Today we rode from the Teton Reservoir Campground 16km south of Rawlins, Wyoming, US to Brush Mountain Lodge, Colorado, US. Sunny weather with clouds. Road conditions included paved roads and gravel roads. Highlights of the day include Brush Mountain Lodge!!.
Riding statistics: on Wednesday August 24, 2022, the 24th day on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route route, it took 10:43h (08:19h moving time), between 07:22 and 18:06, to cover 115 km (71 miles), including 1695 m (5561 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14 km/h (9 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 30 °C (90 °F) with a minimum of 5 °C (40 °F) and a maximum of 43 °C (116 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 7 days, 3 hours, 43 minutes and 58 seconds of cycling time to cover 2533 km (1574 miles), including 28843 m (94634 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 15 km/h (9.3 mph).
Leaving the Teton Reservoir Campground
As usual we have set our alarm clocks at 6am so we could leave around 7am. I have slept great. No wind, although we were expecting a lot (based on some reviews of the campground). Yesterday evening late some additional people came onto the campground and made a bit of noise (their dog especially), but other than that I slept great. The sun was already up, and although a bit chilly, it was not too cold. We took a quick snack, and left the campground.
Hills and changing scenery
Today we had to climb several hills, of which some very steep. Fortunately most of them were on paved roads. We have seen change the scenery from empty, sagebrush filled, soft hills to sharp mountains with big forests. It is great to see the scenery change. By the end of today we will be Colorado, and I must say Wyoming did not disappoint. It has quite a diverse landscape, from beautiful green and mountains, to desert like environments. And we biked it all without any issues. And at the rights moments we carried more than enough water on our bikes. Later in the day we would pass Slater, 2 trailers, and 1 post office (and yes, it got its own name and spot on the map).
Brush Mountain Lodge
We decided to move on, although there is a campground in Slater. It was not recommended by another cyclist that is in front of us (Roger). In Slater we turned into a gravel road, with many, many, up and downhills. Not large ones, but enough to get us tired at the end of the day. The road traversed a valley with a big beautiful river at the bottom. And through forests. We knew that 20km later there would be Brush Mountain Lodge. A lodge run by Kirsten. In Fall for hunters, in summer mostly for Great Divide bikers. Unfortunately, I also knew the lodge would be closed in 2022. Kirsten has posted that on the Internet, she wanted to have a break. Very unfortunate because I had heard so many good things about her and the lodge. I also read she would be making water available and try to get some vending machines. Hopefully we could still pitch our tent somewhere in the area. Eventually we came around the last corner before the lodge, and there were people on the porch. And not only that, the pizza oven was also burning. And then … Kirsten appeared. The lodge was open, she returned earlier. We were in heaven. Your stay is based on donations. You pay what you think is worth your stay. So when we came in we got water, soda, and beers. Not much later there was pizza as well. We could grep everything we wanted from snacks, ice-creams, etc. etc. As long as you take that into account when you make your donation when you leave. The cabins were all rented out, but we could just pitch our tent in the yard. We met several people over here. First there was Nathan from Australia, he was biking solo. Then we had Tiago and Chuck. Tiago is from Sweden, Chuck from the US and they rode together from Banff till just after Brush Mountain Lodge. Next there were also the Brits, Barry (dad) and twins Ricky and Gavin. They were riding the Great Divide for charity and in memory of their mom. They had 6 months to complete it, and took it by the day. Some of these people were already 1 or more days at the lodge. We had a great evening together and it was already 11pm when I went to my tent.
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