In the last four days I've ridden 280 mi out of yellowstone-tetons into the rockies. Total mi to date:1080. Each day has required substantial climbing and I've had to work. I've ridden dozens of miles at a time without seeing trees or humans. The wind has been fierce. Knocked down today by the backwash of a truck. Occasionally I get an encouraging "honk" from a passing motorist--today I ran out of water and was rescued (with more water) by a nice younger couple. Lander WY was strange: I saw dozens of people in their 20s who were fit and not obese--turns out lander is the location of the natl outdoor leadership school!
The dance that cyclists do when they see another distance rider is to cross the road, greet them, and have a conversation about "where did you start?" "Where are you going?" "What do you have tell me about where I'm going?" Etc The roadside conversations are fun! Yesterday (mind you in a windy treeless high plain) I met rich and ryan young guys who quit their manhattan jobs to do the ride...ryan preceded rich by an hour because he was intent on meeting his girlfriend in landerr what wonderful motivation; soon after I met fritz ("who but a german would be called fritz?")and karin, gp's who had quit their hamburg jobs to do a cycling hegira (4000 mi so far) starting in detroit via chattanooga ending in L LA--fritz thought I was joking when I told him he was approaching a town full of fit young ami's;shawn mcginnis director of real estate for u of wyoming who met me at a rest stop and showed real curiosity about why someone would do this;erin and jason, recent u of colorado grads (majors: philosophy of religion and journalism) on their way to bellingham;mike smyth; retired pr person and freelance writer, age 68, whom I met in a makeshift camp at muddy gap after a very hard riding day for both of us...he invited me and nancy (genuinely) to visit him and his wife at their residemce in the yucutan...I'll likely see mike again. Saw two more englishmen this morning from yorkshire and as we were talking their wives passed, shouting english unspeakables, in their rented motorhome. In case anyone's curious the people pulling BOB trailers I've met haven't been satisfied with them.
I'm mindful that hundreds of thousands of people passed the same trails (mormon, oregon, california) I've been tracing over the past week...when I read the roadside historical markers (which I wouldn't consider in a car) I can begin to imagine what the great trek meant for them. I also read with sadness markers about warring tribes as they were pushed insistently further west into one another's hunting grounds.
In the next couple of days I'll move south into colorado just a bit west of the rocky mt national park. I have about 300 mi left in the mountains before I drop into the america that bakes.
The dance that cyclists do when they see another distance rider is to cross the road, greet them, and have a conversation about "where did you start?" "Where are you going?" "What do you have tell me about where I'm going?" Etc The roadside conversations are fun! Yesterday (mind you in a windy treeless high plain) I met rich and ryan young guys who quit their manhattan jobs to do the ride...ryan preceded rich by an hour because he was intent on meeting his girlfriend in landerr what wonderful motivation; soon after I met fritz ("who but a german would be called fritz?")and karin, gp's who had quit their hamburg jobs to do a cycling hegira (4000 mi so far) starting in detroit via chattanooga ending in L LA--fritz thought I was joking when I told him he was approaching a town full of fit young ami's;shawn mcginnis director of real estate for u of wyoming who met me at a rest stop and showed real curiosity about why someone would do this;erin and jason, recent u of colorado grads (majors: philosophy of religion and journalism) on their way to bellingham;mike smyth; retired pr person and freelance writer, age 68, whom I met in a makeshift camp at muddy gap after a very hard riding day for both of us...he invited me and nancy (genuinely) to visit him and his wife at their residemce in the yucutan...I'll likely see mike again. Saw two more englishmen this morning from yorkshire and as we were talking their wives passed, shouting english unspeakables, in their rented motorhome. In case anyone's curious the people pulling BOB trailers I've met haven't been satisfied with them.
I'm mindful that hundreds of thousands of people passed the same trails (mormon, oregon, california) I've been tracing over the past week...when I read the roadside historical markers (which I wouldn't consider in a car) I can begin to imagine what the great trek meant for them. I also read with sadness markers about warring tribes as they were pushed insistently further west into one another's hunting grounds.
In the next couple of days I'll move south into colorado just a bit west of the rocky mt national park. I have about 300 mi left in the mountains before I drop into the america that bakes.
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