Day 62: 87 Miles

Yellowstone National Park, WY to Ennis, MT

Another long day today. I started off at Madison Campground in Yellowstone National Park. Noah and I said goodbye to our Aussie friends and got on the road around 8:15. It was a quick 15 miles from the campground to West Yellowstone, MT. There was nowhere to get food in Yellowstone, so Noah and I found a place to grab some breakfast when we got to West Yellowstone. After our meal we headed to the grocery store to pick up some food for the day. The only stopping points along the route after West Yellowstone were campgrounds and RV parks with no convenience stores or gas stations.

It took us some time to run our errands, so we didn’t leave West Yellowstone until 11:15. The route today was mostly downhill and by the end we dropped below 5,000 feet elevation for the first time since Pueblo, CO. It was a fairly easy ride, but after yesterday’s long ride my legs were beat. I tried to stay with Noah as long as I could, but he’s been averaging 75 miles per day and is used to the long mileage. Around mile 35 I let Noah go ahead. It was going to kill my legs trying to keep up and I didn’t want to hold him back.

The route continued around Earthquake Lake which was created by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. It was interesting scenery, but I felt like I was going in slow motion during this part of the ride. The combination of wind, poor road surface, and a few small climbs really wore me out. I got past the lake and the road opened up into a nice valley. Right around mile 50 I was running low on water and also needed a break. I pulled into an RV park hoping someone in the office could fill up my bottles. There was no one in the office, but someone saw me looking around and invited me to the barbecue they were having.

I took about 30 minutes to rest up and eat some food. They had an awesome spread of ribs, chicken, potato salad, mac and cheese, and a bunch of other sides. It was just what I needed to recharge before I got back on the road. Sometimes it pays to be in the right place at the right time. I was not having a great day, but the barbecue picked me right back up.

I got back on the road and had 36 miles to go. It was all down hill so the end of the day went by quickly. I got into town and found Willie’s Distillery where I’m camping tonight. They have a lawn behind the building and gave us access to their bathroom. When I brought my bike around back I found there were 6 other cyclists there including Noah. This is another one of those towns that is so far from everywhere else that you have to make the stop here.

I have another somewhat long day planned tomorrow, but I’ll hopefully have a cheap motel to stay at so I can get a shower and a bed to sleep in. I’m at 3,135 miles cycled and have somewhere around 1,200 miles to go.