Chewed up and spit out on the Big Horn Mountains

"These mountains are not like the other passes that we have done before.  You don't just go up on one side and go down the other side.  The Big Horn Mountains don't let you go easy. They have a way of chewing you up and spiting you out," explained Greg Walsh, the leader of our tour and President of Cycle America.

Indeed, I was very much chewed up and spit out of these mountains!  They just never ended . . up . . up . . . up . . up . . .up . . up -- and this went on for what may have been at least 30 serious miles of a 92 mile ride. Most of the whole ride was up hill, but that section was simply long and tiring.  The thing is -- is that they were deceptive.  Just when you thought you were finished and over the top, there was another up hill and then another.  And, another.   You get the idea.   The highlight was reaching Powder River Pass at an elevation of 9666 feet, our highest elevation of the trip. There were even patches of snow on the ground.  This was also the hardest day of riding of the trip and my life.

I left Worland, WY at 6:37 a.m and arrived in Buffalo, WY at a hair past 5:30 p.m. -- a seriously long day on the bike.   But the weather and the view of rivers, valleys, and mountains were spectacular.   Funny thing, they were hard to enjoy and appreciate to the fullest as the hills just kept coming!   We ate like horses the next day at the Udder House Soda Cafe in Buffalo, WY -- down the street from the famous Occidental Hotel -- a real 1800's style bar and hotel -- which was having a Blue Grass jam the whole evening.  It was fun to stop over for about 45 minutes after dinner and just watch them all do the banjo, fiddle, and guitar pickin' thing.  I LOVE ending the day on a high and this was helpful.

Today (Friday) we rode a relaxing 70 miles from Buffalo, WY to Gillette, WY. Almost the entire ride was on the interstate highway.  But out here in Wyoming it wasn't too bad.  I rode with the "Jan Train" again of Jan (Netherlands), Martin (UK) and Chuck (Colombia, Ohio).   We all agreed to make it a "take it easy day."  For the most part it was, outside a few flat tires along the way.   The view was nothing like the Big Horn Mountains but at least I didn't feel chewed up and spit out!

I pitched my tent today on the football field of the local Jr. High School in Gillette, Wyoming.  Walked over to the public library and here I am.  Now off to dinner.   Down the road I'll try to give you an update on the pros and cons of sleeping in a gym with others or out on a field in my tent.  The last two days I've been in a gym after spending the first two and a half weeks tenting.   Today we arrived early so I thought it good to have some fresh air and go outside. 

Fire Truck for Sale

On occassion I see something that I wish I would have stopped to take a photo.  Today we rolled through the town of Thermopolis, Wyoming.   As we rode bye I saw an old fire truck for sale!  Funny thing -- my dad actually bought one in the 1970's and we had it by the side of our home for a few years.  It was a blast to bring to elementary school for "Show and Tell."    So when we rode bye I just thought of this fond memory of my youth -- and sort of wondering how much an old fire truck costs?   Probably better that I rode on!

We rode from Riverton, Wyoming to Worland, Wyoming -- about 92 mile.  But my bike computer broke so I'm at the local library once again downloading instructions on how to fix a Cateye Strada Double Wireless bike computer.  

I rode most of the way with Jan (Netherlands), Chuck (Missouri) and Martin (UK).   Jan and Chuck stopped off in Thermopolis to try to watch Spain vs. Germany in the World Cup match.   Martin and I continued the rest of the way into Worland, a small town of about 5000 people.    This morning Jan led our little line and as we rode through rural Wyoming he promised a free cup of coffee to the first one who could find anything interesting -- something we all could agree was interesting.   I saw a red tire sticking out of the ground but that didn't seem to be suitable for all.   Still, he bought us all coffee when we finally found a small cafe.  These are the small bike games we play as we pass the time from one spot to the next.    Tomorrow is a huge ride --perhaps the biggest of the trip so far -- but I'll get more details tonight on our evening meeting. 

After dinner we all meet to review the next day's route and notable places of interest.   We took it easy today knowing that we have a huge climb to come tomorrow.  

Teton Mountains

I'm writing to you from the local public library in Riverton, Wyoming.   We rode 80 something miles today with lots of wind.  And, it is COLD -- something in the late 40's or early 50's.   I have two wool shirts on, a cycling jersey, arm and leg warmers, and a rain/wind jacket with full finger length gloves and foot covers and it just about did the trick -- but even the locals are surprised with the weather.

Today's ride was sort of a milage day -- a few interesting things as we passed through an Indian Reservation but there were few natural stops for anything.  Lots of the gals on our trip are feeling more and more comfortable about squating just about anywhere -- if you know what I mean.  There was a sign on a bathroom a few days ago that said "No squating with spurs."   Interesting, I saw a man walking through the gas station with spurs on!   Real Cowboy and Indian country here in Wyoming. 

But yesterday's ride was glorious -- through the Teton national park area.  Wow.   The day before we rode over the Teton pass -- and loved coming down it.  But to ride through it for most of the morning was spectacular.   Very sad to turn away and leave it in the distance.  Still the ride must go on.  And on it the day went -- with over 103 miles.   This was in fact our "easiest" century ride as it had an awesome tail wind the last 30 miles or so.    But we had a huge moutain to climb and with road consturction and other dangers such as gravel.  I mention this as we had another rider break her arm yesterday.  We all felt sad to lose her to the ride.

Earlier I mentioned that this ride feels like a circus in a way -- with us setting up and taking down our tents each day.  Well, it also feels like a war or military campaign as we lose riders each week and others come to join us.  So, while the century ride for many of us was our easiest yesterday, there were new riders who were experiencing it for the first day -- and it was a big day with some rough roads and climbing.  Yet those who have been on the ride for the first two weeks are starting to become a little used to it -- even though each day has different struggles.    I metioned that we lost another rider to a broken arm -- Judy.  On the first day of the ride another person broke her arm -- both were signed up for the entire trip.   It has humbled our group a little to know anything can happen along the way.

And, while I was riding with a different group last week, I'm now starting to ride with a few others -- spent parts of yesterday and today riding with Stephen (from Wales) and Jim (from Washington).  Also rode with the Newman family -- a husband and wife and their 20 year-old son, Nathan, from California.   Despite the cold and wind -- riding with these folks made the time go a bit faster than it coud have been.

The Range Ride

Week Three kicked off with 103 miles from Jackson to Dubois Wyoming.  Beautiful ride through the Teton National Forest.  Here's the schedule for the rest of this week:

Dubois-Riverton 78 miles
Riverton-Worland 92 miles
Worland-Buffalo 90 miles
Buffalo-Gillette 72 miles
Gillette-Devil's Tower 68 miles

Ashton, Idaho

There are certain places along this route that I know I hope to come back to see more of the sights.  One will be Yellowstone.  We didnt' quite make it into the park but had a couple beautiful rides just outside the park coming into and out of West Yellowstone -- the launching pad for many visitors going into the partk.  Stayed at an RV park -- 95 riders just sort of pitching our tents anywhere we could find grass -- not in designated spots to be sure.  But, it was a great place to get more laundry done and even a bit of fun to go into the tourist trap of a town known as West Yellowstone.  After dinner I caught the 9 p.m. show of Yellowstone at the IMAX -- nice to have a cup of coffee and be inside for a bit.  The movie itself was so-so.  

Rode from West Yellowstone to Ashton, Idaho.  We are going south now and then will be heading to Jackson, Wyoming for the Fourth of July.  All along the road you see fireworks stands -- like the one we saw in Lincoln just outside the High School called "Hong Kong Harry's Fireworks."   I can be sure that it will be impossible to sleep on the Fourth of July!  Mostly I am sleeping from about 11 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. so I'm sort of wondering when I will really have a sleep crash.   The thing is that we wake up every morning running (or cycling) and it is a rush to pack up -- get the wet tent down (and it always seems to be wet) and off to breakfast and on the road by 7 a.m.  This morning was tempting to stay in the mummy bag as it was in the 40's and I had a nice wool hat and long sleave Smart Wool shirt on and all stuffed in my mummy bag.

The highlight was seeing the Upper and Lower Mesa Waterfalls along the Henry Fork portion of the Snake River.  It was like a mini-Niagra Falls (which we will see later on the trip) and well worth the effort to cycle a little out of the way to see it.   Time to go air out my tent next to the Ashton High School football field.

Oh, and to look up and see the Teton mountains from a distance --still with snow caps.  WoW!   Tomorrow we will pass them -- no doubt it will be our most challenging ride to date -- up, up and away --  so tonight I hope will be a real take it easy kind of night.  

Physically I'm doing well -- but a few extremities like my hands and feet are going numb.  It's been a bit hard to shift with my left hand these past few weeks.   And, by the way, have you noticed how expensive sun block is these days?   But, yes, I'm putting it on in bucket loads -- but still starting to get a bit red each day.

Helena, Montana

Here's a picture of the Lobster Line from yesterday when we rode through Helena, Montana.   To pass the time, we played the "Do you know the capital of _____(name that state).  Truly, I'm not smarter than a 5th grader in this regard!   But it was fun to ride through the capital and move on to Ennis.   I just found this photo so this all took place a few days ago.  Still, what is truly amazing is how it is hard to recall where we have been as each night seems like a circus show -- doing the ride from place A to B, setting up the tents, eating, laundry, and packing up and doing it again.  Hard to keep track of each location or even the highlights at times.  Even the Lobster Line looks like it is ending.  Leslie is finishing the ride this week -- she signed up for the first two weeks of the ride.   Jerry and Fred are going off to ride in Yellowstone on their own for a couple days.   And, I couldn't keep up with them when we hit the headwinds in todays ride.  I linked up with a few other guys -- Stephen from Wales and Chuck from Ohio and we rode the last 20 miles or so together in a new line.   My hats off to the Lobster Line though as they really carried me through some tough rides this past week.  In two days we will have finished 1000 miles -- roughly 25 percent of the entire 4200 miles!   

Cattle Run and Trout Shop

We rode 74 miles from Ennis, Montana to West Yellowstone, Montana today.  The slam dunk highlight was riding right past a cattle run -- complete with real live cowboys.  Don't know where they were going but those cattle sure leave a lot of you know what on the side of the road.    Fun to be in West Yellowstone -- we camped at an RV campground and are pitching tents in any space we can find.   Weather up here is wild. Started cold -- light rains -- then sunny -- now super windy.  My tent poles bent last night in Ennis due to the high winds.  I bought a wool cap at Bud Lilly's Trout Shop to keep a little warmer in the night!