Townsend, Montana to Corner of I80 and 789

Was on the road by 7:30, and not much pause until Livingston for some supplies before heading into beautiful Yellowstone. Yellowstone is cool, I love the slow drive, the sights, the smells of the geysers, etc. Enjoyed every minute of it and got to Grant Village for a swim by and picnic lunch by 12:30.

Continued taking in the sights along the drive to Jackson, then proceeded immediately to Jackson Hole ski area for some mountain biking. Been driving too much, and need to burn off some steam. Ski areas are good for riding - even if they don't have an abundance of singletrack, they're guaranteed to have a lot of vertical, and cat roads. Not everyone's cup of tea, but perfect for me.

I unpack the S-Works and start heading up from the village. About 15m up the hill, I realize the rear end is boingy-boingy. Hmmm... The Brain doesn't seem to be working to lock out the rear. Oh well, more comfy and better exercise I say. Then I notice resistance. Stop and check that - brake's rubbing a bit. Oh well, better training. I hop on and ride for 3 more meters then stop. Rear wheel seizes. I can spin it freely in reverse by hand... and then it spins forward too. But no hub engagement. Argh. Thanks Mavic for putting a gnat's ass worth of grease in there to start with, these things have probably 10 hours use max so far this year, and that's rounding up (I've really only been using this bike for racing).

I coast down to the base and check out the repair shop, but their mechanic is away for the day. The guy that's there says he doesn't know hubs, and doesn't know what to do. I ask to borrow a rear wheel, but none of the rental fleet has the small rear disc brake rotors like mine. Guy again says he doesn't know what to do. I briefly think about going for a road ride, but then he says "well why don't I just give you a rental bike". I tell him I'm willing to pay, but he says he won't take any money as it's their fault they can't fix it. Instead of arguing I put my pedals and tool pouch on pronto and start scaling the mountain. I've got a green Ironhorse Warrior, which rides as good as you'd expect for a freebie. At least I'm riding, but I can say I've never ridden a bike with a front shock that felt worse than a rigid fork, and rear suspension that seems designed to reduce rather than gain traction while climbing, and not do much for the bumps on the way down either. Anyway, it's about 40lbs, which will be a good workout (the frame says "Aluminum" in block letters - must be solid to weigh that much).

I climb to the top of where they allow you to go, takes about 90 minutes. I think it was 900m elevation gain and about 8km. Pretty steep overall. I find a fun trail on the way down, then do a few other singletrack loops for 3h total riding. I have to time my arrival back at the shop before it closes.

Walking back to the car, I see a Snake River Lodge and Spa across the parking lot. I figure I'll drop by to see if I can hit up the spa for a shower. Lady at the desk says spa access is $45. I tell her I've got a price between $0 and $45 that I'm willing to pay for 10 minutes in and out. Unwilling to take on the responsibility of such negotiation herself, she calls her manager, who says $25 will do. I say thanks but turn around and start leaving. The manager asks what's wrong. Considering I've got a key to my yuppie mobile in one jersey pocket, and my wallet in the other with probably $700 of US + CDN, you'd think either I'd cave or they would. Either I'm cheap or I've got a sense of value still. I figure I'll hit the Snake River by the bridge near town where everyone was swimming this afternoon - which is more fun anyway. So far my grand total for camping and showers has been $12 (just by Babb). The one last night had no "toll box" thing or whatever you call them, I'm pretty sure it was set up to be free.

I've swam in rivers or lakes twice a day minimum so far, feels good. I've decided that between air temperature and water temperature, it sure saves a lot of hassle to be a "price taker" and just take whatever temperature nature dishes out.

Started the night drive, the 189 south of Jackson is a beautiful road riding road - as long as you climb it going westward. From there it flattens out and straightens out, nothing but bald arid high prairie. Got passed on the interstate by a bunch of squad cars going mach speed, but uneventful otherwise. Set the cruise control and see how long I can last before feeling tired, which ended up being the corner of I80 and 789.