Tour Route

Tour Route

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

One Sleep, Ten Sleep, Bad Sleep, Good Sleep


It's on wheels!
Friday we left Buffalo and immediately hit the mountains. That day, we climbed 7,000 feet, a new record from our 6,000 vertical feet days in the East. The climb was long and steady, with about 5% grades to the top. We ate “lunch” on the side of the road on the way up. We’re getting really good at having lunch while sitting on the ground. Powder River Pass was at 9,666 feet, our highest point yet. While on the Buffalo side we had some ups and down, once on the other side it was straight down at 6%. The ride into the town of Ten Sleep was a great cruise, our prettiest ride yet through the gorge. Luckily we found a little ski resort/lodge thing and had some 3:30 burgers on the way down. We were officially back in the mountains of the West, and very happy to be there.
 Once in Ten Sleep, it was roasting, but thankfully the tiny town had its own public splash pad to cool off in. Supper was really just some ice cream and pie in the town cafĂ©. We did learn that the town of Ten Sleep got its name from the Native American tribes who lived in the area. The town was “ten sleeps” from Casper and ten more sleeps to Bridger. We stayed at this RV park run by a cowboy who was housing a lot of other rodeo people and a group of people with a lot of mules. The cowboy also had a small bear of a dog. Lots of fun creatures there. It was 65 miles that day.

Snacks on the side of the road.
The next day we rode to the town of Greybull, 66 miles total. We were definitely riding through the desert, seeing a bunch of cacti and painted rock. We reached our first fruit stand of the tour that day and stocked up on fresh food. Our ride was ultimately somewhat boring that day, but we stayed the night in the Antler Inn to reminisce our trip to South Dakota and stay there a few years back. The town hasn’t changed since then, in case anybody was wondering.

The next day we rode from Greybull to Cody, another boring day of desert, but we could see the mountains approaching. In Cody we had a lot of food at Taco Johns, then went on our way to an RV park about 10 more miles down the road in order to be closer to the park. It was 73 miles that day. By the time we got there, we had a huge tailwind, and some of us wanted to keep going, but like last time, Mother got her way and we stayed where we were.
That night we met a couple of other guys from Madison, WI, who were biking from there to Salt Lake City. They had just graduated from college and have been nicknamed “The Arabians” for their supposedly cooling head scarves, lack of helmets, and sandals. They continued down the road from us, so we were the only tent at the RV park that night. Or so we thought.
Grumpy with the Oreo Express back there.
At approximately 1:30AM, a big black church-camp looking van pulled up next to us and started setting up camp. More and more people kept getting out of the van and attempting to set up their huge tent. Then they turned on the air mattress inflator, which woke up our whole family if we hadn’t been awake already. The effort of this other family to talk to each other over the racket of the inflator was not what we wanted in the wee hours of the morning.
Eventually they settled down. When we woke up in the morning, we looked over to see a huge tent, people sleeping in the van, and two people sleeping outside right on the dirt. As they woke up, I counted 9 children and 2 parents. Their van read “The Oreo Express: Yellowstone or Bust! No Stops!” This Kansas family clearly underestimated how long it would take them to get to their campground. 
Filling a water bottle on the roadside.
 Monday we rode into Yellowstone National Park. A word of warning: it costs more to take 3 bikes in than it does a single car. It was slightly uphill all the way to the entrance, but really kicked up once we were inside the park. The amount of traffic through Yellowstone granted us a lot of cheers and thumbs up from drivers and motorcyclists on the way up the mountain, even though this one was much more tame than the Big Horns were. Sylvan Pass was at 8530 ft. At the top, we met a guy from Boise. Finally getting to see someone from home, even though we had no idea who they were, was a great feeling.
The park ranger people were all a bit concerned about where we would be able to camp in the park, given that July is busy season and all the campgrounds were listed as full. We were referred to Bay Bridge, a campground slightly off route, but one that had pity on us as bikers and allowed us to stay. Sadly we did not get showers that night, even after sweating up the pass.
It rained all night long in Yellowstone, keeping us in bed until 7 when it finally let up. We had to pack a wet tent.

That buffalo is too close for comfort.
This morning was cool and pleasant riding all through the park. Yellowstone kept the ride interesting, with animals and geothermal activity to view from the road just about anywhere. There are a lot of posted warning signs about staying in your car when near wildlife, but that was a luxury this trip did not afford us. Viewing the buffalo herds off in the distance was fine, but one of them planted himself right at the edge of the roadway. We get stared at by animals all the time, but being stared down by a buffalo while on a bike is the last thing I wanted to do. We were all the way out in the other lane of traffic, trying to give this guy as wide a berth as possible. It was scary stuff.

Suckers power us.
After the bison encounter (Tatanka) it was mostly downhill out to the park’s west entrance. We’re here in West Yellowstone, Montana, at the third campground we stopped at because of busy season and all. It’s already rained again tonight. Our total for the day is 61 miles. We are now officially back on the Adventure Cycling route, though now it is the Trans America. Only three states to go.

4 comments:

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  2. This will be a summer you'll never forget! You folks are getting so strong going up all those mountain passes that Bogus Basin will seem easy, right? 'Sorry we didn't know sooner when you were going to be in Yellowstone; would've loved to see you there. With KariAnna's new job it is unlikely now that we'll be able to see you on the road. We'll be happy to celebrate your return to Boise, though! BTW, I missed your roadkill report for this segment. :)

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  3. Happy Anniversary! Sorry we don't get to spend it with you like we did last year! I'm not sure how Shannon is going to top last year's gift!

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  4. Looks like a successful trip ... minus the arm. :(

    Mrs. Rider

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