Seven years ago, my wife and I set out to bike from Jackson to Teton Village and back. It's a nice, not-too-intimidating 25 miles or so. We completed it in an afternoon, grabbed some dinner, and settled in for a cozy night here at Flat Creek Inn. You can read about our biking adventure right here. But of course, we're not here to rehash an old blog post. Because we did it again this year ... only with three small kids in tow—ages 5, 3, and 1. Follow along on our adventure to discover how we adapted the trip to keep our small passengers engaged, happy, and well fed.
LESSON 1: Bring the Right Gear
First, let's cover the obvious: we are not, in fact, clowns. Thus, we cannot stack three little kids on our shoulders as we ride. So we had to update our cycling equipment this time around to include a bike seat (mounted on my wife's bike) and a two-person bike trailer (to go behind my bike). Transporting our two bikes was simple enough last time, but our newer car no longer fits our old bike rack, and you can forget about trying to fit two bikes and a trailer in the back of our Honda Passport. After exploring options to transport all our stuff (who knew all the equipment to mount your bikes on the roof of your vehicle adds up to $1000?), we elected to squeeze my wife's bike in the back of the car, along with the mounted child seat, and rent a second bike and trailer from Hoback Sports once we got to Jackson. It was the only place available to rent bikes a week before the on-season began, but I'd go with them again. They were friendly, helpful, and efficient. (This post isn't sponsored by Hoback Sports, but we wouldn't say no.)
LESSON 2: Pack Lots of Snacks
Beginning at the store's front doors, we headed west on the community pathways along West Broadway. We turned right at the junction leading to Moose and Teton Village. So far, so good. All three girls were in good spirits, thanks to an early infusion of juice boxes and snacks. Seriously, we must have spent $100 on snacks for the trip alone: jerky, fruit leathers, trail mix, etc. Remember this: there are several factors that can immediately ruin a trip, and hungry kids is one of them.
LESSON 3: Bring Layers
Did I say nothing ruins a trip like hungry kids? Cold kids definitely give that condition a run for its money. The weather was beautiful for biking except for a tenacious little cloud that seemed determined to hang out in front of the sun, like that one kid who always manages to be in the foreground of pictures, but we were dressed for the slight chill. We brought several layers for each girl, including a light jacket and a heavier coat. For our one-year-old, we also brought a full furry suit. We never needed the heavy coats, but I'm glad we brought them. It's always better to bring more layers than you need than wish you'd brought more. As a result, none of the girls complained about the cold the entire time. Big parenting win.
After a quick pit stop on Emily Stevens Park Road, we crossed the bridge over the Snake River and immediately found ourselves on the path through R Park. Recalling a blog post we once did about a formidable troll statue hiding in those woods, we took another detour to seek it out. We found "Mama Mimi," as she's called (not to be confused with the ABBA song), reclining at the edge of the river. All three of our little girls were too terrified of her huge black eyes to venture close.
LESSON 4: Take Breaks
When my wife and I did the trail years ago, we made a single stop at the halfway point. But by this point on our current trip, we'd already taken two breaks. And that's perfectly okay. You may not achieve the same pace you would without kids, and there's nothing wrong with that. Journey before destination, you know?
The biking trail turned northward, running parallel to Moose-Wilson Road. (Constant signs reminded us that moose frequented the area, though so far the clear remained clear of any large mammals.) Despite the slow, relentless onslaught of posterior pain that haunted us along this stretch, this was my favorite section of the trail because the orientation meant the Tetons loomed ahead of us for much of the ride. And still our girls, through some benevolent miracle of the biking gods, remained happy as raccoons at a dumpster convention.
We reached Teton Village and took our third and longest break of the trip. Because it was a week before the summer season, the place was a ghost town. Luckily, we brought our own food and found a nice little picnic table. The girls enjoyed stretching their legs, and everyone was happy.
But did the girls' cheery mood survive the return journey? What snacks did we rely on to boost their spirits? Did we ever see a moose? Find out in part 2!
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This post is brought to you by Flat Creek Inn. Located right across the road from the multi-use trail by the Elk Refuge, the inn makes a great base camp for biking. And as the closest place to stay to Grand Teton National Park, it's a great base camp for pretty much anything else, too.
