today's ride from Dubois started out with cloudy skies, chilly temps and you guessed it, more headwinds. we headed out towards Teton National Park; the ride included a pretty long climb over Togwatee Pass, which would bring us back to 9658' in elevation. light rain kicked in not long into the ride, not doing much for morale, as far as the weather was concerned. as we moved up onto the climb, temps began to drop as the light rain came and went. we began to reach elevations where plenty of snow remained, seeming much more like winter than early June. while my body was staying fairly warm with my wool layers, I wasn't prepared with sufficient winter-conditions thermal protection for hands and toes, and the cold air began to create serious issues. by the time I caught up to Dana at the summit of Togwatee Pass, we were having real concerns with cold and numbness; temps there were in the 30s. good thing neither of us experienced a flat up there because I would not have been able to do anything about it. we headed on down the descent toward the Tetons when we came across a (closed) lodge whose employees were readying the place for summer business. Dana and I stopped in to take refuge from the cold, and the folks there were kind enough to start a fire (yes, in JUNE !!) for us to thaw out. we laid out all our wet clothes to dry while we waited for Josh, who arrived soon after. once we warmed up, we headed out to finish the descent, the bottom of which brought us more rain for the last 10 miles to colter bay, where we planned to camp for the night. with the rain and clouds, our views of the approaching Teton peaks were obscured considerably. we got to the camping area, set up camp and went to the laundry/shower facility for a hot shower to warm up and dry our wet clothes (again). we were not too pleased to be charged $3.75 for a shower on top of the campground fee. GRRR. welcome to a federal facility. with dry clothes, we went across the street to the restaurant for a not-so-happy hour beer. we had picked up some pasta and veggies that morning to cook for dinner, and the restaurant manager was nice enough to let us cook outside and eat inside, so that was cool. headed back to settle in for a sleep in the light rain. a tough cold day. really wishing for a day of decent conditions for a change....
I experienced some bike issues as well during the day. it seemed the new brake pads I installed in rawlins were of a rubber compound not at all suited for wet and cold conditions; the rear pads wore almost completely down during the ride today, which made the descent from Togwatee Pass especially worrisome. made it down to colter village safely, but with white knuckles... will have to replace them at the next bike shop location in West Yellowstone....
today: 70 miles
to date: 3460
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