Pacific to Atlantic at 10mph

 75.4 miles to Clearmont.  Another long day on tap. I got up before 6 and was on the road at 6:30.  It was cold and the wind was blowing already.  I had on every piece of clothing I brought with me and I was still cold.  One big problem is that as I am working hard going uphill I am hot and sweating.  Then the wind starts to evaporate the sweat and all of a sudden I'm freezing.  It's a challenge to maintain temperature regulation.   Despite what the girl at the lodge said yesterday I reached the top in 12.1 miles.  It was too cold to stay up there so I took a quick picture and started the descent. The descent from the mountain top was crazy.  As the road wound itself around the mountain, the wind would sometimes be at your back and other times right in your face.  Going downhill my speeds ranged from 6.7 MPH to 40 MPH.  About 28 miles from the top of the hill I met 3 cyclists going up and we chatted for a few minutes....

 64 miles to Deer Haven Lodge. Got up early (of course) and had breakfast at a local bar/cafe and hit the road.  The first 46 miles were relatively calm and took me to the town of Tensleep.  I saw some interesting rock colorations and formations along the way. Once in the town of Tensleep I stopped at a convenience store to refill my water bottles for the upcoming climb to Powder River Pass.  I had 18 miles to go and 16 were up a mountain. Here the road starts heading uphill. Signposts along the way indicated what type of rock you were seeing and it's relative age.  (Really old!!) From the beginning of the climb it took me 3 hours and 40 minutes to reach my campsite.  I was wiped out.  Even my diaphragm hurt from so much deep breathing.  I went into the lodge to register for the night and I asked the girl behind the counter "How much further to the top of this mountain?".  She said "You have more climbing to do tomorrow than you did today"....

 58 miles to Basin. I got out the door late today but there weren't any big hills to conquer and the wind was not too bad.  It is strange to see how empty the land is between towns and cities out here.  Once I was 2-3 miles outside of Cody I didn't see any other buildings until I got to the little town of Burlington (about 35 miles).  In Burlington I stopped at a little old country store for a drink.  Inside the store there was a guy with his leg up on a chair while a woman was cleaning a wound in his leg.  I introduced myself and took a look at his wound.  It was nasty!!  I gave them some tips on treating the wound and told him to go back to the clinic if the red border was expanding.  It really made me wonder about what level of healthcare services are available to people living out in these remote places. The roads just stretch on forever. This is the little store and "medical clinic" in Burlington. Big day coming tomorrow.  The most ...

 I got up at 5:20 to the sound of rain coming down on my tent.  It's never fun putting up or taking down a tent in the rain.  As soon as you remove the rain fly everything gets wet.  So you pack up as much as you can while the rain fly is in place.  But stuff is still going to get wet. I was on the road at 6:15 with all my cold weather gear on.  On my maps I know I had to climb the Sylvan Mountain Pass until mile 23, then it should be a gradual downhill the remaining 60 miles to Cody. I reached the first plateau at 8:30 and thought "that was easy - downhill from here"!!  Unfortunately, that was only the first plateau of several and it took another 1.5 hours to reach the top. From the first plateau.  Just to the left of the snow capped range you can just make out the Grand Teton Mountains. At the summit I was even higher up than some snow. On the way down the mountain the rocky formations had changed from the west side of the mountain. At mile 40 I...

 60 miles to Bridge Bay Campground.  This was a very interesting day.  When I was here a few years ago with Brian the line to get into Yellowstone stretched from the entrance gate way back into the town of West Yellowstone.  Easily over a mile long and well over an hour wait to enter the park.  So this time the plan was to get to McDonald's at 6am when they open, buy 2 egg McMuffins and get in line early. I got up at 5:20, out the door at 6.  The temperature was 39 degrees, I could see my breath in the morning air.  I got to McDonald's, got my 2 sandwiches, and rode to the entrance gate.  There was only one car ahead of me!  Wasn't expecting that.  So I paid my fee and rode into the park.  I stopped at mile 12 and ate the first sandwich. The smell of sulfur is everywhere. The morning was overcast and very chilly.  I stopped at mile 39 at Canyon Village in the park to eat my 2nd breakfast sandwich.  I was so cold I could no...

 71 Miles to West Yellowstone.  Not much to report.  A pleasant day for riding, a couple of little hills to negotiate, sunny.  Just a long day on the saddle. Earthquake Lake A storm was coming into West Yellowstone as I was eating dinner.  Wow, strong wind, lightning, heavy rain.  As the storm went past the temperature dropped about 20 degrees.