Dubois, WY

June 27, 2009

Back to normal today with a 5 am wake up call, breakfast, and circle up to start the day off. It was an extremely foggy morning at 6 am as we hit the road in about 40 degree temperatures. At the initial point in our journey, we could see no more than 200 feet in front of us. We had a 30 mile uphill ride departing Jackson followed by a 20 mile, 3,000 vertical ft. climb. Today's scheduled route was going to take us to the highest point and hardest climb of the entire trip. Unfortunately, at the halfway point of our climb (about 8,7oo ft) we were racked due to construction ahead. The project manager had assessed the remainder of the climb and he broke the news to us at our crew chief roadside lunch stop. After our project manager saw how disappointed the team was, he decided to let us ride the last half mile of the climb to hit the peak elevation of over 9,600 feet. I was very dissapointed that I couldn't ride the entire climb today, but I know that it was due to unexpected road conditions.

The rest of the ride was refreshing with a fabulous decent on freshly paved roads and a tail wind to assist us. We finished the last 25 miles in less than an hour as we continue to make great timing and enjoy afternoon downhill cycling! Over the entire day's ride, we crossed the Continental Divide three times. I felt great on the bike today since I was able to recover on the day off in Jackson.

We rode into the town of Dubois which rests at about 7,000 feet and contains a population of approximately 962 people. Tonight's dinner was provided by the Cattle Women's Association. We spent time visiting and eating great food. The team is heading to bed early tonight so we can be well rested for the next two days consisting of 100 or more mile rides and friendship visits.
Please bear with me as I may get slightly behind on my blog posts with the busy schedule ahead. I will be sure to catch you all up by the end of the week. Thanks again for supporting me and following my Journey of Hope blog!