We have made it somewhere special! Everywhere along our route so far has been new for someone on the team and that alone has made each stop unique. This goes without mentioning the community support and involvement we have seen and received along the way. Still, nothing will quite compare to the first sight of the Tetons as we rode up and out of Jackson this morning. The jagged, rocky peaks, the veins of snow still remaining, the sheer magnitude of the mountains next to the flat valley below, and the coloring of their sides and edges will remain etched in our minds forever.
Ride Overview
Mileage: 52.3 miles
Elevation: +1,886 ft. / -1,227 ft.
Points of Interest: Grand Teton National Park (enough said)
Tales of the Trail
We woke up in Jackson ready for the shorter day ahead of us and so excited to make it to our first stayover in a national park. The morning circle had a special element to it today because of one of our supporters and religious journal readers: Brad T. Opstad. Yes, everyone on the team knows of him and only ever says his full name, not “Brad,” or “Brad Opstad,” always “Brad T. Opstad. Does anyone actually know him? No. But that’s what makes this fun! Over the course of a few months, Brad T. Opstad has donated to each one of us and left an encouraging message and he is always doing the same on our journal posts. Today, he surprised the team with bandanas which he wears every time he goes cycling and it also represents a good way to stand with those who have lost their hair during chemotherapy. We hope we might get a chance to spot or see Brad T. Opstad as we travel through California because he has become a character in our story. Maybe we will, who knows?
After this, we then had another surprise! Nishk had been planning ahead and purchased water guns for everyone specifically for today and told us we would be playing a game of “assassin.” Everyone had a target during the day to try to hit and if they did they would take over that person’s target until everyone but one winner was eliminated. The only ways that we could prevent being knocked out were to have a hand on our head or be legitimately riding on the route. Although this continued into the day, I’ll tell the story right now. The start of the game immediately got intense with Vedang taking out Ehsan just after morning circle. Maaike managed to get her first target, Max, at a stop along the road as she was still riding her bike. Then, it was off to the first rest stop where there was carnage. Maaike struck again by hitting Tada, but as she was doing this, Parker was getting her at the same time! That whole line had been eliminated. Sam managed to get Ren and then Anthony took out Sam at the first rest stop. The last of the first rest stop knockouts was Lauren who was eliminated with a shot from Nishk. Phew! That really was a lot. Remaining in the game once we started riding again were Anthony, Vedang, Nishk, Aadit, Cole, and Parker. There was a lull in action until the second rest stop, but afterwards, only two would remain. Vedang was able to catch Cole with his hand off of his head. Anthony managed to get Parker, but was then eliminated himself when Vedang, having received his name from Cole, also attacked. Nishk found Aadit at Jenny Lake in a disputed event and we were down to our final two: Nishk and Vedang. At the last rest stop, Nishk pulled out the victory in the game he started! Good job Nishk!
Now, finally, we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming and talk about the ride and other activities we got up to during the day. On the bike path out of Jackson, everyone was wondering how soon we would be able to see the Tetons. We knew that we would be entering the national park officially at mile 14, so they would certainly be visible then, but what about before? That question was answered just after mile 5 when the Grand Teton National Park sign was visible up the road and just over the knoll the mountains began to show themselves. No words will be able to describe this feeling, so we will leave it at awe-inspiring and magical and show you some of our pictures.
We shuttled through the traffic at the park entrance during our first rest stop and continued along the trail afterwards. There were many other cyclists out, both for recreation and for training which was fun to see. This time, we were riding to Jenny Lake. As you heard above, there was action with our game of the day and that took some of us out of actually taking a closer look at where we were and the lake itself. To be fair, we did still have 30 miles remaining on the day, so getting ready to ride again was the primary concern of the rest stop. Jenny Lake will reappear in our stories tomorrow during our rest day, so don’t fret. The cars parked along the road with license plates from all across the United States were neat to see and told us, as if we couldn’t see for ourselves already, that we were in a special destination. Tourists, hikers, climbers, and us were all out and about enjoying some of the best that nature has to offer.
We rode on and continued to have our eyes glued to the West. The views were spectacular and often we would find ourselves forgetting about the riding ahead and just enjoying what we had around us at the moment. When we were passing Jackson Lake near Signal Mountain, two groups again stopped for pictures and Sam, Ren, and Ehsan decided to get in the water. This was becoming one of our favorite places across the whole country! The third rest stop was also near Jackson Lake in a place called Colter Bay where there were so many people around. Instead of a small set of bathrooms though, this place had different centers, restaurants, shops, and even showers and laundry that we kept note of for the night. This is also a good time to mention that Max was back on the bike today! After being sidelined from his crash going into Salt Lake City, Max decided that these 50 miles were the time to make the return. Although he still had lingering pain, he was more than happy that this was a day he was capable of coming back for. The sights alone made it worthwhile even if there was a struggle to ride.
From Colter Bay to our final destination, Lizard Creek Campground, there were only 10 miles remaining and that went pretty quickly. Again we were treated to views, the likes of which we had never seen before, and a great road to enjoy them from. We set up our tents and prepared our campsites for the evening even though it was still only 4 pm. There was another order of business yet to happen on this day.
From past Illini 4000 teams and our ride leader Maaike, we have been hearing about challenges that might happen over the course of the Summer. Today was the pie eating competition. Aadit, in the van, picked up pies for everyone that wanted one at a grocery store before entering the park and once we had arrived and settled, the time had come to chow down. Nishk, Sam, Max, Parker, and Vedang were competing with everyone else either watching or eating their pies casually. Let it be known that these pies were massive… 2 lbs! The competition was strong and everyone got off to a good start. Around halfway in, Parker realized the task was too big today and decided to drop out. Vedang was looking good and making swift progress and so was Sam. Max and Nishk would look up at each other every once in a while and have some of the most disgusting pie filled laughs that we have ever seen or heard. They kept going. Next, Max was forced to end his run for glory as he had to take a trash bag and walk away. Nishk did the same moments later. With this said, both Nishk and Max returned to the table to finish their pies afterwards claiming, “I’m doing this for me.” Sam and Ved were all that was left of the original 5, but as the end drew near, Sam was clearly in the lead and ultimately won the competition giving us this great moment:
With stomachs stuffed for some, we all took a walk down to Jackson Lake and enjoyed the remaining time we had in sunlight. A few got in to swim and a few stayed on the side laying down or skipping stones. Dinner and showers came next. This was our first time being in a campground where the fire risk wasn’t so high that we couldn’t have a campfire and Nishk showed off some good firemaking skills for the team. We cooked our hotdogs and veggie patties and then went off to Colter Bay for showers and laundry. There was some other hanging out as a team in the evening at the campsite with s’mores, but this was most of our day.
Grand Teton National Park is already an incredible place and we have so much to explore during our rest day tomorrow!
