In July of 2017 (13–15th) I sponsored a 1000K brevet (~ 625 miles) that went through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks…plus Starr Valley Wyoming. This route started in Ashton, Idaho, which is just west of Yellowstone National Park.
Day one: Our route heading north though the town of West Yellowstone and then into the park’s west entrance. It then made a big loop through the park. We left at 4:00 a.m. and four of us stayed mostly together, with the others waiting for me on the climbs. We arrived back to Ashton for our first overnight just after dusk, at about 9:30 p.m. We then learned that one of the other two rides was bumped or hit by the mirror of an SUV. He was then transported to the hospital by the spouse of another rider for evaluation. He was not knocked off his bike, but it caused a massive bruise. Needless to say, it put him out of the “race.” Totals for the day: 235 miles with 9,570 feet of climbing.
Day two: We decided to leave at 4:00 a.m. on the second day. Our route took us through rural Driggs Idaho, with the west side of the Teton mountain range in the background. That was one of coolest sunrises I have ever seen. From there we climbed up and over Teton Pass. The grades were not impossible, at around 9 or 10%, but I was really hurting. I ended up walking most of the upper part of this pass. I just had nothing in the tank! I attempted to text my friends to not wait for me, as this took a while, but I couldn’t get cellular coverage. On the descent, I set a new P.R., hitting 55 MPH on a bicycle. The ascent, on the other hand, was also a new record for me…my first time walking a pass on a bicycle ride! Two personal records in one day. We made our way along the eastern edge of the Teton range and up to the southern boundaries of Yellowstone before turning around and making our way back to Jackson Hole. Paul Foley literally pulled me for the last half that day, while we sent the other two on ahead. We arrived into the motel at about 12:45 a.m. Totals for the day: 201 miles with 9,397 feet of climbing.
Day three: Since this was a shorter day, we left at about 6:00 a.m., after making a fast food pit stop. The route goes south into fabulous Starr Valley (part of the LoToJa race route) and then we headed northwest into Rexburg, home of BYU-Idaho, before finishing up in Ashton again. Near Rexburg, there were many miles of flat or rollers. We organized into a pace line and Paul pulled our little group of four for hours on end! Many, many thanks to him for his perseverance. When we got closer to our final destination we could see a thunderstorm ahead, but we were spared any rain. However the power was out everywhere in this town upon our arrival, due to the storm. We got in at 10:27 p.m., relieved that our adventure was finally over without incident and any mechanical problems. For most of us, that was our longest ride or brevet of the summer. Totals for the day: 188 miles with “only” 5,804 feet of climbing.
The following day, I stopped in to visit my son, who is a student at BYU-I in Rexburg, some 35 miles to the south. We did a walking tour of campus. I was so fatigued that I could not even walk up a complete flight of stairs without stopping! Something was wrong. The next month I DNFed on a rather easy 600K after 400km. I just had no energy to ride. Shortly thereafter, I had some blood tests which showed I had anemia or iron-poor blood. My hemoglobin and ferritin levels were on the low side of normal. This explained my very poor performance during the later part of this summer. As it turns out, my anemia was caused by a bleeding ulcer which was caused by a regimen of Aspirin, which my cardiologist put me on.
Rando Richard Blog 