Back on the Bike Again!!

Day 148, 149 & 150, August 27, 28 & 29, 2011, Back on the Bike Again

Route from Jackson Hole Campground to the entrance of Teton National Park, Wilson, and back

19.6 miles, averaging 12 mph

Worst Moment – The past three days have been fairly amazingly awesome, though the pea sized hail during the rainstorm while white-water rafting was sort of annoying.

Best Moment – There have been lots of best moments – probably too many to recall all of them but here are some of the highlights:

• Sue made Nanaimo Bars and left me with my very own supply!  MMMmmm Good!
•  Spending time with the family & friends
• o   Neita’s brother and sister
• o   My sisters and brother-in-law
• o   Two of my cousins from California
• o   Tom & Suzanne
• o   And, of course, Chris & Casey!!!

• ·      White water rafting on the Snake River – Lunch Counter Rapids rule!
• ·      Breakfast at Shades with the family on Sunday
• ·      And getting back on the bike to ride once again!

This weekend has been a long time in planning.  It was wonderful to see so much of our family all at the same time!  We were so very blessed to have been able to have such a wonderful visit in this beautiful part of the U.S. 

Me, Sue (sister), Lynn (cousin), Alan (Sue's husband), Mary (sister), Linda (cousin)

Ron & Paula (Neita's brother & sister), Chris, Neita & me, & Casey

While we’ve had wonderful cool and mostly dry weather, my thoughts and prayers go out to all of the parts of the country suffering from the destruction of Hurricane Irene.  After seeing the beauty of the east, I can’t imagine the ruin brought by this massive storm.  It is so sad to see the names of places I’ve ridden and hear of the damage and wonder how those we’ve met and visited are doing.

After a wonderful reunion brunch, eight of us went white water rafting on the Snake River!  It was something we had done with Chris and Casey on their last visit to Jackson.  We had a great time then even tough it was late June, cold and rainy.  We thought that it would be great fun in late August when the water was warm, the skies were clear, and the sun was shining.  Well it was still memorable fun even with the rain that started with the first paddle stroke and didn’t let up until we beached the raft two hours later and 8 miles downriver. 

Sunday afternoon everyone started leaving.  Paula was the last, leaving us around 3 pm.  Then, Neita and I started looking at travel arrangements to Guerneville.  Well, the place we had hoped to stay doesn’t have room until after Labor Day, so we are staying put for another week.

This morning, I took the bicycles off the rack that we’ve been using to transport them on Ruby.  Neita and I went for an awesome ride on the bike path along the base of the mountains.  This was a beautiful ride!  I find that it is really hard to ride with this cast.  So the ride from Guerneville to Phoenix is still up in the air.  It really did feel good to get back on the bike.  I was glad there weren’t any flats, because that is one more thing that takes two hands.  Stay tuned!

If you would like to donate to my ride, my link for the Lance Armstrong Foundation is http://grassroots2011.livestrong.org/billsbigride197.  I really appreciate your support.