Posted from: Soda Springs, ID
We officially set off on our adventure on Friday, June 16th at 9:45am! We were accompanied by a whole squadron of our pals from Salt Lake, some for just a block or two, and some for a few days! So much love and thanks to Abby, Morgan, Morgan’s dad, Natahly, and Packy for joining us on Friday morning, you all made for quite the send off. Additionally, Bridger and Rachel joined us for one and two nights, respectively, which further invigorated our spirits for the journey ahead. Rachel even stuck it out with us through some of the absolute WORST mosquitos I have ever experienced in my entire life (worse than any Alaska training camp could ever prepare us for). Thanks to you all and we love and miss you so much!
Now what????
Jack and I have been on the road 7 days now, a whole freakin week! The days go by simultaneously super fast and super slow. We’ve been inching our way up climbs and crawling through long flats with vicious headwinds, but somehow it seems like a blink of an eye and we’re at another beautiful camp and another 40 miles down the road. It’s a very simple set of tasks we have everyday: get up, drink coffee, stretch and groan, pack up, ride….keep riding…..ride more…..eat, apply chamois butter, find camp, eat big dinner, sleep! We are settling into the rhythm.
Through this first week, we’ve discovered a thing or two:
- Chamois butter is truly our only hope for life. As many of you suspected, and to no one’s surprise, our butts are wrecked. Like, REALLY wrecked. On the second day of riding, my cheeks had literally taken a new shape due to the level of swelling that occurred overnight. The only thing that keeps me getting back on the saddle is a healthy slick of chamois butter that must be applied 3-4 times daily (and even then, it is still deeply painful).
- Headnets = most valuable gear. On our second night, just outside of Evanston, WY, we experienced the thickest, most thirsty mosquitos I’ve ever seen. Any bit of skin was instantly coated with bugs as soon as we stopped riding. It was a hellacious and desperate scramble as Rachel, Jack and I searched to find a scrappy camp on the side of the highway while being absolutely devoured. We all quickly wriggled into the most impenetrable gear we had: rain gear, puffy pants, Rach even kept her helmet and riding glasses on!! Jack and I pulled on our headnets, which was the only way we were able to be outside long enough to boil water for dinner that night. Amen to the headnet and I will NEVER travel without one now.
- Buy a bagged salad any chance you get. Food-wise, the trip started off leisurely because we stocked up on yummy foods in Salt Lake and then passed through Evanston the second day, so we had plenty of access to groceries. Since Evanston, it’s now been 5 days, and our resupply in Laketown, UT was out of a gas station. The fresh veggies are hard to come by and dearly missed, so buy the friggin bagged salad whenever you can!!
- STRETCH!! I have always been one of those self proclaimed “inflexible” people but it turns out that if you stretch every morning your bod feels great! Or, as great as it can be after riding nearly 300 miles in a week… Jack has been a big proponent of a daily stretch routine, which we do right after we finish packing our bikes in the mornings. It’s often hard for me to want to take the time after getting all packed up, but our stretch routine might be the only thing holding our bodies together at this point (that and chamois butter). And it really is so serene to pause every morning, listen to my body and all it’s complaints, and tell it, “I hear you, but we’re going to keep riding so you better buck up.”
Folks of Interest
One of the highlights of this first week (after our wonderful send off, of course) was meeting a few interesting people! We met Steve, a fellow Western Wildlands bikepacker!!! He rolled up to us as we were hiding in our tent at 10am feeling sorry for ourselves in the rain, but he had been out riding in it for hours and really gave us the kick in the pants that we needed to get up and going. Steve started the route in AZ and said we’re the only other bikers he’d met so far….let’s hope he’s not the first and last that we’ll meet too! It was great talking to him and we’re excited to hopefully see him again on the trail.
We also came across a fun duo, Chris and Gary(?) in the Preuss Mountains. They were working for the Forest Service replacing an old cattle guard. Chris had on a biiiig cowboy hat. When we told them we had biked there from Salt Lake, they both said “Oh shit!” Then they gave us tons of excellent beta on all sorts of hot springs we might come across on our route. At the end, Chris said he was proud of us for having the gumption to come out here and do such an adventure. It was a really heartwarming interaction and we’ve been thinking of the kindness and warmth that they showed us since.
HAGS 
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