Holy #$*%! Day 1

Today was a first day of epic proportions! I started the day at 4:30 looking to get a head start on the sun. I was on the pavement by 5:30. Julia and Lucy accompanied me for the first bit of the ride.

Then it was nothing but pavement until 10:30 when I came to the Togwotee Pass. I started climbing the pass at 10:30 and continued to climb for 15 miles and 3 1/2 hours!! I'm not kidding. Previously I wrote about riding the Teton Pass and how that would be the hardest thing I could anticipate on this ride, yeah well I was wrong. Although this pass may not have been as steep as the Teton Pass it dwarfed it in sheer length! I knew that at some point on this ride I would be broken. However, I did not anticipate it being the first day! But eventually I did make it
as I am writing this from Dubois, WY.

Throughout the ride I had to deal with a lot of construction and dirt roads. I was escorted through one construction are by the pace truck, and by escorted I mean they made me and my bike ride in the back while they drove me through. The second construction zone I pulled up to just as they were getting ready to let people go. The flag guy told me I needed to wait for the pace car to get a ride, but as the gentleman who was peeing on the side of the road while in the line of traffic approached his pickup the flag guy yelled to him, "Hey wanna give this guy a ride?" To which the driver replied No, and the passenger sure. So I was loaded into the back of this pickup. Once in we were given the go ahead to continue. The passenger took his beer can from the floor crumpled it up and threw it at the flag guy who didn't notice, and with the spinning of the truck tires and some dust clouds we were gone. These guys were nice enough to drive me through the dirt road section. It was very rough and I definitely would have struggled greatly had I tried to ride through it. As we drive the rain started to come down. We were going fast enough that it was stinging me as it hit. They offered to keep driving me on into Dubois, but I declined feeling that I really wanted to do this ride the right way. I spent the rest of the ride trying to outrun thunderstorms, which left me seriously questioning the need to preserve my pride. I think I would have rather preserved my legs and my lungs in retrospect. But it was good to pedal, and I'm learning to not get excited when I see bends in the road, because most likely the top of the pass or town is not around that one, now matter how much you want it to be. With the rain now coming down in sheets, a flood advisory, and trying to kick this cold I decided I'd stay in a Motel tonight. Here I can watch the rain from comfort and hopefully sleep soundly and do some recuperating. Until tomorrow or next time I have internet.