PowerCycle

It was kind of nice having a day off just to relax. With the exception of family visits most have been to wait out really bad weather or because I was sick/injured. There’s an Albertson’s across the street so I’ve been eating like a pig for 2 days. Believe it or not some of it was actually healthy food too. I’ve been craving salad for the last week so for the 2nd night in a row I’ll be eating that for dinner. Did a little shopping too. Downloaded Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit and Yahtzee for my Ipod.

With my bike safely stowed in my room I headed out for a 2 mile walk to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Some impressive storm clouds were overhead but no rain came down. Thunderstorms are forecast for this area all week so I’m sure I’ll run into some wet weather at some point. Walked along Sheridan Ave which seems like the main drag. I was tempted to stop and grab a drink at one of the bars but I had a couple Fat Tires cooling back in the motel room. 4/5 of the museums in the Historical Center were open so I wandered around all of them. The collections, especially in the Buffalo Bill and Plains Indian museums, were very impressive. The paintings in the Western Art Gallery were amazing. I don’t really like taking pictures in museums even if its permitted so I only took a couple (I like things in their natural state).

Back on the road tomorrow. Might be Thursday before I post again. Not sure if wifi is available in Yellowstone.

05/30 Another hot trek across the Bighorn Basin. My lofty goal of the day was to make it to Cody by noon so I could pick up a package before the post office closes until Monday. At 5:30am my alarm went off. I quickly packed the tent, grabbed a quick cup of coffee and a snack at the gas station and set off for the 53 mile ride. I had about 20 miles left when my front tire went flat. First flat on the front tire ever. I would have made it on time but the repair took longer than I thought. Looks like it was a piece of wire from a blown tire.

So here I am in Cody resting up at the Carter Mountain Motel. I’m going to stay here until Monday so I can avoid Sunday traffic in Yellowstone and give me time to do some sightseeing in town. Someone recommended that I see the Buffalo Bill Museum so I think I’ll check that out.

The route I’ll be taking through Yellowstone is going to be a little challenging because tent camping isn’t allowing except in designated campgrounds and the way I really wanted to go won’t work because the only CG in that area is still closed (Canyon). So the plan is:

Monday – 37 miles to Newton Creek CG with a 3000 foot climb
Tuesday – 45 miles to Bridge Bay CG with a 4400 foot climb (joy)
Wednesday – 52 miles to Madison CG with a 2500 foot climb
Thursday – 15 miles to West Yellowstone for much needed R&R

Friendly warning that there is a picture of a snake below.

GPX Track

05/29 What a day! Slept in until 9am so I didn’t get on the road until 11am (would have been 12pm if I shaved–look like Grizzly Adams now–jk). Not sure what happened there. I went to bed at 10:30 or so. Guess I was beat. By the time I woke up it was warm but sometime last night I woke up and my watch showed 37 F in the tent. Brrr.

After leaving the CG I had a nice stretch of road that ran through some huge meadows. Saw about 4 moose and some deer. The moose were cool but the Mom noticed me after a bit so I took off. The highest point was Granite Pass but there wasn’t a sign or marker. My GPS showed the elevation as 9078 feet.

My favorite sign of my trip so far was the steep grade warning for the next 18 miles. The wind kept me from going too fast so I usually topped out at 30 mph or so. It was a lot of fun not pedaling for that long. I stopped a few times and took pictures, especially at some waterfalls that I can’t remember the name of. I ended up taking 106 pictures for the day so I’ll be busy getting that number down. Toward the end of the downhill I could see the Rocky Mountains on the horizon.

Once I reached the bottom it was a slightly hilly ride into Greybull. I was warned about this but it is much drier and warmer on the west side of the Big Horn Mountains. I stocked up on water at the top of the mountains and it was a good thing that I did. The temp in Greybull was 87 F when I arrived here. Just this morning I was walking in snow. Crazy. Staying at the KOA for $21. The owners are very nice. The husband brought me over a couple bottles of cold bottled water after I checked in and was setting up my tent. Ran over to the grocery store and stocked up on food. I even bought a loaf of sourdough bread for some reason. Wadih might have inspired this one. Wasn’t sure what to do with it so I’ve been tearing chunks off and eating it for hours now. For dinner I had a chef salad which tasted soooo good.

In an effort to stay in touch with new hiking/camping products there are a couple web sites I frequent. That’s how I happened upon this beauty. A lantern that runs on urine! If I order it now I should have it in time for when I meet my sister(s)/nephew in Banff.

GPX Track

05/28 What’s all that white stuff? I can’t even remember the last time I saw snow. The highest elevation I reached was 8381 feet and there was quite a bit of it in isolated pockets next to the road. No big snow drifts that needed my plowing services though. Tomorrow I should hit 9033 feet at Granite Pass so there’ll be lot’s there I’m sure.

Along the way there were some great views back down into Dayton and surronding area. You never really appreciate how far you ridden until you look behind you. Right at the start of climb a guy on a road bike (pedal) whizzed past me on his way up the mountain. I was chugging along at a brisk 5.7 mph at the time. I don’t even think he had any water with him. I had 3 bottles filled plus about 6 liters in my MSR bag (about 4 bottles worth). It turns out I could have gotten away with a little less water. I only used the 3 bottles and a little from the bag. With water I’d rather have than have not though. Besides when you are carrying 80 lbs up a mountain what’s another 8 lbs? One guy in a pickup did slow down and asked if I needed any which was cool. Everyone else probably thought I was nuts. I never did get cold except when I started going downhill toward the end so all I had on was a bike t-shirt and shorts (and my sandals).

The views so far have been nice but some major construction ruined a lot of it. I asked one of the guys what they were building and he said they were widening the road. For the amount of traffic that road gets it sounds to me like some back room antics took place between the owner of the construction company and the state. There’s just no reason to widen the road unless they are planning on building some commercial developments at the top which is actually kind of what it looked like. A McDonald’s would be perfect. 70% of the vehicles that passed were construction trucks. A did see one Bud Light truck that I wanted to hijack.

The campground here is just how I remember camping in the mountains from when I was a kid. Crisp mountain air, smell of pine trees, rushing water from a nearby creek… all I need is a cup of Folgers. No water but I have enough and I could always filter some if need be. Plume Creek is right behind me. Too bad I didn’t have a fly fishing rod (and a fishing license and knew how to fly fish).

Might get down into the 30′s tonight. Time to bust out the cold weather clothes again. Maybe the black bear roaming around here stealing food will keep me warm. All my food should cram into my Ursack bear bag so I’ll just leave it laying out away from my tent. I’d could hoist it all in my pannier to a tree limb but I’ll save that for if it rains (bear bag is not waterproof–pannier is).

Met my first long-distance runner at the CG in Dayton yesterday. Sue runs 50K races through the mountains around here. She’s also 60 (please don’t hate me for that Sue). If I can run 1K when I’m 60 I’ll be happy. Really nice lady. Her web site is runtrails.net.

GPX Track