Diary

Mileage:  87.52 miles (141.8 kms)

Elevation Change:  4100 feet (1250 meters)

Weather:  sunny and warm

Morale:  great

Incidents:  crossed continental divide, 4th of July parade in Dubois, won the bike decorating contest

Daily Summary:

Rolling by 6:30 through some of the most beautiful scenery on earth, with our bike all decorated for the 4th of July bike decorating contest.  Our first 40 miles were through the Teton National Park up that gorgeous valley in the shadow of the Grand Teton.  We were feeling a little flat today after the big effort yesterday, but we wanted to make steady progress to make it in for the Germany/Italy game.  We have two Germans on the trip and they were riding like people possessed today to make it in on time.  After 40 miles the road turned up for a 17 mile climb to the Continental Divide.  We were pretty apprehensive about it, but it turned out to be a LOT easier than yesterday’s climb.  Then we had a thirty mile downhill into town.  Almost half of the stretch was under construction, much without pavement, so we did some cyclocross today!  I complained about our fat tires for the climb yesterday, but they were just the ticket for the dirt riding today.  We were first into the hotel again which surprised us.  I guess everyone else was feeling pretty beat as well.

 

We pulled into Dubois (pronounced doo-boyz—I kid you not!) at lunchtime.  It’s a cute little old time western town.  I told Ray we needed to have a Buffalo Burger in a town like this.  So we went to the Cowboy Café and sure enough, they had them and they were great.  We settled into the room by 1pm to watch the game.  At 2, though, we had to take a break from the game to watch the GREAT 4th of July parade come up main street right outside our hotel.  The cub scouts, all the local dude ranches, all the guys running for office, the cement truck from the local cement company, lots of horses, the sheriff, the fire department, etc, etc. all came through.  It was classic! 

 

When the parade was over, the game went into overtime still tied.  Unbelievable how the Germans melted away in the last 90 seconds after 118 minutes of great play.  Tomorrow we’ll be riding like people possessed to make it in for the France/Portugal game.

 

At Route Rap this evening we found out we won the bike decorating contest!  Prize?  A $5 gift certificate to Dairy Queen, which we will put to good use!  I can’t talk the boys into the square dance next door this evening, but we’ll be staying up for the fireworks tonight!

 

Below you see the three of us in Teton National Park.  Then Ray and I with the grand prize winning bicycle (the spokes have red, white, and blue electrical tape on them), me on the Continental Divide, a picture of our FAVORITE sign, and a scene from the parade.  Happy 4th everybody!