Alone on the Divide: Cycling from Jackson Hole to Boulder, CO
Cycling solo from Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Boulder, Colorado isn’t your average weekend ride. It’s 500+ miles of raw terrain, towering mountain passes, and long, empty stretches that test your legs, your mind, and your grit. I did it in four days — riding through the night, battling altitude, weather, and silence, and falling in love with the road in a way I hadn’t before.
The journey began under clear skies in Jackson, with the Tetons at my back and a full set of gear loaded on my gravel bike. The first two days were beautiful and brutal: crossing into Idaho, then swinging south into Utah, navigating rough shoulders, fast-moving weather, and steep climbs. I camped once, crashed in a roadside motel once, and kept pushing south.
Day three was the test — a long, lonely ride from northern Utah over multiple high passes, with nowhere to stop and no real shelter. As the sun dipped, I knew I’d have to ride through the night. So I did. Wrapped in every layer I had, I climbed into the moonlit darkness, my headlamp cutting a narrow tunnel through the cold. Hours passed in silence, the stars above impossibly bright, and the descent into Colorado around 3 a.m. felt like flying.
By the time I rolled into Boulder on day four, I was wrecked — sore, sunburned, sleep-deprived — but alive in the best possible way. This ride wasn’t about speed or records. It was about solitude, stamina, and the strange clarity that comes when you’re alone with your thoughts for days at a time.
If you ever want to feel the world stretch and shift beneath your wheels, ride solo across the high country. It changes you.
