Ashton to Jackson July 02 2022

Ashton to Jackson

July 02 2022

Today was the second of the big passes on the coast to coast tour.  The Teton Pass into Jackson is the steepest of the three but also the shortest. The climb itself was only 13 miles and the ride was 70 miles.

The forecast was for very nice warn day with light winds out of the SE giving us a light head wind and possible thunder showers in the afternoon.  In the early morning the wind was certainly not a factor.  As I headed out from Ashton it was a beautiful day, riding though rolling hills through fields of mostly potatoes. Pollen lovers would love beautiful displays of wild flowers in all of the ditches.  I had left after most of the other riders so I could see a long column of riders ahead of me.

At about the 25 mile mark we turned on to a very busy road with almost no shoulder.  It was on the edge of scary.   I was certainly glad to turn off of it onto a bike path which paralleled the road, even though the path was in quite poor condition.  There were a lot of tree roots coming through the pavement and cross cracks which made for a bumpy ride. 

I could see the thunder storm clouds following along the Teton Mountains which were off to the left.  Then about the 40 mile mark the storm winds hit me and it was a real grind to get into lunch at the 50 mile mark.  

At lunch I was looking at the weather radar deciding on when to head for the pass.  I wound up waiting about 30 minutes and it looked like the rain was going to pass and I could see a couple of blue breaks.  The first 8 miles were all something around 5% grade so I was able to make pretty good time.  Then it was 8 % and now it is turning into a tough grind. At about 2 miles from the summit it went to 10% and now it is really tough.  I made it to within about 1.25 miles of the summit before I had to put a foot down.  It was too steep to get going so I had to walk about a 100 yards  to where there was a turn out and I could get going again. 

At the summit Ed W was there taking pictures of the riders and handing out congratulations. 

The ride down was 4 miles of 10% with a lot of traffic. It was downright scary. I was certainly glad to have the disc brakes.  In 2014 I had rim brakes with way less stopping power. 

Finally into Jackson and ending the second week.

I went into town with Aussie Bob, Barry and Ken T.  We had a nice meal and wandered the town.

Terry