After a long day if sitting in the car and doing some short side hikes to the various hot springs, I was ready for some heart-pumping exercise. I awoke in the Bridge Bay campground to a beautiful blue sky and cool temps. I could tell it was a perfect day for a bike ride. I took Payton for a quick walk and saw two huge black-tailed deer on the shores of Lake Yellowstone. I am glad Payton was on a leash. These deer looked like they could do some serious damage. I wish I had my camera with me.
After the walk I fired up some coffee to help get me going. I did the traditional French press method and used the sledgehammer beans from camp 4 coffee. This makes an extra strong cup of joe. In my boredom waiting for the water to boil, I decided to also fire up the new mooka express cappuccino maker that we received as a wedding present. You just put in the grounds, some water and some milk. In a few minutes you have perfect cappuccino. Well, that’s how it is supposed to work. I started looking over the map of my bike route for the day and forgot about the cappuccino. I can say that the machine makes a lot of foam. It poured out of the pot and all over the stove big mess.
After downing a few cups of the regular coffee, I was ready to roll. I pedaled out of the campground around 10 am with the plan to meet Becca in Mammoth hot springs later in the day. This would be my chance to get up close and personal with the sights and sounds of Yellowstone.
The ride starts following the shores of Lake Yellowstone. This lake is huge, with snow-capped peaks visible across the lake. The lake empties via the Yellowstone river, which the road followed for the next 18 miles. Along the way I was treated to views of rapids, water falls, and many Buffalo. A buffalo seems much bigger when you are on your bike and only 10 feet away. I am glad there weren’t any in the middle of the road like we had seen yesterday. I finally made it to canyon village. I have to say that the large motor homes cruising through the park are probably more dangerous than all the wildlife.
From Canyon Village the road heads up. I climbed through quite pine forests with a blanket of wildflowers in the meadows between. I reached 8859 ft Dunraven pass and was treated to incredible views of the park to the south. I could see down into antelope creek (prime grizzly habitat) and I could also see the edge of the Yellowstone caldera in all directions. I stopped to take in the view for a while and then headed down the other side. I was treated to a long descent on a smooth road that went through the old burn from 20 years ago. It is pretty weird to see a whole forest of standing dead. Luckily the young trees are growing in quickly.
This descent from Dunraven pass was awesome because it was long and fast with many swooping turns. I did not have to pedal at all. Soon enough, I reached Roosevelt Lodge. I had covered a distance of 40 miles in less than two hours. I was making great time and Becca had not caught me in the car yet. I was now on the third leg of the ride from Roosevelt lodge to Mammoth hot springs. Only 19 more miles to go. The road got rougher here and began to curve a bunch. I came around the corner only to be caught in a bear jam. This is like a traffic jam, but it is caused by a bear sighting on the side of the road. A grizzly was way off in the distance. I don’t know how anybody could see it to begin with, but sure enough, there it was. I rolled through the bear jam and noticed Becca was right behind me. I told the support car that I would see her at the finish.
The last stretch of the journey was the hardest part. Rolling, rough roads were nothing compared to the vicious winds that faced me. My pace slowed significantly and I started to question why I decided to do this. Crosswind, headwind, crosswind, headwind. All the way to Mammoth hot springs. I finally made it in 3 hours on the nose. I had covered 60 miles and had seen why Yellowstone is such an amazing place. We fueled up on cokes and sandwiches at the Mammoth Hot springs hotel and are headed north into Montana. A truly amazing day.
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