Thursday, July 1, 2010

Happy Canada Day







Seventy Three to West YellowStone
Being July 1, and Canada day I had on my Canada jersey and I had lent Ed from Colorado my Canada provinces jersey. There were lots of Canada jerseys and flags on display so it was pretty neat to see. Other riders we yelling O Canada.
It was cold and blustery this morning when i jumped on my scooter and headed off from Ennis. The sun was shining on the hills though a bunch of half broken clouds and I could see a major rain front which was just a head. As I headed down the road I could see there were two major storm cells and I thought I could thread the needle between them. This strategy sort of worked but at about the 30 mile mark the second cell changed direction and I was caught. My feet were already cold from being in wet shoes from yesterdays rain and now I about to be soaked again. The pavement was really slick and I was having trouble with traction. Luckily there was a rest stop an I pulled in and hid out while the storm passed. I let some air out of my tires so that I would have a little better traction. I guess I forgot to mention that it was all up hill, not steep but uphill with no down hills for a break and I also forgot to mention that the wind was right in our face again. It wasn't a lot of fun.
After the storm moved off I jumped back on and headed down the road. I passed a cattle drive where three cowboys were driving about 200 head of cattle down the main highway (only in Montana). It was fun to see.
Lunch was at the top of a really steep hill which was created by a land slide. In 1959 one side of the mountain came down the canyon damming the Manison river and creating a lake behind the land slide. It was very pretty and the sun was out. Lunch was hot vegetable soup and it was so welcome to get something hot and get warmed in the sun.
After lunch was only 30 miles and it was much nicer. The road was kind of rolling along the lake. I really enjoyed the next 22 miles. There was some great views as I cruised along the lake. At the 65 mile mark I turned the corner into the worst head wind yet. It was a struggle to maintain 8 mph.
The campground we are staying at is right in the town of West Yellowstone and it is beautiful. There are hot showers, washing machines, Internet, and really nice grass for tents. It is great to be clean and have clean clothes to put on. Live is good.
Lets Ride
Terry

2 comments:

Tom Erceg said...

So are you celebrating with a Molson Canadian? The rain-soaked headwinds are giving me flashbacks from Kansas!

Ken C. said...

Looking at your pics you can see why Montana is Big Sky Country. Big blue skies and mountains. I drove down to Medicine Hat on Wednesday and the wind was incredible, and I was happy to be propelled by a several hundred horsepower machine. Ride on!