Well I finally got back out West after a seventeen year hiatus. After my 4am wake up call, I packed the car and headed to Dulles Airport. Another 5-1/2 hours later, I was in the Bozeman Airport awaiting shuttle transport to the high school, our stay for the night. After a filling dinner and some talk about the itinerary for the next day, we headed for our tents. Little did we know that the wind doesn’t pick up until after sundown. I hardly got any sleep that night with the way the wind whipped the tent into a fluttering symphony. Oh, well, I only had a century to complete the next day.
After a two-mile ride to the breakfast feast, I started off on my journey. The ride started nicely enough, with the wind at my back, but as soon as I took my first turn, the wind came at me. Another left turn a few miles later and the wind was again in my face. Would I be riding this whole day alone? After about twenty miles, I finally saw a group of three approaching. I gladly sat up and awaited their approach. Jumping on, I met Dan, Don, and Ed. All from around San Diego. Our group rode about 70 miles together. With the head wind, it was hard sometimes to tell if you were even drafting. And you would swear the rivers flowed uphill. We had about 48 miles of that going into Yellowstone. Amazing.
The road reflectors sit on poles, one reflector about three feet up and another at six feet. I wondered why and was told it was for when the snows came. Snows plowed higher than your car. That must be something to see.
Near the end of the first day I saw my first bald eagle nest, with two birds in it. They could have been feeding a chick, but I couldn’t tell. Then the last seven miles hit us. Again with the head winds. It was good to get into camp.
Day two took us into the guts of Yellowstone. After about an hour we were stopped by traffic. Soon we realized the traffic was stopped by a herd of about 200 bison! We saw the last ten come down the hill and head out into the road. The whole herd took the road for about two miles before rambling into the field and crossing a river. We also got to go over the continental divide twice and see Old Faithful erupt. We also got to FEEL the eruption as the wind swept some of the mist onto us.
Day three had in some grand scenery. We left Yellowstone behind, but we were entering Grand Tetons National Park. And the scenery turned out to be even more spectacular. About 23 miles in to the day’s ride, I spotted a baby elk all alone in the woods beside the road. A moment later the mother caught up to it and they both bounded up the mountain I was about to climb. Signal Mountain was five miles up to 7,593’; with a good view of the Tetons once you got there. After the downhill, the views just kept getting better as we rode past Jenny Lake and the entire range. We ended the day with a mad dash (and a lot of testosterone flowing) into Jackson and on to our KOA campground.
Our next day was one of rest. I took my first whitewater-rafting trip, which was on the Snake River. We had a good trip and saw some osprey nests, an osprey hawk in flight, and even a river surfer. The surfer rides the rapids. The water moves, but he doesn’t. Pretty neat to see.
Our rest day was to prepare us for Teton Pass. We started up this six-mile climb right after breakfast! It started with a 7% grade for the first half-mile as a warm-up. Then the next 5-1/2 miles are at 10%. Going down I was able to reach 51mph, my personal speed record. The ride ended in Ashton, right after passing a canola field all in bloom. Lots of yellow. And I could still see those Tetons, some thirty miles in the distance.
(This comes from the article I wrote for our bicycle club’s newsletter back in 1999. There was to be a third installment, but I never did one for the newsletter, and can’t remember it all now, so this is where it ends.)