Day 12: Pinedale

This was one of those days where breakfast remained a nice wish. On option for breakfast could be the Line Shack Lodge at the ascent to Union Pass a few miles ahead. And there was a café called “The Place” café, but I would get there already in the afternoon. That’s it. No other service on the way to Pinedale.

Easy rolling for the first 10 miles down Highway 26. On the ascent to Union Pass it started to rain. I took cover under a fir tree and put my rain jacket on. After 15 minutes under the tree the rain slowly passed by and - Thomas also. As I got to the little plateau in the middle of the ascent I saw the closed Line Shack Lodge. No breakfast at all! What a bummer! After a short downhill the gravel road climbed steep toward Union Pass again,  too steep for me, unfortunately. My legs were done. Without any breakfast I alternately got on and off my bike.

Union Pass is a geological exception. The highest point is not at once the pass. Actually, Union Pass is on a lower level just a few miles after the road crested its highest point.

I was happy wearing my rain jacket. It was cold and the more than strong headwind wind tried to push me from the road. Even at the descents I had to pedal. My mood dropped more and more to the bottom. The 20 gruelling miles on this fucking plateau with countless up and downs put me mentally down. My mind cinema switched on and one time more I was thinking about the sense and nonsense of this trip. Quitting the race came into my mind again. Not the first time during the last few days.  After a felt eternity I finally entered the downhill and I got a grip on myself again. At the bottom of the downhill I took a longer break. The wind turned slowly into a tailwind. And like someone pushed a button my legs turned back into life. I rushed down the gravel road and met a group of mid forty guys on clean full loaded (like me) full suspension mountain bikes. There were on a camping trip and they told me that the café a few miles ahead was closed. Nice! I hit the pavement and started a small climb.

Generally all the way down to Pinedale was something like a gentle downhill with some smaller gentle climbs. Together with the tailwind I rushed along the road. As I got to the “The Place” café two other riders where sitting at the porch and had their own afternoon snack. They were as disappointed like me. The café was really closed. Just within the next 10 miles there was a significant change of the landscape. Less trees, dry, more sand, and small bushes characterized this charming landscape.

Now I did something what I never did before. I cramped my Smartphone under my harness at the handle bar, plugged in my head phones and turned on some music, amazing. The music gave me an additional push to my already fast pace. In Cora I took the small side trip to the really nice looking Post Office for some photos. Pinedale was just a stone’s throw away. I left the highway and turned onto a gravel road. First I thought the houses where I was heading to would be Pinedale, but it wasn’t. I had to ride some additional miles until I hit the main street of this nice looking town. The first thing I did was looking for a restaurant. That was easy! I took the one with the parking bikes in the front. Thomas was also in and we decided to stay in town for today.
During check in the woman at the office asked me if we were in the race. I affirmed. Yesterday two other riders stayed in the motel, but they had to quit the race because they were loosing too much weight. Quite honestly, I didn’t know if the woman was kidding me or not.   

We did the laundry, a full resupply for the next day and had a second dinner later in the evening. 

 

Union Pass

Pinedale