Ride Preview: Russ Garaman Path-Indian Trails-Highway 22

Ever since I first started thinking I wanted a bike, I've paid increasing amounts of attention to where I might ride it. As it happened, I had my first ride all picked out the day I bought Little Red, because I'd walked along part of it a few weeks earlier.

Friends of Pathways is a Jackson Hole group that builds and maintains bike and walking paths throughout the area. One of them happens to have an access point near my apartments.

I spent a few long afternoons as a pedestrian there, but since walking won't get you as far as fast as biking (you know, because one involves wheels and one involves feet), I'd always had to stop before I saw as much as I wanted.

Since my curiosity levels can cause me to get in Lewis and Clark mode - or Lewis and Clark crossed with a very small dog waiting to go outside mode - this always irritated me. And once or twice made me bite my own ankles for trying to put myself inside again.

So I knew that night as I stared at my bike across the living room that I would be using it to explore the pathways a little more. Yes, I brought my bike inside. My apartment complex forbids parking bikes anywhere but under our stairwells. I share a stairwell with three families, each of which has several children. Said children seem to just kind of multiply every single day, and all of them have bikes. Had you seen the tangle of spokes and handlebars down there, I imagine you would have decided you'd think about it tomorrow, gone upstairs and who knows - you may even have barked your shin on one of your new bike's pedals. Certainly that was my reaction.

So anyway, I knew where I was going. I even knew some of the following information:

My route: Russ Garaman Trail through Indian Trails subdivision to Wyoming Highway 22, ending at Teton Science School.

Surface: 95 percent pavement, a few gravel stretches

Incline: Largely flat or slight hills except one out-of-nowhere fiercely steep patch leading from the path to the highway

Distance: Around 8 miles one way

What you'll see: Flat Creek, High School Butte, great Teton view if it's clear, no to OK Teton views if it's not.
You also pass a grocery store, two schools, Jackson Hole Community Garden, a few random sculptures and two churches if any of that floats your boat.

Excited yet? If not, that's OK. I was like a squirrel on espresso. What can I say, I had a new toy and an adventure planned that involved being outside and indoor plumbing. That shit is exciting.