A disgruntled post, about

Tires

Because it's on my mind and it just happened.

We made it to Missoula, MT!  This is the city that hosts the Adventure Cycling offices, where we got our maps for both the Atlantic Coast Trail and the TransAm.  Hundreds of cyclists come through each year and stop at these offices, where they are greeted by a ritual of smiling faces, a weighing of the bike, a taking of a photo, and the giving of some ice cream.  On this day, when the cloud cover seems so low you can almost touch it and the temperature enough to turn our ears to icicles, the ice cream was not as high on the want list as it might have been, but the rest of the ritual was fun.
I am actually writing this while I wait for Alexander and Eric (another cyclist we had the pleasure of joining from Yellowstone to Missoula- more on him later).  On the road today I got a flat which, after waving Eric and Alexander to go on ahead, confident that I would fix it promptly, became quite a situation.  Without moving more than 10 feet I went through the "fix-a-tire routine"... five times.  This entails taking all the gear off my bike, stripping out the tube, patching it, replacing everything, and beginning to ride only to feel it flat once again.  By the sixth, I was pulling off old, brittle patches and replacing them with new ones.  Each time some new problem arose, compounding my irritation as big rigs roared by, obfuscating the telltale sound that would let me know there was yet another hole.  When I finally put in a tube that held its integrity, the tire somehow had gotten out of whack and added a bump to my bike with every wheel rotation.  Imagine Chinese water torture, but with a small kick to the testicles every half second.  I still had 40 miles to go, but was unwilling to do any major adjustments lest another tube burst.  After three miles and mild nausea, I threw in the towel and stuck out my thumb.  Within 10 minutes a nice but cautious man let me ride in the back of his pickup as he drive me to Missoula, a bike store, and new tubes.

Poplars and others changing colors

This is another cyclist we met on the trail

Yellowstone Nation Park, WY

I have a great many thoughts about Yellowstone, but I don't know how to put them into words.  I have tried; started on paper at least twice and in my head many more times than that while riding.  So let me wax poetic and wane description and say that there were a great many cars and tourists, and occasionally while I would stand in silence contemplating the mystery of the earthen origin of these boiling pits, I would turn and see a veritable horde of Asian tourists stream out of a tour bus and, like a wave, crash over me with cameras and phones, cheerfully shouting to each other over the roar of the disturbed earth.
We didn't see Old Faithful, or any geysers at all because they were repairing a bridge that would mean an 80-mile detour.  An annoyance for a car, a two-day dread for cyclists considering the increased traffic and narrow roads, plus the endless scenic summits of small mountain ranges.  We did see many bubbling mud pits, and a super cool feature called the Dragon's Mouth Spring.
To keep on the bright side, it is beautiful country and we saw grizzlies, bison, elk, antelope.  I would love to go back in the narrow window when it is closed to cars and open to cyclists.  That would be heavenly.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Yellowstone

I am writing this in the Adventure Cycling cyclist's lounge in Missoula, MT, and I have gone 4420 miles.

Highlights of the last few days:

• not paying for camping in Yellowstone, due to some nice folks who let us share their cabin, and the next day our puppy eyes to a ranger at a closed campsite at 9 pm.
• seeing grizzlies, even if they were just spots in a field (probably a good distance)
• luxuriating in true hot springs, where the 140 degree stream meets 40 degree river, and finding the perfect mixing pool to relax for hours.
• taking two zero days with Joe Chirchirillo at the ranch he works at in Montana
• riding with Eric Morton, a cyclist who has been out for 13 months, over 10,000 miles, and works at bike shops and bars along the way to earn money for food and gear.
• being treated, each, to full-size New York strip steaks with a couple in Helena, MT

Grand Tetons

Red Rocks

Huge steaks for dinner with WarmShower hosts, Zander and Eric

This water is 140 degrees F.  The Boiling River, it's called

Bison!  I almost walked into these guys.

I found a dinosaur bone, I think