Secomd half of Stage 2, 5 days Idaho Falls to Casper

Really in the swing of it now. Into bed by 9pm and up at 5am. Pack what you haven't packed the previous night then off to a crappy breakfast. Brought my own Vegemite as I don't like grape jelly or fake scrambled eggs and if I'm lucky there is some cereal.  Load your bags at 6am and hit the road. We get given a basic set of directions the night before and it's up to you to get there. The basic instructions give you turn by turn instructions ie: 47.7    R    W 2000 ave

If you stuff up your computer or miss a turn and someone does every day then it's bonus miles for you  !! 

So far we have had 6 riders picked up by the sag van as they were unable to complete the days ride. 

Next town on the trip was Idaho Falls, we met a cyclist out training on our way into town and asked him where the best chocolate milkshake was to be found. He immediately told us to follow him and he took us to a family owned diner and the shakes were fantastic. The rooms were not ready til 4pm which was a bummer. The hotel was the worst we have stayed at. Mark my room mate and I had a swim in the local river it was very cool.  Here is a photo of the river in Idaho Falls

We have been following the path of the Snake river since we left the coast it starts in Yellowstone and wends its way to the sea. So we followed it up stream for 1600 kms. Only 106 kms that day. 

Snake river canyon 

Next day to Jackson was a huge day 186 kms and 2780m of climbing. We set off and within 5 kms we had a new road for 24 kms with fresh chip seal just been laid it was terrible to ride on, and we soon started climbing into a strong headwind. The ride had 2 big climbs with the second finishing with 6 kms of 10 - 12% gradient without a let up  !!   Just what you want at the end of a huge day. At the top of the pass at 2545m the view was great. The descent to Jackson was WOW  !! one steep fast descent, one of our group had a max speed of 93 kms per hour  !!

We also entered Wyoming State. It is a small state which has a population of 586,000

Jackson reminded me a bit of Margaret River but with a lot of cowboy influence. I think you could have a fun week there. Jackson is noted as having the highest per capita wealth in the USA. Houses cost between 1 to 30 million dollars. The mountain biking is incredible. We went with one of our group to have drinks with a mate of his who lives there and his family, he gave us a run down on the Mtn Biking in the area, it could be a great trip. 

Deer antler arch - Central Jackson, Wyoming. 

The next day up and at it again and off to Dubois. 144 kms, the ride was the most spectacular ride I have ever been on. We passed the mighty Teton ranges and over the Continental divide. ( This is the point where all water landing west flows to the pacific and all water /rain landing east flows to the atlantic. Along the way we passed a herd of wild Bison feeding in a field on the edge of Yellowstone.

The town Duboise was  known as "No Sweat" but the postal service would not open a post office because of the name  !! The Wyoming state government re named it Duboise. It was to be pronounced the French way BUT the town refused and it is now pronounced as deboys  !! 

This is the Grand Teton amongst the little Tetons, if you look carefully you can see people river rafting. 

What a brilliant view, looks just like the Dolomites in northern Italy 

Wild Bison in yellowstone park, where is my bow and arrow  !! 

In true cowboy style Duboise has wooden sidewalks

Here is a photo of a section of the sidewalk with the bit Janette paid for - NOT

It is a true cowboy town with a population of 900. They all wear the full cowboy outfits, we went to the pub after tea and they were arriving for a dance evening. Well howdy pardner  !! Cowboys and cowgirls aged 6 to 70 all dressed with dem boots and hats came to the bar and the bar was a true Wild West affair check these photos

Lots of stuff shot by cowboys  !! 

Looks like cowboy country. 

The ride to Riverton City was glorious 130 kms down hill slightly but with about a 15 kmh tailwind the whole way. We averaged 35.6 kmh. Yeeha  !!  Starting to get tired after 8 days riding 

last bit of this stage was 196 kms to Casper and a rest day, we rode as a paceline of 5 all day at an average of 30 kmh and got in just before the rain soaked the other riders. There was 75mm of rain in about 1 hour  !! 

The roads we are riding all have a rumble strip on the edge with about a one meter shoulder. The rumble strip is about 30cm wide and is a series of gouges made in the road surface. You are required by law in Wyoming to stay to the right of the rumble strip which is very hard when trying to hide from any cross breeze. If you waver onto the rumble strip it just about shakes you off your bike. 

We have only had one accident in the group so far. Terry a Canadian was not concentrating and went down heavily, crushing his helmet and requiring 20 stitches in his arm. He's a tough old guy though (70 years old) and he finished the ride before he would let them take him to the hospital for repairs. 

Dinner at Bubbas BBQ - that is a lot of food for one person. I had salad of course. 

By the way this is Cowboy Country