On the Road Again...Sorta

Thursday September 8th
Middle of No Man's Land, WY

Playing with Yellowstone in Yellowstone is over. Back to pedaling 10 hours a day to go 40 miles. 8:30 am to 7:00 pm. Break for lunch.

Y and I went to Cody to play too. She didn't want me biking on the roads in the park and there's the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody that she hadn't seen either and I heard it was great so off we went. The drive from Yellowstone to Cody was so beautiful down the Chief Joseph highway through Sunlit Basin! I kept wishing to myself that I were biking it. Cars travel too fast to really absorb the beauty and see all there is to see. Too fast. But it took 4 days off of biking. September is clipping by. I do need to head back east. That us where I live.

So we spent yesterday morning at the museum setting Y's departure time so that she could get back in time for a park party. But the best laid plans... After I got Blaze out of the back of her truck where she'd been resting for the week, and all loaded up, I found that the back tire had blown. Problem now. No more spares. Only brought one and it was on the intrepid right front. Called bike shop. The 20" they had was bigger. Called Walmart. They had a 20" a bit bigger but smaller than bike shop's. Now Y is getting late. She takes me to get tire. I have a tube the same size (1.75) and get everything all fixed and mounted all my gear. Say goodbye to Yellowstone and finish seeing the museum, getting groceries, getting air in tires, and leaving town. Not 3 miles down road. It's flat. Ugh! Take it off. Patch it - pinch flat. Remount. Wont inflate. Have to inflate after mounting because otherwise too big to get past the brake. 2nd puncture? Remove drone bike. Remove from rim. Pump's got problem. Fix it. That was why it wouldn't inflate. Remount tire on wheel. Remount wheel on bike. Inflate. Success! Pedal on. 1 mile. Pshhhh. Flat again. There's a reason I've been hauling that punctured and mended thorn resistant tube for months. That thing's too bulky to pinch. Put that baby on there. Yup. It worked! Gotten pretty fast at changing that rear tire. Sure appreciate Hieke's tip about resting the rear end rack braces on my panniers so that it's off the ground and not resting on the rear derailleur. Works well. So now with less than 90 miles to go, I should be able to make it. But that rear tire sure is FAT!

So tonight I'm again camped along side the highway next to the barbed wire fence. The prairie grasses are quite bristly. Thank goodness my ground cloth protects my tent and ME! No one bothers me. There are few places to get off the road except for the turnoffs to the pastures. It works for me. And the road should quiet down soon not that it's very noisy now.

It's been a pretty remote area I've been biking through: rolling ribbon of a road, yellow grasses and sagebrush on both sides the road, rocky outcroppings, and mountains in the distance. So beautiful to be a part of the scenery. The long road stretching out ahead delights rather than intimidating me.

It feels good!

Sleepy BagLady




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Headwinds

Tuesday August 30
Quake Lake MT


I lied! Today headwinds are killing me!! They're blowing north up this valley and it's a gradual uphill climb too. Not moving ver fast today. 3-4 mph at best. And it's getting pretty tiring. But it would be awfully hot out here without them. No umbrella today. It would pull me to Canada!

I found bar not on my Adventure Cycle map at about 4:30. I'd only gone about 22 miles since 9 am. Does that give you an idea of how hard today was? So I stopped in for ice water in my bottles and a root beer. Stayed for dinner! Soup and salad bar. Nothing to write home about, but saved me from cooking:). That left more evening hours to bike.

And I did another 14 tonight. Had a wee bit of a hard time finding a campsite because I pushed on and them got to an area of avalanches (dirt) and no flat spots. I camped 15 ft from the white lime on the side of the road on stones. But it's flat. And the road is mostly empty. And once I'm set up you can't tell who's in that tent. And Blaze is all nestled under her cover so she doesn't glow when headlights hit her and create curiosity or interest. It's really a good set up.

On into West Yellowstone tomorrow. Hopefully noonish.

This trip is winding down and sadly so. I'm not tired of it at all. It's just been a blast...except for all the stuff I've littered along the way. But hopefully I've spread some joy and inspiration to others to go out, be fearless, and live this life!!! Fully!

Exhausted BagLady. Off to bed...


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