Bike Trip Day 25: Ashton to the Grand Tetons

Biking: 64 miles

What a day! We climbed a lot. So many gravel climbs, but the road wasn’t as bad as I feared.

I forgot to mention yesterday, that the road we’re taking today isn’t safe for the RV, so Brian stayed in Yellowstone last night, and Anita, Mark, and I stayed in an AirBNB in Ashton. That meant we all needed to carry two days worth of stuff on the bikes. Anita and Mark have been doing this frequently, but I was doing it for the first time. And, let me tell you, riding with an extra 20+ lbs on the bike is no joke. Climbing over 4,000 feet with extra weight, exhausting. But, we did it.

The day started with a gentle climb on the road with a bit of a headwind. We rotated drafting so we didn’t burn up too much energy.

Then, we hit the gravel. It was a little rough at first, but it smoothed out for a bit. The quality of the gravel changed frequently; sometimes there were holes, ruts, and stones. Other times it would be smooth sailing. At one point the steep climbing started, and the road was particularly bad, rutted, sandy, with loose stones. We had to stop a few times to catch our breath on some of the climbs, but we made it to the top.

After some steep climbs we started descending on gravel, not my favorite, especially after our 30-mile gravel descent about 10 days ago, that sent me to the doctor’s for wrist issues.

We stopped at Grassy Lake Reservoir to eat our lunch and then continued on gravel for another 10 miles or so.

This descent wasn’t too bad, and the views were incredible.

We finally hit paved roads for the last 17 miles. Lots more climbing, but the surface makes it a little easier. We reached the top of a climb, and ahhh, we’re nearly there.

I have to admit that I’m glad we took the road less traveled today…it was a challenge, but wow, what an amazing place this is.

Another first today, Anita and Mark are camping in a tent tonight. Their spot is in a different part of the park from our RV. A shout out to Brian who met us at their campground to deliver the tent, sleeping bags and other stuff, so they didn’t have to carry it after a long day.

I think we’re all a little more worn out today than usual. It was a challenging day, but we’ll be back at it tomorrow with another big climb out of the Grand Tetons and on to Dubois, WY.

RWGPS for today: