Today’s Date: June 7, 2024

Today’s Start Point: Ennis, Montana

Today’s End Point: West Yellowstone, Montana

Total Miles: 72.56 Miles

Cumulative Miles: 1,282.35 Miles

Today was the second day in a row that I was worried about the distance and climbing. The route would take me almost due south for about 35 miles and then 35 miles south-east to West Yellowstone, Montana.

I woke up early and was out the door by 6:30 am. I stopped at the convenience store for some breakfast grub and didn’t stock up much for the ride since I assumed that there would be places along the way (never assume rules again).

The road was straight with a slight rise. Unfortunately that wonderful wind out of the south that I had yesterday that propelled me north was still there as I traveled south. The first 30 miles were really a grind, a combination of rise and wind.

The scenery was stunning as I worked my way down the valley with the morning sun, but I have to admit that for much of the beginning of the ride I was putting my head down and turning the petals.

I did raise my head long enough to say hello to a fellow traveler going in the other direction. He is doing the Transamerica route but going from Virginia to Salem, Oregon. He had travelled all the way to Montana in only 39 days. He said that he is averaging 85 miles a day and just puts his head down and rides, no pictures, no blogs, not many stops.

I also met a whole group of people riding from Seattle to Washington DC. They were part of the Fuller Center Bike Adventure. They explained their mission but their website probably puts it better than I could.

“[Fuller Center] rides are focused on serving God and each other as we raise money for families around the world, building and repairing homes through The Fuller Center for Housing.”

The ride is fully supported (you have no idea how much I coveted their support vehicles as they rode on light carbon bikes with no luggage and their crew set up rest stops every 20 miles). They take every Sunday off for church and a rest day, and they participate in seven Habitat for Humanity-like builds along the way. Each rider needs to raise $5,000.

I mentioned to them that I was riding to Camp Lejuene and one of the riders said that he was an ex-master sergeant who had once been stationed at New River Air Base which is right next to Camp Lejuene.

The highlight for me, however, was when the youngest member of their group, Maggie, rode with me for five or ten miles. She had recently graduated high school and wanted to participate in this trip over the last few years, but had to wait until she turned 18. She was a Houston resident having recently moved from Pittsburg and had the energy and exuberance of an 18 year old (plus some), playing her music as we rode. She would hoot and holler as we hit the hills and it was great to have someone to talk to while riding, it really made the miles go by.

While we were riding, Maggie called out and all of a sudden a herd of elk charged across the road in front of us (thank you to Bruce McCrindle for identifying them since I don’t know the difference between an elk and a squirrel). I almost trashed the bike trying to get a picture, but I attached one below (you have to expand to get a good view).

As we pedaled, they motioned me in to participate in their rest stop. They offered me water (which I greedily accepted) and food (which I foolishly and cavalierly declined). After the rest stop, they all left at different speeds and I was left to my own devices again. As one who has ridden with friends for years, I was sad to see them go.

The wind began to die down and I headed for a gap in the mountains created by the Madison River. The road rose as I left the Ruby Valley.

The Madison River was raging, and is damned up further upriver to create Hebgen Lake. As to natural beauty, this was the highlight of the day. The road snaked around Earthquake Lake and Habgen Lake, Earthquake Lake the smaller of the two.

Earthquake Lake was created after an earthquake struck on August 17, 1959, with 28 fatalities. Earthquake Lake is six miles in length. It is completely surrounded by the mountains.

Lake Hebgen is big. Hebgen Lake is a reservoir created by the Hebgen Dam. The Lake is 15 miles long. I saw boating out on the lake and the tall mountain peaks serve as a glorious backdrop.

At about this time, I was starting to get worried-I had one gel left and half a bottle of water with 25 miles to go. I thought there would be more civilization on this route but I was wrong.

As I was contemplating who on the roadside I would eventually have to beg for food, a small convenience store appeared. It had picnic tables by Lake Hebgen and some great locally made sandwiches. Crisis averted.

I continued to wind through the lakes and finally came to the last turn in the road that would take me to West Yellowstone. The road was straight and through the woods, a perfect ambush area for a grizzly. I dutifully began my “hey bear” chant.

I arrived in West Yellowstone a little bit before 3:00 pm and was happy that I would have time to explore the town. There were tons of tourists and bad drivers, so I was looking forward to finding my hotel room and wander around on foot.

Before I checked in, there was a bike shop in town that I wanted to stop by and have them look at my tire which had punctured/sealed as well as my brake pads. I thought, great, this should only take a few minutes and then I could check in and get out of my kit.

The theme of this post should be “don’t assume anything”. Once the junior mechanic took a look at my wheel, it turns out that I broke another spoke. He was newer at the job so he called another mechanic who came in to fix it. It appears that my job is to force mechanics into work when they are not supposed to work.

After a couple of hours, he replaced the spoke and I was ready to go. I loaded the bike and my back tire immediately punctured, this time irreparably. How to solve the problem? Buy a new tire.

I have to admit, I was a little dejected, so the only solution was to go to a restaurant suggested by Paul Peralta (an old school friend-not that he’s old, we have just known each other a long time), and have some pizza and more importantly an Old Fashioned.

It was definitely a day of ups and downs, but all in all not that bad (probably the Old Fashioned talking).