Back to business. After 3 days that weren't really right- too short on Day 4 and 5 (even if the Yellowstone Tour was worthwhile) and then the split day with a 40 mile bus ride on day 5- today was back to normal on PacTour. 117 miles and 4K feet of climbing, a full day and a strong effort. How'd we get here, well, we crossed the Idaho border at Geneva and came to Montpelier where if we went north the next town is Bern and if we went south the next town is Paris.
The detailed version is we followed Rt 89 south from Jackson, following the flow of the Snake River down and down some more under a blanket of clouds that suggested rain. Then at Alpine we switched tacts, although we didn't leave the highway, but now climbed very slowly against the flow of the Salt River past our lunch stop at Smoot (pop 100).
From there the climbing continued and got steeper as we crossed over two passes with a long decent between them, and then one more descent into Montpelier. All of the day was pretty, the first part dramatic with the steep canyon walls carved out by the Snake River and the surrounding hills full of pine trees. The second was agricultural but still interesting, the Salt Valley is a wide, flat, lush agricultural area so the National Forests and mountains on both sides must hold a lot of well fed deer and elk. And the final part was all National Forest (Caribou National Forest, were there ever caribou here) so no houses or businesses, just curving road through rolling hills of sage and wild flowers and a single cowboy riding his horse, probably looking after some sheep that were grazing nearby. Maybe it was also helped by the fact the sun came out for that part of the ride and it was a glorious afternoon to be on a bike.
From lunch we road with Cassie (Billboard) and Matthias (the 1 German, from Munich) so a slightly bigger group chasing each other up the summits. Which reminds me, I'm Seattle Mike (which must mean there is another Michael on the trip, but not sure who that is), and our group has picked up two new nicknames, "The Red Light Brigade" for our flashers and "The Three MUsketeers" (Don, Mike, and Tom). We also made Reg's name into a verb, which means to worry or to be concerned, in particular to doubt one's capabilities. Reg, naturally, was worried about this. He's riding really strong and taking quick pitstops (the food stops) so mostly we see him as a twinkle of his light in the far distance in front of us.
Tom got the town sign victory today, after I pulled the train of riders downhill from the second summit. Tom spotted the Montpelier town sign first and sprinted around me to claim it first. I mean, quick, ever remember the name of the lead out guy?
Love all the nicknames of the riders (got the low down earlier) you should be updating soon, no? If I recall you were good about learning tidbits about people. Sounds like a glorious day! Enjoy tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteLeave it to Tom to pull a Mark Cavendish and out-sprint everybody at the end.
ReplyDeleteUh, that would be Michael Risse Renshaw, if I'm not mistaken?
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