The ride today was one of the most beautiful stretches so far. We began with a climb taking s on the edge high above the mighty Snake River. Ups and downs led us to the edge of the river. About 30 miles into the ride, my right leg really started to get aggravated making the last 20+ miles pretty painful and slow. After seeing an American Bald Eagle on the river embankment, we pushed on to Hoback Junction (about 12 miles from Jackson) for lunch and a longer rest for my leg. At this point, the pain was so intense that it was physically impossible for my leg to go through the cycling motion.

At the Junction, we met Frank, a cyclist from Germany on his 2nd 6 month tour around the United States. He started in Miami and bikes where he is interested in biking, takes trains through unexciting areas, and takes extra time to enjoy the areas and activities (like whitewater rafting). He has biked everywhere around the world so he has lots of great anecdotes and stories. He rode along with us to Jackson not minding my winces and groans of pain. One anecdote stands out. A "wise" man once told him "you have 24 gears, not to go fast but to go slow". He proudly added that he can go 2 mph in his smallest gear. I think that this story was for my benefit as I embraced my granny gear on the slightest uphill into Jackson. So nice to see Carter!!

Ahhhhh - sweet Wyoming. Winding our way from the Pallisades dam up along the Snake River was a wonderful ride. There was some construction but that didn't take away from the beautiful narrow valley carved out by the river. We met up with Frank, our new German friend, who would also ride down the Pacific coast later. (We met up with him for a Korean dinner in San Francisco after we finished our trip and he was still on his way to meet his wife in Las Vegas)