The Ride That Nearly Killed Me

When someone in the valley says they road The Loop you should ask for a little clarification. "The Loop" is a pleasant 25 mile road ride that starts in Victor and goes north to Driggs and then loops back to Victor via Cedron Road along the Big Holes. I have done this loop many times and it is a beautiful, though not too challenging afternoon jaunt......... "THE LOOP" is different.

THE LOOP is a lot farther and hillier. Yeah, yeah, I realize that there are those who do this loop with regularity, but I am not cut from the same cloth as these super heroes. I am a mere mortal. This was the most difficult 110 miles I have EVER ridden. I have ridden lots of centuries in my life. Maybe it's age or the fact that I don't ride as much as I once did, but this one defined my limits.

I got a slightly later start than I had hoped. I was not at all sure how long it would take but I knew I needed time. Originally I was suppose to meet a friend, her kids and Owen in Jackson at the climbing gym and it was only going to be 85 miles. That morning she informed me that she had forgotten about a prior dinner engagement she had but could still take Owen for a play date after school if I still wanted to ride. Hmmm....that means an extra 25 miles. Well, okay.

Contrary to Tony's suggestion, I decided to do the ride counter clockwise so I did not have to deal with the often formidable wind that blows west along Swan Valley and Palisade Reservoir. Of course that means I would have to end the ride with Teton Pass. Yuck.

I started out at about 10 am and headed up Pine Creek Pass. It is soooooo much easier to ride the pass heading east, short uphill and long downhill into Swan Valley.

I fueled up on a BLT and fries at The Angus before heading out to what was to be the toughest section of the ride.

Swan Valley to Alpine is spectacular scenery. There were raptors soaring off the updrafts of every cliff and the reservoir was populated along the shores and islands with nesting pelicans. However, there was so much elevation gain I could not fully enjoy it.


When I arrived in Alpine, Wy it was apparent to me that Owen would be joining my friend for her dinner engagement. I was not feeling too guilty, since I had her to blame for the extra 25 miles I would have to ride.

The road quality greatly improved the moment I entered WY; goodbye to chip-n-seal and inch-wide road shoulder. Rte 189/191, along the Snake River, is heavenly. There is a 3 foot wide shoulder almost the entire way and silky, smooth asphalt. It is also the best scenery of the ride, with the snow melt engorged river to the right and beautiful cliffs interspersed with forests of cottonwood to the left. Based on the number of rafts I saw careen by, the crappy economy is not affecting tourism too much in Jackson. I even got to witness an entire raft full of unfortunates take a swim at Lunch Counter Rapid.



My arrival to Hoback Junction was greeted by a thunderstorm that lasted exactly the 13 miles it took to limped into Jackson very cold and hungry. I opted to wait until Wilson to buy wool socks, eat Mexican food and steel my mind and body against the climb I had been dreading for the past 50 miles or so. I lingered over a Sangria soda and torta sandwhich hoping the pass would just go away. I considered sticking out my thumb and calling it a day.

Let's just say it is a lot easier riding the pass on a mountain bike with 29 gears. Under powered AND under geared is not a good combo. But I did get this great photo:

I stopped to take a rest at some point and put my gloves back on when I heard a noise to my right and there was a yearling moose not five feet from me, browsing on some quakie shoots. He was completely unfazed by my presence and cooperated as a shot a few photos.

The last 12 or so miles into Victor were both glorious and painful. I was beyond happy to coast downhill but this feeling was tempered by the incredible cold that was seeping deep into my limbs. Mind you, at this point it was almost 8:30, in the low 40s and spitting rain.

Today I opted for a short run.

Owen Turns Nine Years Old

Owen started planning his birthday party in September when we moved to Victor. His ideas for potential venues: Lava Hot Springs, Enclosure Climbing Gym, Jackson Rec. Center Pool, BYU Badger Creek Sled Hill, Targhee. He finally decided just to have it at home and make it a sledding party. Great. Simple.

He had to wait until the week after his actual birthday because his best friends would be out of town and it would not be a party without them. After two years in St Louis he was not going to tolerate another Lucy and Ethan-free celebration.

The whole B.D. weekend was almost derailed by sudden illness but he managed to condense what for every other kid in his class was a 3-4 day illness into 36 hours. We only had to postpone one day!

Later That Same Day: Darby Canyon

Later that day while Tony, Ben and Owen went up the the mountain I went with my friends Heather, Nellie and Sam up Badger Creek Canyon. After about 3 miles we got to pretty fresh, un-skied snow and the going was much more fun and the scenery got better and better.

Enjoying the Cold with Gusto

This is our first cold season since Winter 05/06. That's only two winters we missed but it seemed like forever, at the time. There is something positive to be said about being able to cycle all year around like we could in St. Louis but this white, cold, powdery stuff is more our style. It's good to change things up a bit so one never gets too tired of the same one or two activities. It's the same reason so many of us who grew up with a real spring and autumn so miss them. Change adds a little spice to life.



Owen is on the Nordic Race Team this year as well as Alpine. Nordic practice is mid-week and Alpine is on weekends. Ben often comes over with Tony to Victor to snowboard on the weekends. This is my first year to really embrace lift skiing but I still prefer to take to the trails where no pass is required.

This weekend was Owen's first Nordic race, the Teton Ridge Classic. Since he's been working on skate skiing up until this point he was a bit disappointed that he had to put wax on his skis and shuffle back and forth. He is a bit of a shuffler and does not really get the kick and glide concept. Nevertheless he has enough fun that he prefers Nordic races over downhill, which tend to fall on the same day. Fine with me because they are cheaper and more fun to watch.