August 28, 2013
Day 28: To Victor
I got up at 7 and on the road a little after 8. The sky was overcast, temperature 60F.
On the east edge of Ashton I turned onto highway 32. It's a narrow rural highway with many rolling hills. Beautiful farm scenes and no traffic. But it was slow going because of the uphill trend and brisk headwind.
At a T intersection I turned left on highway 33, heading straight towards the west slope of the Grand Tetons.
I had lunch at the cafe in the little farm town of Tetonia. Population 269 with 2 bars and a huge Mormon church.
The view of the Grand Tetons steadily improved during the afternoon as I got closer and the sun moved west. The terrain is more gentle upstream between Tetonia and Driggs.
In Driggs a bike trail starts on the west side of the highway. It continues 8 miles to Victor. It was nice to be away from the building traffic, but the trail is only 50 feet from the highway.
I arrived in Victor at 2:45 and got one of three cabins at Trail's End motel in the middle of town. $75 for my own log cabin. The motel office is a gas station/convenience store/Subway.
Victor is a low key tourist town only 24 miles from the ultra-posh tourist resort town of Jackson, Wyoming. It's quieter, cheaper, and much less congested on this side of the Grand Tetons.
Shortly after arriving I laid down and took a nap for a couple hours. A violent storm came through during my nap. It was great to be in a warm bed during the storm, not out on the road. Later I had dinner at the popular barbeque place across the highway.
I had a headwind all day and the route was mostly uphill, with a net elevation gain of 900 feet. Definitely more work than yesterday. The sky was mostly cloudy all day, so it was never hot.
In the evening I rested and pondered whether or not to pedal over Teton pass tomorrow. It's a 3000 foot climb and I'm not sure I'm up for it with such unstable weather and my overall state of exhaustion.
Distance: 49.4 miles (79 km)
Climbing: 1952 feet (592 m)
Average Speed: 10.1 mph (16 km/h)
Today's ride: 49 miles (79 km)
Total: 1,403 miles (2,258 km)
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