Day #80: Dubois to Grand Teton (66 miles)
- chrisbentley349
- Jul 4
- 1 min read
A beautiful, but long, day of riding. The first 33 miles were almost all uphill for a total of 3,500 feet of ascent... but the payoff was 20 solid miles of coasting downhill. At the midpoint I crossed the "Continental Divide" and reached an altitude of 9,500 feet. This was high enough that I sometimes felt short of breath from the "thinner" air, meaning that it has less oxygen, and on the downhill I actually wore my skiing facemask and full gloves... this was exactly why I packed them :-)
Starting off in Dubois...
The terrain changed all day, eventually revealing the biggest mountains...
More videos from the ride:
I talked with 5 or 6 other bikers who were riding the "Continental Divide Trail" from Banff, Canada all the way down to the border with Mexico. That ride is mostly on gravel trails and I just couldn't do it! Those riders have to be so strong. One of the groups was a father/daughter pair, where the daughter was 12 years old, riding 2,400 miles over gravel... what a star!
Stats: 66 miles, started at 7am, ended at 5pm, 9 hours of actual riding:
Heaven is a downhill place on earth! Whoa, the snow on those mountains is crazy indeed. And 2400 miles at 12 is quite the quest :)
Checked elevation of Mount Washington, it’s 6288 ft. 9500 ft is unthinkable to us. Enjoy biking high!
Wow, Chris! What a day! Uphill battles, thin air, and a Continental Divide crossing—sounds like an epic stage of the Tour de Chris. 😄 Alex and I are so impressed by your stamina and your great attitude. Keep the updates coming—we’re loving every story (and secretly grateful we’re not pedaling)! 😊