Today was a great day of 137 miles. We started out at 30 degrees but it quickly warmed to the 70's. The beginning of the ride featured a climb of Targhee Pass where we entered Idaho and crossed the Continental Divide. After crossing the Divide a group of us rode together at around 25 mph for many miles and actually finished the first 100 miles in a little over 5 hours.
One of the fun things about today was seeing the Tetons way off in the distance and slowly through the day getting closer to them. Most of the area we rode in before getting to the mountains was farm fields with the mountains in the distance. We rode through some rain but it never rained hard enough to soak through your clothes, just enough to cool you off. I rode the entire day with Ethan, Tom and Scott and part of the day with them plus Nerius, Mark and Ed. Working together really got us down the road faster.
The highlight of the day by far was Teton Pass. The summit is at 8,600 feet. It's a 10 percent grade on a 5 mile climb. I climbed it between 5 and 6 mph. It took nearly an hour to reach the summit. We were joined on the climb by a local rider from Jackson, Rob. Six of us regrouped at the summit and descended together. I hit 54.5 mph and a couple of the other riders reported reaching 60. There were curves but they required little or no braking so you could descend at full speed. I've done well over 100,000 miles of cycling and it is my new favorite descent. Hopefully some of the video I've posted will give you a sense of the speeds reached heading downhill.
Tomorrow is another rest day but I think a group of us is going to ride north toward Teton National Park. If I can get some good pictures, I'll post them for you to see. Day after tomorrow we head for Montpelier Idaho.
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