Into Wyoming

7.1.11 - Delta, UT to Sandy, UT - 114mi
We packed up in the morning and headed east-ish with our traveling friend Terry. We were moving well in the morning but as the sun rose, so did the temperature and soon we were climbing a pass up to Eureka, UT with sweat rolling off us. We paused to gather ourselves at the top, refill our bottles at a local gas station and talk about our anticipated lunch on the other side of the pass we had just climbed. As we began rolling down the 8% grade, a local yelled out, 'have fun! It's 9mi to the bottom'. Awesome, we thought. 9 mi of coasting and saving our legs, cooled by the rushing winds as we descended. We weaved in and out of each other as we cruised to the bottom and as we entered the town of Elberta, we looked for a place to eat. We would be parting ways with Terry at this point (his route took him straight east to CO while ours took us north to ID and WY) so we wanted to grab a bite with him and say goodbye but as we rolled into the middle of town, we saw an abandoned gas station and a post office. That's it. We asked a couple of locals where we could find food and their only recommendation was to go back up the hill to Eureka and eat there. Not a chance. Dismayed, we had to settle for a quick goodbye with Terry and we then headed north around Utah Lake towards our destination of Sandy, just outside Salt Lake City. We skirted the edge of Utah Lake for about 30 mi before coming back into civilization, by which time we were very hot, very thirsty, and very hungry (our trail mix and cliff bars only served to dampen the hunger). We were irritable and tired and we were desperate to finish our ride but we were surprised to find ourselves in the middle of a 4th of July parade in the town of Riverton. Our route took us straight through the town and we arrived on main street minutes before the parade began, so we squeezed through the tightly packed crowd of onlookers and proceeded to ride the parade route like the final stretch of the Tour de France. The streets were packed with people waiting for the parade and we can only imagine what they must have thought when they saw three bedraggled bikers rolling along their streets.
We made it through, helped by the occasional cheer, and found a hotel in Sandy that: a) had an open room, b) offered us a discounted rate and most importantly c) had free breakfast in the morning. We ordered Chinese, satisfied our hunger and hit the sack.

7.2.11 - Sandy, UT to Logan, UT - 110 mi.
Our ride from Sandy to Logan took us straight through Salt Lake City, the capital of UT. However, luckily for us, we came through on a Saturday and there was little traffic in the morning to slow us down as we rode through the streets. We made quick time, with an early start allowing us to make the most of a cool morning. We made a quick stop at Bingham Cyclery in Ogden, just north of SLC, so that I could get a quick tune on my shifting cables and James could pick up some new gloves (his previous pair having been worn through as if they were made of lace). The guys there were super cool and really helpful and both James and I came away with exactly what we needed.
The biggest obstacle on our ride was the pass into Logan, a 8mi climb up over 1500ft in the heat of the day. Exhausting. But the ride down the other side was fun and we rode into Logan with the rest of 4th-of-Julyers. Finding a hotel room was difficult, but after a couple of hours of searching and with the help of a very, very friendly and kind hotel desk clerk, we managed to find a room at the Quality Inn. We had to pick up a few things from Walmart (namely snacks we had gone through on our previous ride to Sandy) and headed over to the Beehive, a local restaurant. They staff there were fantastic and gave us a generous discount which allowed us to refill our energy stores, since we'd averaged over 100mi/day for the last three days.

7.3.11 - Logan, UT to Bear Lake (Utah-Idaho border) - 50mi

Today was a short day but still a tough one. We headed up Logan Canyon after passing through the beautiful campus of Utah State and followed the swollen Logan River up towards its source. The canyon was amazingly beautiful and we had a hard time keeping our eyes on the road and not on the scenery. The final push to the top of the pass was arduous and the freshly laid blacktop compounded the heat, but once we were at the top, we were rewarded with a stunning panoramic view of Bear Lake. We stopped to rehydrate and take in the view while we planned our night. We needed a place to camp but we had no reservations and we knew all the campsites would be full for the 4th so we hoped we could find a place to camp for the night. We saddled up and dropped down to the lake, hitting speeds of over 50mph as we wound along the ribbon of road before coming to a halt in the town of Garden City on the water's edge. We headed to a store in town to ask if there was any place around that would let us put our tents up and we met Suzie, a wonderful woman, who said we could camp in her yard. She and her husband Warren owned a former bed and breakfast that sat up in the hills overlooking the lake and offered their frontyard to us. We took it immediately and when we arrived, we realized we couldn't have gotten any luckier. Their house was amazing and was only outdone by the view.


We unloaded our gear, showered and spent the night on their deck, watching the water and talking to Suzie, Warren and their guests Susan and Peggy. We retired to our tents under a blanket of stars comforted with the fact that we had a day off from riding tomorrow.

7.4.11 - Bear Lake to Montpelier, ID - 25mi

After taking in a spectacular sunrise followed by moose spotting in the adjacent field, we sat down to breakfast and enjoyed Warren's eggs, hashbrowns and bacon. We spent the morning chatting with everyone and doing a little, much needed bike maintenance while keeping a watchful eye on the weather. Clouds rolled in and the sky was overcast, putting a slight damper on our day off. We poured over maps, examining our route and decided that it would be best if we made a little progress today which would make the next couple of days easier and allow us to maximize our time in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park. After saying our goodbyes to everyone at the house, we followed the lake north until we reached Montpelier and we headed to the local grocery store for dinner and breakfast supplies. While there, we met a nice couple who were taking a road trip of the west and they asked us if they could take our picture for their scrapbook. Happily, we agreed and with that brief touch of fame, they wished us well and we moved on to the Montpelier KOA. We were told by some locals that this KOA was especially nice as they were right. We spoke with the owners, Stewart and his wife, and they were incredibly gracious in offering a tent site to us for the night. We set up our tents and James went to work creating a roaring fire on which we cooked hotdogs and smores and enjoyed the towns fireworks, albeit from quite a distance away. Either way, it was a great night.


7.5.11 - Montpelier, ID to Alpine, WY - 75mi
Our passage from ID to WY was a beautiful transition into the open mountain ranges of cowboy country. We biked along the serpentine Salt Creek as the grass covered hills rolled around us. As we crested one section of the road, we were brought to a stunning overlook that seemed to epitomize WY: grass valleys with pine and aspen woods and 10,000ft tall jagged, snow covered peaks in the distance.

We stopped in the town of Afton (home of the world's biggest antler arch)

and ate at a lovely seafood restaurant, Rocky Mountain Seafood.

The owner gave us a great discount on lunch and as we talked with her after, she said that her husband's sister and mother both battled leukemia and wished us well on our journey. We were struck again by how many people we meet have been touched by this disease. I don't think we have passed through a single town where we haven't met somebody with a connection to it.
With well wishes, we packed up and headed north. As we rode, storm clouds began popping up on the horizon and it was a race against time to see if we could out run the coming storms. We were briefly hit with small showers as we rode but we managed to elude the storms and pulled into Alpine, WY ready for a rest.