Day 19: Yellowstone to Cody to Worland

44 miles

So Mom rode our first and our last day with us, and today was an easy and mostly stress-free last day. We rode from our campground about 4 miles outside of Yellowstone to Cody, Wyoming. It was smooth-ish roads, a wide shoulder, favorable breezes and a lot of downhill. It felt like all downhill to Dad and me but Mom informed us that there were a couple of hills. It was a great ride with beautiful scenery, although we didn't have our usual luck with animals. Guess we used up our quota yesterday with the numerous bison and lone elk, because all we saw today was an eagle.

I hadn't realized just how much of a routine Dad and I established over the last couple weeks until we added Mom to the mix. I just get his body language and signals, he doesn't have to say anything for me to understand what's going on. The same can't necessarily be said for Mom. For example, we saw this share the road sign and decided to stop for a photo. We had ridden past it, and when we decided to take a picture Dad and I kept going, planning to turn around when there was a break in the traffic while Mom stops dead in her tracks. Being behind her this was a bit of an issue for me. I very nearly hit her and just squeaked by between her and guardrail. You don't just stop and turn around on busy roads, you don't want to spook the drivers. There was one really dicey area where we had to go through a series of tunnels and our shoulder just completely disappeared. It was kind of freaky, I'd never ridden through a tunnel before. We stopped first to wait for a break in cars and turn on our flashers. I was riding on the far right so they could see mine while Dad was in the center of the lane preventing cars from passing, which would not have turned out good. Luckily it was downhill, so we were moving pretty fast, but Mom, who has no flasher and was sandwiched between us, wanted to see around me and went into the center of the lane. I had to start yelling at her to get over, she can't block Dad, but she just doesn't instinctively know these things yet. Dad's decided he wants to take the northern route cross country later with Mom, but she'll have to learn biker etiquette first. She's got the legs, she just needs the street smarts.
Overall it was a great last day. It was fun having Mom so she could see a little of what we've experienced the last couple weeks. She brought her bike all the way from Oregon, she had to use it, right? Tomorrow we part ways with Jim and the dogs :( and head home. Not exactly sure what the route will look like yet.

Oh, if any one's wondering, we came to Worland 1. So that Dad could visit his Uncle Clayton's grave (he died about 1 year ago) and 2. So that Dad could get this salsa they make here in Wyoming that he is apparently quite addicted to. He'd been exchanging emails with the salsa maker and everything. Our original plan was to ride all the way to Worland, but that would have required an extra day or two and we need to get home to our dogs before the 4th. Besides, we rode six days in a row and need a rest day.

Day 18: Palisades to Yellowstone

46 miles
2027 feet of elevation gain

So today we made it into Wyoming. We started out with a bit of a climb and a head wind, and combined with our tiredness made for a slow ride, but about 25 miles in, when Grandma and Mom showed up, the wind disappeared and we had a beautiful ride into West Yellowstone. We actually ended up driving from there, which is why we had such a short ride. We decided riding our bikes in Yellowstone was not a good idea. It’s not the bison or bears we were nervous about, but the tourists. Nobody watches the roads in Yellowstone, they watch the landscape for animals, and are liable to slam on their breaks at the slightest movement. It just isn’t safe. Don’t worry, we are going to do a ride tomorrow in Wyoming to make up for it. I told everyone we’re riding to Wyoming so we can’t just stop 3 miles shy of the border; we have to do something in Wyoming.

The plan was to go back to Yellowstone on our return trip to see stuff, but being the week before 4th of July it was just a madhouse. I don’t think it would be enjoyable to return, no matter how much I’d like to see the sulfur pools. That’ll have to be another trip. We did stop to see the Yellowstone Grand Canyon, which was spectacular, so that was good. Now we’re planning our alternate trip back.

Day 17: Twin Bridges to Palisades Recreational Area (Campground)

70 miles
3445 feet of elevation gain
1000+ miles of riding

Yesterday must have been much harder than it felt, because today I was moving slow. We essentially did 33 miles of uphill today, although the first bit wasn’t that steep, and I could feel it with every pedal. Today was hard. We did ride through a couple cute towns, Nevada City and Virginia City, which are definitely tourist locations as they are set up just like an old western town. Virginia City has a great candy shop with excellent fudge. The last 4 miles were especially gruesome because it was HOT. We were just dripping sweat but we were panting too hard to drink much. Needed to maintain the steady oxygen flow to get us over that last leg.

After the 33 mile climb we had a great 6 mile descent during which we went down about 2000 feet. There’d been a reasonable amount of traffic, but when we were going down we didn’t have to deal with any vehicles passing us at high speeds. What luck. When we got down to the flats we encountered an antelope who decided to race us. Dad was going like 25 mph and really started pushing it since the antelope was practically right next to us, but it still pulled ahead and beat us to the field. Those animals can move seriously flat. That was about the high point of the day. We started out tired, even Dad said his legs felt like molasses, and it just got worse.

The last 30 miles we had the worst head/side wind I’ve ever ridden against. We were going to stop in Cameron, which was 15 miles in, but the entire town, which is essentially the campground, had been shut down, so we had no option but to keep going. It took us 1.5 hours to do the last 15 miles. We were going between 7-11 mph, and only hit 11/12 mph on a downhill. It was unbelievable. What do you do when you’re pedaling as hard as possible and only going 8 mph? We not only had to fight the wind, but we had to keep our bikes on the shoulder and keep from being blown into the traffic. It was so much to the side that I couldn’t really draft. I rode with a bit of my front wheel directly to the left of Dad’s back wheel, but I had to be really careful when a big gust hit and keep out of his way. I’ve never been this tired after a ride before in my life. My body is just exhausted. Today was definitely the hardest day of the trip.

So the wind just kept getting worse as the night progressed. We had 60+ mph gusts which just rocked the RV and blew down several tents around us. It was pretty intense. Luckily we weren’t in danger of getting blown over because Dad found The Rock. He thought this rock was just beautiful and decided he must have it, so he dug it out of the ground. It turned out to be a bit bigger than expected, only a sliver was above ground, and weighs about 40 pounds. It was our ballast.

Day 16: Jackson to Twin Bridges

80 miles
2238 feet of elevation gain

Sorry, we haven’t had internet for awhile.
Technically it only took us 78.5 miles to get to Twin Bridges fairgrounds, where we’re parked for the night, but Dad and I decided we wanted to make 80 so we rode from one end of the town to the other to make our goal. We just weren’t tired enough after 78 miles.

We started to a chilly mosquito almost-free morning and right off were headed up our first peak. We had two, both over 7000 feet, but we hadn’t come down that far so they weren’t to strenuous. After our first peak we tried to stop for a snack, but had to eat on the bike in order to stay away from the mosquitoes. Luckily we encounter these annoying bugs near the end of our trip when we’re comfortable enough to do that and aren’t at risk of toppling over or running into something. We had excellent downhills today. Smooth roads, minimal traffic. After our big hill yesterday Dad said I’d ruined his fun since he had to wait for me, so today I couldn’t disappoint him. We just flew down those hills, and both of us hit our top speeds for the trip, which I’ll refrain from mentioning since I don’t want Mom to freak out on me.

(Dad was showing off that he can photograph me while still riding ahead of me - it was early and I was moving slow up that hill)

It was 50 miles from Jackson to Dillon, where we met Jim for lunch, and we made it pretty quickly, mostly because we couldn’t stop for breaks without being eaten alive. From there we had 28 miles to Twin Bridges, and if we thought we were fast before, that was nothing. We made the trip 1 hour and 20 minutes. We had the most incredible tail wind in the world. We were going uphill sometimes at 23-24 mph, and probably averaged the whole trip in 19-20 mph. Good thing we were going fast because the sun had come out and we were roasting. At this high an elevation the son is really powerful, and I could practically feel it burning my arms. Without that tail wind the ride probably would have been slow and miserable. I just can’t function well in the heat, never have been able to.

So in conclusion, today was one of my favorite days so far. We had great hills, beautiful scenery, and the best tailwind I’ve ever experienced. Of course tomorrow we head south instead of north, so if this wind continuous we could be in real trouble. Well, can’t worry about things I can’t control, and weather patterns are an excellent example of that.

We are staying at the Twin Bridges fairgrounds, and below is one of the swarms of mosquitoes which surround our RV. They seem to be drawn to it.