Day 46 & 47 - 'Ey Boo-boo!

Cody, WY to Yellowstone, WY

Our ride into Yellowstone was another long one.  We rode 50 miles to the park, waited for the rest of the team to arrive so that we could get shuttled into Yellowstone.  The first few miles inside the park were really uphill and into the wind, so it was not fun, and we were also trying to avoid the storm we were riding towards.  By the time I finally got to the campsite, I was exhausted and about ready to collapse.  From now on, I don't think I can rely on team food to get through the day, since apparently two peanut butter sandwiches and a bowl of cereal is not enough to make it through 10 to 12 hours of riding.  Yellowstone was really cool, we really got to see the pretty side of Wyoming.

The next day we had a rest day and decided to explore the park a bit.  We got a group of people and went up the Elephant Back trail, where we had a pretty cool view of the lake and the surrounding mountains.  It is crazy to think that there is this huge lake, way bigger than Lake Geneva even, and it is on top of a mountain range!  After the hike, I was exhausted, I think the altitude was getting to me, so I went back to campsite, ate some canned ravioli, and went to bed early to get some rest.

States traveled through:15(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD, WY)
Distance today: 72 mi
Total Distance traveled:  2890 mi

Day 45 - Through Rain and Hail

Greybull, WY to Cody, WY

Today's ride was not too bad. Our group got caught in a flash storm just outside Cody, and rode through some freezing rain and pretty painful hail for about a mile, and then the sun came right back out, and none of the groups in front of us or behind us got wet at all.  Adam also found a flag on the side of the road and wore it for the rest of the day, and called himself Flag Man for the rest of the day.  Once we got into town, we saw a deer standing in someone's front yard right by our stayover, and hours later, when I was coming back from the library, it was there again, just standing there eating flowers.  It amazes me that these animals which we rarely see in Illinois, are bold enough to eat in people's lawns and not be afraid of humans out here.

States traveled through:15(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD, WY)
Distance today: 70 mi
Total Distance traveled:  2818 mi

Updates from the West

Due to lack of internet access, I have not blogged as much as I would like to, so I will try to fill everyone in.  Wyoming, was amazing, sure we had a tough climb up the Big Horn Mountains, but the 18 mile down hill that awaited us on the other side, made it worth while.  While in Cody, Wyoming, I checked out the Buffalo Bill museum, and went to the Cody Nite Rodeo, because Cody is the rodeo capital of the world.  They have a rodeo every night in the summer.  When we left Cody, we were Yellowstone National Park bound.  It turned out to be one of the hardest rides yet because we had to deal with, wind, some rain, mountains, altitude, and rapidly changing temperatures.  Yellowstone was amazing though, so much to see.  I got within 5 feet of buffalo multiple times, saw some elk, a bald eagle, 300 foot waterfall, Old Faithful, and countless other amazing views of the mountains.  Yellowstone is something I would definately recommend everybody visit at some point in their life.  As we were leaving Yellowstone, I got my second flat of the trip when I ran over a large nail.  More bad news came later that night when I found out my back wheel was cracked.  However, my mood quickly changed when most of the guys, myself included, started shaving for mustache Montana.   I now have a handlebar mustache and thick sideburns instead of a beard.  I will be driving the van into Butte, Montana, because my back wheel is not safe, and there is no bike shop here in Ennis, Montana.  More updates to come.

Wyoming in Review

Wild, Wild, Wyoming.

Our first experience with Wyoming was a short hop from the Black Hills into Newcastle. While it was only 9 miles of riding, it was a wild ride as we had a massive tail wind, lots of downhills, and a few tornadoes in the area as well. The people in Newcastle were great and made us several different pasta dishes as well as several other dishes.
From  Newcastle we traveled to Gillette, a ride which wasn't nearly as impressive as our previous day, but did give us a view of Devil's Tower for about a minute as we were climbing a hill. The church in Gillette was pretty nice to us, and while they didn't provide a meal, they did have some nice facilities.
Out of Gillette we had a 65 mile ride down I-90, which seemed daunting at first, but ended up being very cool as we saw our first snow capped mountains at mile 17. Our ride that day brought us to the base of the Bighorn mountains which we would parallel on our way up to Ranchester the next day. Arriving in Ranchester, there was a creek in town that while quite cold, served as a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, along with a rope swing which made for an excellent entry point.
The next day would be an early wake up as we planned to conquer the Bighorn mountains. After a grueling 18 mile climb to the top we had to battle a headwind as we traversed the mountain top. Eventually we made it to the other side, but before we could descend we needed to take a team photograph in front of the coolest sign we'll ever see, 18 miles of down hill. What took us 2-3 hours to climb would only take us half an hour to descend.
From Greybull, we would travel to Cody, the last sign of civilization that we would see until we reach Montana as our next stop would be in Yellowstone National Park. To get there however would be another long climb, though not as steep and over a much longer distance. It was during this climb unfortunately that my camera decided to stop taking pictures, so most of my day into Yellowstone would be left unseen by others.
The following day, would be a rest day and we used it to do some exploring of the trails around our campsite. My group decided to hike the Elephant Back trail which would take us some 800 feet higher where we could get a good view of the lake and cell phone reception. Upon walking down and returning to the campsite, I decided to take another look at my camera and found that whatever was causing it to not work the day before, was functional again, so I spent the rest of the day taking as many pictures as possible.
We would have one more day in Wyoming where we would be riding out of Yellowstone into the town of West Yellowstone MT. We spent much of this day exploring the geysers and hot pools along the western edge of the park. We also crossed the continental divide twice that day and saw a small lake which drains into both the Atlantic and the Pacific.
Wyoming ended up being quite a cool state, much better than I had ever expected.

Yellowstoned

Yellowstone was beautiful, but it took a lot of hard work to get there.  The ride in was windy, hilly, cold, and rainy at times.  This weather didn\'t work out too well with our first camping experience of the summer with temperatures dipping into the low 30\'s the first night.

On the rest day, as with most rest days, we all broke off into groups and did our own thing.  Some went for hikes and enjoyed some beautiful views.  Some went for a ride to check out some waterfalls.  And others just sat around and relaxed by the lake.  A bunch of us were lucky enough to get some up close and personal views of some buffalo.

The ride out was absolutely freezing in the morning, but once things warmed up we were in for a great ride.  We stopped at Old Faithful and many of us went for long hikes and checked out a bunch of other geysers.  All told, we all enjoyed our time in Yellowstone.

Last night we stayed in West Yellowstone, a major tourist town just outside of the park.  Many of us got ice cream at a local establishment with a few checking out the premier of the fifth  Harry Potter movie.

Special thanks to Tom Blue, who gave us a generous donation in Yellowstone, and our camping neighbors in Yellowstone.

Smell like smoke from campfire...

Smell like smoke from campfire, but riding though yellowstone was great. camera is working again and i'm looking very silly w/my moustache

Camera broke on the way up to ...

Camera broke on the way up to yellowstone. :-( hopefully will get a new one before missoula. On top of a mountain to send this.

Two Wyomings, One Mountain and a Day of Slights

Cody, Wyoming is a really cool place and a perfect place to stop before riding into Yellowstone. The ride into Cody was pretty terrible most of the way though; it was slightly uphill for about fifty miles straight, there was a slight headwind, the road was slightly rough, I was slightly worn out from the climb the day before, and I was slightly hungry the whole day. This all added up to a pretty uncomfortable experience. We did pass by the town of Emblem though, which has a population of ten.

Fortunately, the ride was completely worth it because I got to see my first rodeo. What better place to see one than in the rodeo capitol of the world? People being thrown around like ragdolls on horses and bulls was fun to watch, but I was most impressed by the cowboys lassoing little calves. It seems like a nearly impossible feat. I also felt really wimpy because they had a junior competition and children twelve and under were riding smaller bulls. Overall, a pretty good night before we head into Yellowstone and have to sleep in tents.

Yesterday I was able to witness something I vaguely remember learning about in my middle school science class. The environments on either side of the Big Horn Mountains are completely different. On the way to the mountain, is was flat plains, then when we started the grueling eighteen mile climb, it was a lush forest. Once we reached the peak point of the road at 9300 feet, the trees were really sparse. Since there was snow higher up, we decided to get off our bikes and climb even higher. We treked through a dense row of trees and it suddenly opened up into a really steep climb and all that was growing there was grass and little flowers. Even further up past the snow, it started to get rocky and when I reached the rocky peak, there was a pathway between the rocks that was grassy with trees. Definitely one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Since the air was getting thinner, we were getting exhausted sooner and sooner the higher we climbed.

After having an awesome two hour lunch break at the peak with amazing turkey sandwiches that Saebin's family made, we were extremely excited for the eighteen mile descent down the other side of the mountain. When we neared the bottom of the mountain, we were suddenly hit with a blast of hot air and the environment abruptly changed into a rocky, red desert canyon with a river running through it. I was caught completely off guard and was blown away by the new scenery because I have only seen stuff like that in movies and cartoons. Our rest stop was a few miles away at an old Western style outpost which was so fitting. It was also nice to be able to ride without getting tired immediately from a lack of oxygen.

7/11

All the constant uphills in the past few days have finally paid off today. The Big Horn Mountains have been looming in the distance all day and they approached pretty quickly since most of the ride was down hill. We had nearly 30 miles of straight downhill and then it got pretty flat. It was pretty uneventful after that though because Ranchester, Wyoming is a tiny town with nothing much in it. We were fortunate enough to have eight pounds of overcooked, congealed pasta because the team strainer went missing. It was a pretty hilarious dinner.

Mecca

 late so im gonna make this quick. 

Ranchester/Dayton, WY was boring so I'll skip that.

The next day we rode over the Big Horn Mountains, which was insane.  We had an 18 mile climb that took us from about 3,500 feet to over 9,000 feet- not of fun, but the view from the top was beautiful.  When we got to the top, a bunch of us hiked even higher up the mountain to get to some snow... even more amazing view.  The descent was equally as awesome, 18 miles of straight downhill with the last 8 or so going through a canyon like I'd never seen before.

That night we stayed in Greybull where Saebin's family met up with us and made up a huge and delicious Korean BBQ

Today we Rode into Cody, WY, great town, though expensive.  We got in sort of early and then hit up the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, which has 4 different museums and lots of really cool stuff. I got my picture taken with the statue of Buffalo Bill- something I encourage all Bills fans to do.

Tonight we went to the rodeo, which was awesome and hilarious.  My first rodeo, so I was pumped. Bullriding, steer wrestling, calf roping, etc.

 I can't help but feel that I fit in around these parts.

Yellowstone tomorrow complete with a rest day, should be sweet.

18 mile climb

The day we had all been waiting for has come and gone. The ride through the Big Horns was an 18 mile climb and then another 18 mile downhill. I had anticipated the climb to be a lot worse than it was, and I actually really enjoyed the climbing. Everything was really beautiful, and the feeling  of accomplishment of being on top was amazing. Some of the riders even climbed a little bit higher to play in the snow. As soon as we got to the top, however, the wind picked up. The 20 miles on top were harder than even the climb. Most people were excited for the 18 miles downhill, but I found it very nerve racking. I ended up being the last one to the bottom, and my arms still hurt from braking-I'll probably need some new brake pads soon! Even though I was braking for my life, the scenery was gorgeous! I stopped to take pictures a few times, and to get my courage up to finish the rest of the downhill. When we finally got to our stay-over, Sae Bin's parents cooked us amazing Korean BBQ.

The ride today was short, and sweet. A few of the riders biked through a hail storm, but the group I was in waited about 5 minutes and just the missed the storm. We're in Cody, Wyoming, and it's worth noting that there is a Tully Cafe.

Tomorrow we head into Yellowstone, which will be another testing (but amazing) ride.

Day 44 -Over the mountains!!

Ranchester, WY to Greybull, WY

Today's ride was really awesome, despite all the bad things we had been hearing about the ride.  We finally had to go over the Big Horn Mtns, and Brad had been telling us all week about the trip, which basically consisted of an 18-mile climb, 30 miles of up and down on top of the mountains, and then 18 miles of downhill into Greybull.  We woke up early since the total distance for the day was 80 miles and Sae-bin's parents were coming down to make us dinner tonight, so we wanted to be in Greybull in time for that.  As it turned out, the day was actually a great ride!  The 18 miles of uphill were not the best, but the incline was not too bad, so we were able to make it without too much problems, and we got to look out over the roads we had been climbing and admire the view at almost every turn, so that made up for the climb a bit.  This was the first day that Wyoming was beautiful, and hopefully, this will continue and the grass will stay green, along with the mountains.  After the last two depressing days of dry grass and sand everywhere, the mountains were a welcome sight.
    The Big Horns were beautiful, and we had a great time admiring the scenery, we saw a huge (and very loud) pack of sheep, and even got to play in the snow!  At the lunch stop, Matt Strick, Dave and I arrived second, and looked up and saw that the first group had climbed up a nearby mountain and were playing in the snow on top, so we decided to join, and after 20 minutes of climbing on foot to get there, we had an awesome view, and amazingly enough, got to make snowballs in the 85 degree weather.  And if that wasn't awesome enough, we also were treated to an amazing lunch of sandwiches containing MEAT by Sae-bin's parents!  Having meat anywhere for lunch is a rare occurrence on this trip, so we were very happy.  After lunch, we enjoyed the 18 mile descent out of the mountains, which was pretty crazy, we probably averaged about 35 mph the whole time, and then headed into town, where Sae-bin's parents made us some amazing Korean BBQ for dinner, and everyone ate until they were stuffed.  I checked in with some friends and family after dinner, and finished my latest book, Slaughterhouse Five, so I had a pretty productive day all in all.  Tomorrow is a short ride into Cody, where we hope to catch a rodeo, and also to avoid the rain.

States traveled through:15(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD, WY)
Distance today: 80 mi
Total Distance traveled:  2737 mi

Day 43 - Along the Mountains...

Buffalo, WY to Ranchester, WY

Today was pretty boring, other than the pronghorn that ran in front of us on the highway.  It was caught between two fences on the highway, and was narrowly avoiding cars and as we watched, it got its antlers caught in the barbed wire fence, but managed to get free.  It eventually ran in the other direction, so we don't know what happened to it, but it is sad to see such cool animals caught in today's society, when we know they should be roaming free and not having to worry about highways and barbed wire fences. I also got my third flat in three days and as a result, will be changing my tire tonight so that I don't have to worry about getting flats on tomorrow's tough and long climb.  Once we got into Ranchester, we found a local stream to bathe in since the school that we are staying in didn't have showers, and played around on a rope swing while we were there, but it was really cold water and the current was strong, so we didn't stay too long.  Someone forgot the strainer at dinner last night, so we had an interesting mush of pasta for dinner tonight.  It was supposed to be spaghetti, but basically had the consistency of gnocchi, so that was... interesting.  Hopefully, these kinds of problems can be avoided by the time we get to Yellowstone, where we won't have gas station food to save us.  We also watched "12 Rounds" with John Cena on the projector at night.  If you have the chance to see this movie... don't.  It is absolutely awful.  If you want to laugh at terrible acting and even worse plot lines, you might enjoy this, but otherwise, don't go anywhere near it. Tomorrow we cross the Big Horn Mountains, and are not looking forward to 18 miles of straight climbing uphill.

Animals seen - One panicked pronghorn

States traveled through:15(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD, WY)
Distance today: 55 mi
Total Distance traveled:  2657 mi

Day 42 - Up to the mountains...

Gillette WY to Buffalo WY

The ride today was not that long, and not that exciting, as we made it in with only minor delays, I had a second flat tire in two days.  The St. Luke's church bought us some pizzas, and had an XBox, which kept us all entertained for most of the night.  I also uploaded some pictures, and got some internet surfing done, so the day overall was pretty uneventful.  We did get our first glimpse of big mountains today, we think they are the Big Horn Mtns, and we got to ride almost right up to them today, tomorrow we will follow the base of them north, and the next day, cross them on the way to Yellowstone.

States traveled through:15(NY,NJ,PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, SD, WY)
Distance today: 70 mi
Total Distance traveled:  2602 mi

To Yellowstone!

Today the ride to Cody was a nice recovery from the climb yesterday. We started off the ride right after the rain ended and we finished just as a storm was rolling out in Cody. In between was a gradual incline and a headwind, but as we got further west we were able to see the Rockey Mountains in the distance which were beautiful. However, one group was not so lucky and rode through hail and rain- but made it safely to the church. Tomorrow we head into Yellowstone which we are excited about- part for the park and part for our rest day. We are excited to see what beauty lies ahead of us in Yellowstone.

After 18 miles of climbing and...

After 18 miles of climbing and an 18 mile downhill i'm still feeling great.

Conquering The Mountains

Today began with an 11 mile climb full of bumpy roads and construction. While taking one of the last passes to the top we were able to look back and see our starting point far below us. Despite the challenging nature of our morning ride we were given some of the most beautiful views that we have had on our whole trip. With snow capped mountains in the background we rode past flower filled mountain meadows and deep river valleys. We were given a special treat when Saebin's parents met us on top of the Big Horns with lunch already set out for us. They also cooked us an amazing dinner tonight to feed our huge appetites from today's ride.The most incredible part of today's ride was of course the 18 mile decent after mile 45. We coasted for about 40 minutes with some groups averaging over 30mph the whole way down. The start of the decent was filled with pine and green fields. As we made our way to the bottom the landscape changed into a beautiful red rock desert. The majority of the team is exausted but we were all awestruck by the incredible scenery we witnessed today. Tomorrow we make our way to Cody before continuing on to Yellowstone. The beautiful is behind us and the best is yet to come!

Onward to the Mountains!

As we continued west it was impossible for us not to be taken aback by the beauty of the landscape that surrounded us. Throughout the day we rode constantly in the shadow of the Big Horn Mountains. We followed a gorgeous country road with an ice melt stream that twisted and turned along our route. We saw a pack of three prong-horned deer at the top of one of the hills and they were running beside us as we biked by. The rest of the ride went by easily since it was a short day with many downhills. When we arrived in Ranchester we heard about a river that was close to where we were staying and went for a swim. While there we found a rope swing and had a lot of fun launching ourselves into the water.
The day ahead of us will be a hard one. The Big Horns loom before us and we can see the first few switch-backs we will be starting on early in the morning. Our initial elevation is around 3700 feet and we will be peaking over 9000. As Conor said "W'll be riding a mile into the sky!" Hopefully we will get to see some snow on the top. Our big part of the ride to look forward to is the 18 mile descent at the 40 mile mark. Wish us luck! 

South Dakota in review

South Dakota was perhaps the most wonderful state that we passed through this trip. The landscape was beautiful, the people friendly, and the weather wonderful. I can't think of a single moment where I found the state boring or monotonous. I think I'll definitely want to come back and see this state again. The strange thing about South Dakota though is the abundance of tourist attractions. I wouldn't be surprised if South Dakota had the highest number of attractions per capita.

The other Buffalo

Right now we're in Buffalo.  Not the home of the Bills, Sabres, Chicken wings, and Nerny that I have grown to love... but Buffalo, Wyoming.  We are at the base of the Big Horn Mountains, which we could see in the distance the whole ride today, at about 4500 feet.

We got in sort of early and I got in a nice run on a trail that ran along this creek, looking at the snow topped mountains the whole time... beautiful.  After I soaked the legs in the cold creek for awhile, which was nice and hopefully will make me feel better tomorrow.  

These mountains are taunting us.  Tomorrow we just ride along side them all day and then the day after is when we are gonna have to finally go over... we are all dreading it.  and so is my back, which has been bothering me lately... im an old man.

We just had some pizza and baked beans for dinner... Right now I'm torn between going to see Transformers across the street and wondering around the downtown and getting some ice cream.  Probably gonna go with the latter. 

My beard is getting pretty nice. 

I am pumped to get to Cody... Its pretty much the only reason I'm on  this pilgrimage...

Not only is it the rodeo capital of the world, but, more importantly, it is the birthplace of Buffalo Bill Cody, the greatest cowboy of all time, and the namesake of the sweetest football team on earth.

Until next time...

Welcome to Wyoming

After a week of riding in South Dakota, which we all enjoyed, we finally reached Wyoming.  Our last ride out of South Dakota was beautiful, we rode through the Black Hills, which were awesome, and went to Mt. Rushmore where we got to see a Greenpeace demonstration.  When we reached to "Welcome to Wyoming" sign, we stopped for some pictures and noticed there was a storm approaching.  We decided to ride the last ten miles really hard, in an attempt to beat the storm. Right as we got into Newcastle, where we would be staying for the night, we noticed the clouds above us were rotating.  We kept riding hard, and right as we pulled in to the stayover the tornado sirens started going off.  According to the radio there was a funnel cloud spotted that came within 200 yards of the ground.  I never got to see it, but some members of our team did.  Despite the storm, nobody ever got rained on.

Yesterday was a relatively flat and boring ride from Newcastle to Gillette, WY.  It was really boring for me, because I was the driver.  While at our stayover in Gillette, I was visted by Rita Rushing, a friend of my grandparents, who now lives in Gillette.  She brought the whole team cookies, which were delicious.  So from everybody in the I4K, we wanted to say thanks for the cookies Rita, they only lasted about 45 minutes.

Today we rode from Gillette to Buffalo.  About 15 miles into the ride, we got our first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains.  They were off in the distance all day, marking our destination, as the town of Buffalo sits at the base of the snow covered peaks.  The sight of the mountains was both awesome and intimidating.  I know the climbs will be tough, but I also know the views and downhills will be worth it.