Wednesday May 4^th Ashton Motel, Ashton, Idaho.

22.00

We had breakfast in the same steak house this morning, where the waitress briefly raised our hopes by saying that the local bus service went over the Teton pass and it took bicycles. She offered to ring the bus company who confirmed this but the bus only ran in the late afternoon and we would still have a long way to go after that so it didn’t really work. Still, like the sheriff yesterday it was another unprompted act of kindness.

As things turned out the sheriff was right. The path was clear and we got through safely. It took us an hour and 40 minutes to climb the five miles to the top, a rise of couple of thousand feet and certainly the steepest climb so far. I gave up and started walking as soon as my speed dropped to 3.3 mph, as my gears aren't up to it after that. Mike has extra cogs, which he swears make the difference, but I'm not sure they're a great improvement on walking. To me it seems like an awful lot of pedalling for minimal reward. I know a lot of this is psychological.

A very long downhill run after that. A new land speed record for me. 36.7 mph, though this was wind assisted, in more ways than one, The first 3 miles very scary as usual but the rest really enjoyable. In fact it was pretty much flat or downhill all the way after that; some of the most enjoyable cycling of the trip.

At 20 miles we stopped at Victor for a cup of coffee and a cake as we were both freezing. The lady in the shop treated us to the coffee as she said we deserved it for climbing the path (unprompted kindness no 3) Then on the way to Driggs, the next town, a motorist coming in the other direction slowed down to tell us about a cycle path that would make the journey much safer (unprompted kindness no 4). I wish now I had kidnapped that old bat in Jeffrey City and stuck her on the back of my bike, so that each time something like this happened I could dig her in the ribs and say “See, this is what nice people do”. Not that I'm one to harbour grudges, you understand.

Actually guiding us on to the cycling path turned out to be a mixed blessing because it was here that I picked up my first puncture, riding over a twig with a half-inch thorn sticking out. At first I thought I had got away with it but a mile down the road the tyre went flat. I’ve got Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres which mean punctures are extremely rare but the downside is the tyres are almost impossible to get on and off the wheels . Mike, heroically, did most of the heavy stuff, removing the old tube and fitting the new ones. It would have taken me three times as long. I have agreed to listen to his in-depth analysis of the early elections results tomorrow as a small thank you.

The easy cycling was slightly compromised by snow-filled skies and some very bleak scenery in the afternoon. We had crossed into Idaho just after Teton Pass and, this is potato country. Huge ploughed fields, the biggest I had ever seen , and, apart from passing cars, not a soul to be seen for miles. Really unsettling and not a place I would want to stay too long in. Still we had the wind behind us all day, something that happens very rarely, and it makes a huge difference.

We reached Ashton at 4. Another 70 mile day. It’s too long really but you have to go to where the accommodation is. The Ashton Motel is a very friendly, comfortable place but the only restaurant is a burger bar next door. The nearest decent place is a couple of miles away. Too far to walk. The manager offered to lend us his car to drive there (unprompted kindness no 5). but we were too tired to do even do that. So burgers it was. Big Jud’s turned out to be ok with very cheerful young staff. We ordered double burgers which turned out to be a mistake as the singles are huge. They were each about six inches high. The two young chefs were peering around the kitchen door laughing gleefully as they were served. As it turned out they were excellent and we had no trouble finishing them. Couldn’t manage the fries though. The waitress told us of people who had eaten triple and quadruple burgers and there was even one quintuple burger eater (his picture is on the wall, well, spread over two walls actually) .

Big Jud’s only served soft drinks but in the little store next door Mike found bottles of Chardonnay on sale for a suspiciously cheap $6.99. Purely to help us sleep, of course.

More snow forecast tomorrow. We shall see.