USNA 1973 Ride-2-Remember

Day 20, 23 August: Victor, ID to Moran, WY

Official: Victor, ID to Moran, WY. Actual: Wilson, WY to Moran, WY

How to begin? Probably best to go back to yesterday afternoon when we had a near mishap. Best to mention that no names but mine will be used in this blog to protect the guilty!

The near catastrophe was one of the riders while trying to get a bug out of his eye came uncomfortably close to encountering an oncoming Ford F-150. Had I not been there to yell STOP, we might be adding another name on the back of our shirts.

Now to our Quarters meeting of yesterday where it was decided that due to the danger presented in riding up and over Teton Pass that we would load bikes at 0600 this morning and shuttle over to Persephone Bakery and Café in Wilson. It should be noted that Persephone Café has multiple locations.

As to Persephone, she was the Greek goddess who was Queen of Hades (Hell for those of you not familiar with Greek Mythology). Perhaps she had it in for us today.

So the lead vehicle goes blowing by the turn for Wilson to Persephone in downtown Jackson. The trail vehicle also misses the turn for Wilson, but recognizes it and U-turns back to the Wilson turnoff, arriving at the correct Persephone.

It should be noted here that rush hour from Victor to Jackson starts at 6am and is literally bumper to bumper all the way up and over Teton Pass. Additionally, although the downhill bike trail is off-highway all the way down the mountain, a good portion of it was completely torn up and under construction. So the decision to shuttle was well worth it.

Once we regrouped, the Persephone maidens took excellent care of us with quality coffees and excellent ingredients in the breakfast foods.

Our ride started at 0800 in 57F weather. We hadn’t gone a mile when I called an abrupt stop for a Moose on the side of the trail. Which upon closer inspection turned out to be an actual life size plywood cutout in exact Moose shading. Having survived that encounter we were off on bicycle trails for about 28 miles until they stopped. There were a few other incidents including an emergency mission to retrieve a phone left at the hotel, and a rider who forgot his helmet at a stop and added a mile sprint to get it back.

The ride to Jackson was scenic and serene along the bike path. Once in Jackson our Ride with GPS routed us around the outskirts so we didn’t have to put up with the gridlock downtown. We then rode by the National Elk Refuge which was filled with hundreds of cattails. No Elk today. We continued on and up into Teton National Park, stopping and visiting the Visitor Center. Cars filled all the parking lots and were parked on both sides of the highway for a quarter mile in both directions. Our trek then took us along the Snake River and over Jackson Lake. We arrived safely in Moran, WY at 1:30pm.

Once the entertaining confusion of the morning was over it was a very pleasant day of bicycling for all.

Dave Haefner