Day #81: Grand Teton to Yellowstone (39 miles)
- chrisbentley349
- 6 days ago
- 1 min read
Since today's ride was only 39 miles, I had a relaxed morning. Slept in until 6am, had cereal with blueberries for breakfast, and was on the road by 8am. I explored down by the beach and saw gorgeous views of the Grand Teton range. I passed a sign warning to be "Bear Aware" and have bear-safe food storage, which I knew I didn't have... I wondered whether I could out-sprint a bear... I doubted it. The road wound along the lake and was beautiful, but it had a very narrow shoulder, so I actually spent most of my time worrying about staying to the right, and didn't have any time to worry about bears. As I found before, all the cars and RV's drove so carefully and went into the opposite lane to give me lots of space. I stopped for a mid-morning snack before the last slimb up to Yellowstone:
It was overcast and cool and eventually rained so I got soaked, but this was much better that overheating, as there were two 1,000 foot climbs on the route. The path got very dramatic with steep cliffs falling down to waterfalls cascading between rock walls. I lost all cell-phone and GPS connectivity, so I didn't know how far along I was, but just when I started wishing I could hitch-hike, I arrived at Grant Village in Yellowstone. Tomorrow I'm going to take a bus tour to visit a bunch of the sites... one day's break from the bike :-)
Stats: 39 miles, started at 8am, ended at 1pm, 4.5 hours of actual riding:
Looks like you are not only need to be good prepared for a battle with a 🐻, but also a war with car, heat, rain … planning a good “exiting” strategy is very important :-)
What a ride, Chris—bear sprints, rain showers, and epic climbs all in one “easy” day! 😄 Good call on preferring rain over overheating (though we’re glad the bears were just theoretical). The views sound incredible and totally worth a soggy jersey. Alex and I are in awe of your adventures and your sense of humor about it all. Enjoy your well-deserved bus tour break!
That photo of the bike makes me think of the plate you made :) sounds like you discovered the perfect remedy for worrying about bears... worry about something else! Can't wait to see the Yellowstone pics