DAY 10 - STEEP-UP and WIND DOWN

WET and COLD

After a stormy night in the Yellowstone Park latrine it was time to get going; or more likely the early risers at the campsite needed to relieve themselves in all their glory. So early start for me. Happy news -- no bad dreams again. Maybe, I am over that phase of the race. How many phases are there in store for me? Found my bike tucked away in the bushes, a little wet, but at least not frozen. Ate a few snacks from my pack and hit the road. My feet quickly got soaked on the drenched roads. One piece of kit that I so wished I had was bike shoe covers. Could sure have used those on multiple occasions. And there, I see for the third time since late yesterday, the Continental Divide. At least this one wasn't up a 1500' pass. With my feet on the verge of falling off, I remembered that I had some dog poop bags that I had kept just for that purpose. They worked rather well and at least at this point they blocked the cold morning air.

Finding nothing open for about 33 miles, I eventually found myself at the Taj Mahal of breakfast stops -- the camp grounds of Colter Village. This village was luxury in the forest and has rather high end cabins and lodges for guests that like to pay $200-$300 for that sort of thing . The restaurant hall had a large fireplace that I gravitated too like a moth to a porch light. It was so inviting that I didn't mind the $20 breakfast tab. And you, at least I did, could dry your wet shoes and socks by the fire. I snuggled to the closest table and nudged it even closer to the flames and ate barefoot for about 45 minutes. Two pitchers of coffee later, it was time to head towards one of the biggest hills on the course, Togwotee Pass. Time to leave this haven and hit what would be the hardest climb of my life. Started to climb on my bike as Benjamin pulls up. He apparently camped out in that weather last night (what a tough guy). That would be the last time I would see him, but he did finish. Oh and I am now in Wyoming. Actually I was in yesterday, I hadn't really noticed

The roads had dried up as fast as the wind picked-up and by the time I reached a gas station at the base of Togwotee Pass there was a 20 MPH head wind. It was crazy how strong the wind was getting. In the store I talked to some young ladies who said that it was normal. I looked at my wind finder app and the wind situation was not going to change.

LET'S DO THIS

OK, let's go do this. The climb was amazingly difficult. The curvy climb was steep and the wind coming down the hillside was super strong. I would ride as close to the guard rails hoping for some wind shadow, to no avail. This was going to take awhile. And it did -- almost four hours. At the top, big storm clouds rumbled not far away. I have to get off this mountain. Only took one picture.

Came down the other side fast. The wind had now switched directions and was pushing me down fast. It's as if this mountain doesn't want anybody to get here and if they do, it wants to get you off as quick as possible. That's when the storm caught up to me fast. I was doing close to 30 MPH and this storm caught me from behind almost throwing me off my bike. The hail was a good size and I ran off the road to hide in the sage bushes. The water and ice hitting the road made the it look like boiling water.

Unsure how big the hail was going to get, I used my bedding mat as protection as I sat on the ground. 20-30 minutes later it was over and I could continue to the next town. Soaked, and a little weather beaten, I was calling it a day in Dubois. Found an old-school motel run by a very friendly old lady. She gave me the key and I went straight for a hot shower and stayed there for a long time.

Found the regular junk food store and filled a bag. My cleats where finished. Luckily tomorrow I would get them replaced. I was half way through map 5 of 12, but only had the six that Donncha Cuttriss had given me. I would need to have the next six mailed to a post office along my route. I had given up on my GPS and didn't have the patience or time to try to figure out my mapping download snafu.

This had been a hard day and the weather was definitely a leading player. I would have to keep a close eye on the changing conditions. I started the day wet and cold, just like I finished. I would be sleeping warm and dry on a real bed tonight. My shortest day in miles completing only 104.