Yellowstone to Glacier 2021

45.46 Miles 2959' Climbing 4:07 Moving time 11.0 MPH Average Speed  With just about two hours sleep, I managed to get my tent, sleeping bag, bedroll stowed and myself dressed for today's ride before breakfast was served. I'll admit I had help from some other riders who are more experienced (or just capable) at this camping thing.  Breakfast was a hearty treat. See captioned pictures at bottom. I almost can't believe we're being treated so well. Todays ride will be in two parts: one will be an approach up the continental divide and down, and the other will be a short 20 miler consisting of mostly going downhill. To avoid having to negotiate downtown streets, the guides will pick us up and drive us the last hour into the city. I found out that the rest of the riders had little sleep either because of the wind. As we waited for breakfast, the guides kept telling us the wind wold die down by the time we needed to roll (8:00). Seriously, if they remained as strong, I don...

64.88 Miles 2356' Climbing 4:40 Moving Time 13.9 MPH Average Speed Because there was limited internet access, this post is two days late. This was not an exceptionally hard route except for the winds. Simply unrelenting. Close to punishing. But that may just have been my trepidation over camping after a long ride and not knowing how it would go. However, the 8 of us drove on and over the course of the nearly 65 miles gathered at an early SAG stop for fuel and had lunch at a State park where 3 rivers converge to make the Missouri river. Our lunch food has been healthy and tasty. Hummus, greens, pita, wraps, vegetables, cold cuts, pickles, chips...you could eat as healthy (or otherwise) as you wish. Even the quick stops had unique snack foods such as dates, stuffed olives, strawberries, blueberries, mozzarella sticks, cheese and crackers... At our last SAG, the guides previewed our activities of when we get to camp. Selecting tent site, tent assembly demo, tent assembly, followed by ...

39.3 miles 2448' elevation 3:07 moving time 12.6 mph average speed  "Challenging" winds Slept in a bit this morning as it was going to be our shortest ride of the tour. Used the extra time to repack bags and plan clothing for next couple of days before we reach Missoula for our rest day.  Getting bike and bags downstairs to the van I discovered the winds that were coming from the direction we were headed. Not a good omen. The whole crew really battled with the 20 mph headwinds which shifted to crosswinds. Haven't had such a harrowing white knuckled ride in many years. They did abate somewhat at our first SAG but it really sapped my energy. The early part of the ride did have us on busy highway with rumble strips again but after 4 miles we were able to get on a quiet service road parallel to the highway where we could better focus on the long climb. The pitch wasn't steep but the length made for a long push battling the headwinds uphill.  On the other hand, the Big...

Gardiner to Livingston Montana 56 Miles 1368' climbing 17.9 mph average Last night at dinner we were asked to text our breakfast order for the following morning to our guides as there is only one breakfast spot in town and it was unlikely we'd be able to be seated together. Our orders were delivered to our rooms at the lodge by 8:00 and half of us ate on our 'back porch' overlooking the river. We got our bikes at 9:00 and began the fitting and adjustment process i.e adding pedals from home, lights, adjusting seats, and other fine tuning. after a safety briefing and overview of today's route we were on our way around 10:30. The route was rather straightforward although the first 20 miles were on a high traffic road with narrow breakdown lanes and often hard to avoid rumble strips. Fortunately, our first SAG stop saw us onto a low traffic road which was just the best rinding a cyclist could ask for: Mild rolling hills with tail winds mostly losing elevation along the ...