain in the morning again. The storms started right around 6:45 and were done just before 8:00. While I waited for the rain to stop I grabbed a breakfast burrito and some coffee at the restaurant just feet away from the teepee

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Dubois, WY to Moran, WY

Today was an interesting one. I looked at the weather last night and knew there was rain in the forecast for the morning. I was sharing a room with Mike and we both decided not to set an alarm. We figured we’d have to wait out the rain in the morning and start late, so there was no sense in getting up early. I’ve gotten so used to waking up around 5:30 that even without an alarm I was up and at the local cafe picking up some French toast right when they opened at 6:45. We waited out the rain until 9:00 and then got on the road.

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Lander, WY to Dubois, WY

I woke up early this morning knowing it was going to be a long ride today. The free breakfast at the motel didn’t start until 6:30 so I had to wait around until then or pay for breakfast at McDonald’s. Had I known what the free breakfast was, I probably wouldn’t have waited around for it. I grabbed a banana and a few packaged pastry items and that was about it. On my way out of the lobby I ran into Mike. He had been riding in the group with Bill, and Mark and Patti on the tandem. I hadn’t seen him since Pueblo, CO. Mike decided to break off from that group and was now riding solo. He was also planning to ride to Dubois today and along with Chris, Mike, and Timmi we now had a group of 5 traveling from Lander to Dubois.

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Jeffrey City, WY to Lander, WY

I woke up this morning in a huge empty church. No one else showed up last night, so I had the whole place to myself. This worked out well because I was able to choose the only room with a full size mattress. The all you can drink beer last night made the morning a little rough, but I was on the road by 7:15. The day started with mosquitoes everywhere. I’ve never seen swarms of mosquitoes like this before. As I rode it sounded like a light rain was falling, but it was just the mosquitoes bouncing off my jacket. This was great motivation to keep moving. Anytime I stopped I was covered in bugs.

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Rawlins, WY to Jeffrey City, WY

After yesterday’s short ride I woke up well rested and ready for a more challenging ride today. I also spent all yesterday refueling with food, so I knew I’d have energy. I followed up the Thai buffet at lunch with a premade salad from Walmart that according to the packaging had 5 servings and about 1,000 calories. For dessert, I ate an entire pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Breakfast this morning was a breakfast burrito bowl, a large Greek yogurt, a bag of apricots, and a juice. I hope that’s enough food to keep my weight up.

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