We woke up in West Yellowstone at 5am. Going outside for team breakfast we knew it was going to be a tough ride from start to finish because of the 25 degree weather. The first 20 miles were probably the coldest most of us have been in our whole life, stopping at each crew stop to warm up a bit before pushing forward. Once we got out of the mountains it warmed up biking through the rolling hills of southeastern Idaho. We had two lunches, one at mile 60 and another at mile 100 where a restaurant fed us all amazing pulled pork sandwiches. The ride was far from over. At mile 120 we began to climb the Tetons. The climb consisted of 2,000 feet of elevation gain at a 10% grade. When we made it to the top all the hard work was worth it. Views of Jackson and the Tetons at 8,000 feet of elevation was breathtaking. We finished up with a fun decent into Jackson Wyoming capping off our 3 state, 135 mile day. Most of the team would agree it was one of the most difficult and exciting rides of the trip.
-Jared Mehring