Day 9 – Rest day – Flagg Ranch to Colter Bay Campground 20.63 miles

A little bit of a scare...
Much needed rest day today. I woke up late and lazed around with the intention of having lunch at the lodge. I packed everything up and being the third day since I filled up the tires I went about the motions of pumping up the tires. I noticed the Topeak Road Morph pump looked a little different but I paid it no mind, pushed down on the valve and *thpft*, the innards of the valve spit against the rim, instantly flattening the tire. Hum. The end cap holding everything together on the pump had disappeared. I put everything together sans end cap and tried again on the other tire: a little more controlled deflating this time. Damn.

I had no other way of inflating the tires. I packed everything else up and was sure there was someone around who had a pump. I went to the lodge and made my inquiries, several were mountain bikers but none had presta valve pumps. There was an auto compressor next to the gas pumps so I took it over there and left to go to the campground near the area to see if someone there had a pump. One guy had an emergency pump for his car but it wasn’t helping his dead battery. No one else had a pump either. I walked back to the lodge and went into the convenience store, more conversation led nowhere but I saw out of the corner of my eye some duct tape in the store and it gave me an idea. I went into my bag and had some athletic tape which I wrapped around the valve and used the air compressor at the gas pump. Presto – the presta valve became Schrader at 80 lbs of pressure. Meanwhile one of the employees came out to mock me asking me rhetorically if guys like me were prepared for anything. I didn’t tell him I was never a boy scout. Another maintenance person stopped to ask how things were and proceeded to tell a story about how he pulled someone on a mountain bike in his truck by a rope through the park until the inevitable rope snap from braking sent the biker over the guy’s truck. Meanwhile over the guy’s radio attached to his uniform began telling a story about a guy in the campground with a dead battery. The maintenance guy responded saying he’d have to wait. The person with the dead battery had jumper cables, all he needed was a live battery. I decided to skip lunch at the lodge and won’t be back to Flagg Ranch.

Off to Colter Bay campground for a much needed rest day 20 miles away, the knees agreed. It was uphill and on bad pavement and in some places where no pavement existed. So, 20 miles was actually a long way. Finally, the first sight of the Tetons was so rewarding. Storm clouds looked to crowd the western slopes with blue skies to the east made very dramatic pictures, and this was to last for both days.

I made camp at Colter Bay for $7 and it seemed like they cordoned off the “Hiker/Biker” section the furthest away from everyone else and everything. If I was a hiker, I’d be a little aggravated. If I were a biker with a bad knee on a rest day, I’d be a little aggravated. And don’t get me started about the bear boxes. According to instructions everything including the obvious food plus water bottles, toiletries, utensils, stoves, etc, regardless of whether they were clean or dirty, were to go in the bear box, a giant brown steel rectangular box on the ground with two chains and clasps like a dog leash to close it. All of it about 40 feet away. Brushing teeth, water, and food all became careful planning.

I walked down to the more commercialized area of the campground and bought some odds and ends at the grocery store which I thought to be well stocked for a campground. I headed down to the marina where I spent a couple hours just sitting around watching the storm beat against the mountains unsuccessfully. Just an FYI – if you want to use the canoes you have to get there before 3pm. Several people did not know this and was a source of several heated conversations when the initial person learning the policy from the marina employee relayed the information to the rest of the canoeing hopeful party.

I met another unassuming cross country cyclist who agreed to take a picture of me in front of the mountains. He seemed to be one of the less social cyclists who wouldn’t mind riding on roads devoid of any human life. He said he wouldn’t think twice about sleeping on the side of the road and seemed upset that I would suggest that in Yellowstone he would pay money for one of the campgrounds. He warned me of terrible and pavementless roads ahead. We said our goodbyes and he disappeared as quickly as he came.

I could spend days just sitting and staring at the Tetons, they are captivating. Pictures won't do them justice because there's movement along the range.

One thing I didn’t mention about Day 7 when the storm was chasing me down the mountain was the jug of Endurox flew off and I had to turn around to chase it. What I didn’t know at the time was my 24 Hours of Booty bibs in “dry mode” on top of my stuff had also flown off the back. When I arrived in Ennis I had realized my loss… Well, after settling in and returning from the bathroom another cyclist arrived in the campground wearing the bibs I had lost. Wearing my 24HOB T-shirt the first words were “I think I have your shorts.” We shared many stories that evening including his hospitality from prison workers and some other strange characters he had met along the way. He was headed south to Jackson to meet friends.

My plan in the morning was to get to Lander, WY, where reportedly there was a bike shop – 150 miles away.

Calories were 2 sleeves of Ritz crackers, the bottle of wine, couple Fat Tire beers, 4 oz of pepper cheese, 2 clif bars, noodles in a box, Bumblebee chicken salad in a can.