The Roving Lunatic

Here is a guest post by Karen Williams on a ride from the 28th:

>It was Thursday afternoon. Jamaica, my co-worker, and
>I have been in Jackson Hole, WY since Saturday. Yes,
>we are here for work, but somehow have managed to ride
>all but one day. Go figure.
>
>We've ridden through incredible wild flowers that were
>handle bar high and a few sections that were above our
>heads. We saw a moose, a deer, even a chipmunk.
>We've been at the tops of climbs and seen other riders
>putting on full body armor. (Is this the descent I
>remember?) Beautiful days. Great, great riding.
>
>So, we drive WAY out on some dirt road that Jamaica
>had been telling me about. Hmm. I'm a liiiittle
>grumpy. Too much working and riding and working and
>riding. Need more sleeping, but no time right now,
>we're in freakin Jackson Hole! Okay, we get our bikes
>out. He heads over to the naked sunbathing girls who
>had given him water the day before. He gives them a
>cool drink from our cooler and we're off. We putter
>up a 4x4 road. Come to a fork. Take the road less
>traveled. It runs out, but there's a singletrack. We
>try to ride, but realize we are mere mortals and must
>stop. We walk. I'm concerned about bears. Luckily,
>Jamaica likes to talk a lot. Sometimes he gets into a
>rant. This, hopefully, will keep the bears away. We
>end up bushwhacking to the top of a hill and
>BAM...TETONS! Beautiful view. Wow. I'm in a much
>better mood. Cool. Down we go. Get the bikes, clean
>out some sticktights from our socks. Take the road
>more traveled now. Haven't seen anyone since the
>parking lot. Up. There's a truck coming we step
>aside. Three guys wave, one is in the back seat in a
>pregnant woman position. Weird. I'll let you picture
>that one yourself. This road follows a little river.
>Wonderful views. Rolling road. We take pictures.
>Then we hit it. Bear country. (Scary music!) I
>haven't seen a bear since I've been here, but if I was
>going to...this would surely be the place. The plant
>life is THICK and well above our heads. You would
>not be able to see anything coming at you until it was
>in the road. On top of you. Oooo, scary. Ride fast.
> Whoa, water hole. Look out! Cool. The rocks aren't
>as slippery as expected. I expected to be on my face
>by now. Now we come to a slow spot in the river. It
>looked like a glass pond. So clear. Fish jumps.
>Nice. Another half mile and the adventure is almost
>over. Private property. We head back. I didn't
>realize, we had been going UP a slight grade. That
>makes for fun riding back to the van. Yeeha! It's
>on. Jamaica and I take off. It's like a video game
>or something. We are riding side by side, faster than
>I would normally go. But it's so fun. We each have
>our own line. It's freaking cool. Splash through the
>water. Fly through bear country. Wow. The sun rays
>look like angels are coming. Towards the bottom the
>roads cross back and forth. Take separate paths.
>We're still even and can see each other riding. Feels
>like we. are. flying! Hey, where did the angel rays
>go? There's a giant black cloud now. There's the
>van. Whoa. That was a lightening bolt. Wow. We
>made it. Have some pringles. Get in the van. The
>first drops hit the windshield. That's good timing.
>Darn good riding!
>