So as I last mentioned, my mother is here in Jackson, Wyoming for work stuff and I pushed through the state as fast as possible to get here in time to hang out for a day before she left. I left Westminster, CO on Saturday the 7th in a car ride from there to Estes Park thanks to Rob. Estes Park is a mountain town at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park. Famous for being home to the Stanley Hotel which is where Stephen King stayed and was inspired to write the Shining. ALSO The same hotel is where a lot of Dumb and Dumber was filmed. Cool right!? Anyways, I started there and headed up Trail Ridge Road for my first day back on the bike to ride over the highest Pass of this trip.
The weather was on and off crazy the whole day. Rain and fog would come and go. At one of the pull over spots I stopped for a snack and made friends with this guy ^ ^.
The road topped out at 12,138 ft. above sea level. This is a photo from just before that. The peak of the pass was extremely anti climatic because of fog. You couldn't see even just 10 feet ahead. But the moment I began to coast down everything cleared up and it was a pretty great ride.
Met this guy on the back side during my 26 mile ride down in between the on and off rain.
Another shot from the ride downnnn.
I spent the first two days riding through northern Colorado. The night before entering Wyoming I camped at a city park in the town of Walden, CO. Another town that has opened up it's public space to the bicyclists traveling through. This was my first day camping back on the transamerica trail so I figured I might run into some other people. Sure enough I did. After not seeing each other since eastern Kansas I once again ran Into Ray, one of the first guys I met back in Missouri who was riding the Trike. We shared the park with two girls heading east and Sung Gyoo who is riding west as well. Here in the U S for the very first time from South Korea. Him and I ended up spending the next 5 days riding together. That first day we left at different times so I crossed into Wyoming solo.
We met back up that evening at the city campground of Sheridan Lake, WY.
This is Sung Gyoo in his everyday riding outfit, which happens to match his bike perfectly.
That night was pretty amazing, I saw stars like I've never seen before in my life. Just as the sun was setting this crazy storm cloud appeared. It was far enough away to never hear any thunder and after an hour it just kinda faded. Shot this little video to show how the sky was vastly different from the east to the west.
Sung Gyoo and I rode together all day, going up and over the continental divide and into the desert high plains area of Wyoming. We had been told of a lady named LB who lived right off route about 76 miles from Sheridan lake. She has been slowly turning her property into a really amazing oasis for people who are passing by on bikes. She keeps a freezer stocked full of ice cream and a fridge full of canned peaches and cheese. We entered her property not knowing what to expect and were completely blown away. Such an incredible place, run by a truly warm and friendly person. She left to stop by the cafe where her friend works shortly after we arrived ( the town consists of the cafe and only the cafe) . When she returned she handed us a platter full of Food. Telling us "figured you guys are pretty tired and this will save you the time it would take to cook up your own dinner" I swear man, If you are loosing faith in the good of people. Just get on your bike and ride. It changes everything.
The Tipi's she had were set up like a proper bedroom. Way more then I had expected.
" No charge to stay/ Help yourself to food and water in shed/ Please sign the guest Book/ Have a safe journey"
I made friends with this lady ^^
Sunrise over the ridge and the outhouse.
L B and I in the morning.
The next few days were filled with riding through pretty barren land. People make jokes about the state tree of Wyoming being the Telephone pole, and its easy to see why through most areas. The plant life consisted of sparsely growing grasses and desert sage bush.
Randomly the landscape would change from Buttes and Rolling hills to more canyon like features with bright red rock.
Then Just before entering the town of lander things started to change, Trees slowly began to appear and water ways came back into the picture.
We had a big ride into Lander, Wyoming. A town I knew nothing about except for that it was the largest we would pass through in the entire state prior to Jackson. We showed up in town during day one of a multi day International Climbers Festival. Turns out lander is a pretty famous town in the world of rock climbing. Every year this fest is hosted here where they have clinics and competitions and its more or less a big party. So the park we knew of that allows bicyclist to camp for free was also home to about 60 other tents by the time we showed up. We met a bunch of really cool people from all over the west coast that were in the park to camp for the weekend and partake in the activities. Also got to meet a cool couple from Portland riding bike to Colorado and a man named Jerry who is cycling all the way to the state of Maine.
more crazy things happened the day we left Lander. I was cycling alone ahead of Sung Gyoo about 15 miles after leaving town when I saw two other people on bikes in the distance. As I got closer I knew exactly who I was looking and and sped up to make sure I was right. And what do you know, It was Guy and Joe. My buddies I made in Kansas. It had been almost three weeks since we last saw each other the day before entering the town of Leoti, Ks. That was during the time of extreme heat when we were all waking up at crazy hours to start our days and get miles in before the sun got up and over 100 degrees. I had been wondering how they were and whether or not we'd ever see each other again. Pretty amazing how small these roads seem to have become over time.
This is a shot of my bike in an area known as "The bad lands of Wyoming" We all rode through this separately on our way to the town of Dubois. In Dubois Guy, Joe, Sung Gyoo and myself all slept in a Lutheran church thanks to a pastor named frank. We had a good dinner together across the street. I said my farewells to everyone early in the morning the next day. I was off on my own to ride the biggest day of my trip thus far in order to get to Jackson. There is a good chance I'll see guy and Joe again but less of a chance to see Sung Gyoo. It was an incredible run going through all of Wyoming together and he thanked me over and over for sharing my knowledge of road food and bicycles in a way he could understand. Bicycles and travel are incredible tools. It has tied together lasting bonds that develop in only a few short days with people that I would probably never meet in any other way.
my 92 mile day towards Jackson was long and tiring but I had little to complain about with views like this almost the whole way there.
Once again. picture of my bike because its easier then trying to take pictures of myself. Plus like I've said in the past, Mountains and Bikes just look good together.
I'm now in Jackson. A bit ahead of where I would have thought I'd be at this time of the summer. I have lots to look forward to as I leave here tomorrow. 45 miles from here I'll enter Yellowstone National Park where I'll stay for a few days to see the wild life, hot springs, bubbling mud, and old faithful. I'll exit Yellowstone through to the west into Montana and make my way north toward Missoula. I'm getting mighty close to being on the west coast. Not sure what I'll be doing once that happens. Just taking things as they come for now and seeing how things fall into place. Miss my friends miss my family but being able to spend 2 days with mom has really lifted my spirits in that sense. I'm excited to see what Mama earth has in store for me next. She did a great job with the grand Tetons. Crushed my ego to smithereens in the best of ways.
So that's what's up.
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