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Trans Americas 2009 - The Blog
The Just One More Mile story of Paul's Trans Americas 2009 motorcycle expedition.Saturday, 15 August 2009
Yellowstone to Cody via the Bear Tooth Pass...
Despite the minor excesses of yesterday, I still woke early, at 6.30am, and was up and showered quickly before packing and loading my stuff onto the bike. I then wandered round to take some pictures of the Old Faithful Inn, realising that I'd described it in my blog but neglected to show any pictures of it... so here it is, inside and out...
Breakfast was the usual buffet affair, and despite the hotel being over 100 years old and having hundreds of rooms, they still couldn't organise it so that the restaurant was more than 20% full, yet people were kept waiting 15 minutes to sit down. I was fortunate, in that I just joined Chris and Danielle's table, and we confused the waiting staff when they left and Richard and Karen took their place... the breakfast itself was poor too, certainly not living up to the standards of yesterday's dinner. But fed, I set off on the road, following Richard and Karen for a while, before stopping to take some photos of the crazy sulphur pools...
I caught them up again and we tucked in behind Jim and Mac as we rode through the lower portion of the park, before they turned off to the right, we thought heading for another sight (in fact, they'd seen a sign for Cody, and taken the short-cut there, arriving much earlier than the rest, who'd followed the notes over the scenic passes...). Shortly after we lost Jim and Mac, we came across a huge herd of Bison (or Buffalo as they'd sometime incorrectly called), mostly in the fields either side of the road, but sometimes right in the road in front of us. Huge, great big things they are too, especially one large male that seemed determined to hold up the traffic, but who hadn't reckoned on the skills of a RoSPA-trained motorcyclist, who rode past whilst tightly clenching his buttocks...
I then lost Richard and Karen again when I stopped to buy a souvenir sticker and take some photos from Artist's Point of the canyon below, which was a further contrast to the rest of the park...
From here I rode out of the park, and met up with Richard and Karen, and Max and Christine at the Log Cabin Cafe at Silver Gate, where the notes recommended the Pumpkin Bread. As it was very cold, they'd opted for the soup and asked for the Pumpkin Bread to be served with the soup instead of ordinary bread. This had caused significant confusion for the poor waitress, as the Pumpkin Bread is more like a cake... I opted for the soup as well, but skipped the Pumpkin Bread to avoid further confusion (I tried Richard's and it was delicious).
After warming up a little, it was then time to head up Bear Tooth Pass, which has the reputation as being “the most beautiful drive in America”, a claim I'd dispute bearing in mind some of the roads we've already ridden, but as it reaches a height of 10,947ft, the views from the top are quite spectacular. The road itself was marred by roadworks, with great patches of gravel preventing a smooth “in-the-groove” ride (at least for me, Richard disappearing into the distance clearly grooving). Once near the top I past Chris and Richard heading back down, them opting for the alternate route to Cody via the Chief Joseph highway, another recommended riding road. I stopped to take a photo of the view before heading up and over the top, taking the Bear Tooth Pass down towards Red Lodge...
Once I crested the top, the road deteriorated into a pure mud-and-gravel road, and it started snowing. Great. With my riding already suffering today for some mysterious reason, I rode slowly and nervously down the hillside, until back on tarmac when it became a little easier, though still far from my normal fluid style. The snow had eased as soon as I left the summit, and the sun was struggling to come out and reveal some of the scenery that was no doubt all around, but hidden from view by the clouds. At the valley bottom, I rode into Red Lodge with my fuel warning light on, and took no chances, filling up at the first petrol station I found. I then rode through town looking for a phone box so I could call Tracy. The town was littered with BMWs from a nearby rally, mostly RT's but I did see a couple of other GS's as well. At the far side of town I found a phone and called home, getting the answerphone again, but the phone card did say I had 60 minutes of call time, so I decided to try her mobile. Big mistake. It also went through to voicemail, so I hung up immediately, to be told I had 4 minutes remaining on my card. I tried the house phone again, only to be told I had insufficient credit left... damn...
From Red Lodge I rode on to Cody, first taking highway 308 and then highway 72, but by now my riding was even worse, my mind wandering all over the place for some reason (and I don't think it was anything to do with the phone fiasco, I'd been struggling to concentrate all day). I had to stop several times to give myself a good talking to and to wake myself up, the loss of focus not helped by the road straightening out and the scenery losing any sense of perspective. Relieved, I eventually arrived in Cody, and found the hotel, where most of the group had already arrived. I quickly unloaded the bike and got showered and changed, then went for a wander round town. It's a bizarre place, the main street full of shops selling genuine cowboy gear to genuine cowboys... and tourists... so far, I've resisted the temptation to buy some cowboy boots to go with my hat, but only because I've no room on the bike... and no money... and better taste...
At 6pm, in the side street next to our hotel (once owned by Buffalo Bill himself), there was a “gun-fight” show. Starting with about 20 minutes of advertising for sponsors and the charities it tries to raise money for, and of course the obligatory national anthem (for which everyone stood and removed their hats, the effect ruined somewhat by the lack of knowledge for the words...), it was then enacted in front of our very eyes, with Buffalo Bill, Wyatt Earp and the others shooting blanks and falling over a lot. I'm sure the kids loved it...
With the excitement of the gunfight over, I went for dinner at a local Mexican with Richard and Karen and Kevin and Julia (the Italian I fancied having a 40 minute wait for a table). I declared today a “dry day” and drank only sprite, the Green Chile more than making up for any lack of alcohol by being decidedly hot... While we were eating is started to rain, then thunder and lightning, but by the time we walked back to the hotel the rain had almost stopped, thought the dark clouds filling the sky promised more rain overnight....
And so off to bed, with a rest day tomorrow and time to catch up on the blog...
Breakfast was the usual buffet affair, and despite the hotel being over 100 years old and having hundreds of rooms, they still couldn't organise it so that the restaurant was more than 20% full, yet people were kept waiting 15 minutes to sit down. I was fortunate, in that I just joined Chris and Danielle's table, and we confused the waiting staff when they left and Richard and Karen took their place... the breakfast itself was poor too, certainly not living up to the standards of yesterday's dinner. But fed, I set off on the road, following Richard and Karen for a while, before stopping to take some photos of the crazy sulphur pools...
I caught them up again and we tucked in behind Jim and Mac as we rode through the lower portion of the park, before they turned off to the right, we thought heading for another sight (in fact, they'd seen a sign for Cody, and taken the short-cut there, arriving much earlier than the rest, who'd followed the notes over the scenic passes...). Shortly after we lost Jim and Mac, we came across a huge herd of Bison (or Buffalo as they'd sometime incorrectly called), mostly in the fields either side of the road, but sometimes right in the road in front of us. Huge, great big things they are too, especially one large male that seemed determined to hold up the traffic, but who hadn't reckoned on the skills of a RoSPA-trained motorcyclist, who rode past whilst tightly clenching his buttocks...
I then lost Richard and Karen again when I stopped to buy a souvenir sticker and take some photos from Artist's Point of the canyon below, which was a further contrast to the rest of the park...
From here I rode out of the park, and met up with Richard and Karen, and Max and Christine at the Log Cabin Cafe at Silver Gate, where the notes recommended the Pumpkin Bread. As it was very cold, they'd opted for the soup and asked for the Pumpkin Bread to be served with the soup instead of ordinary bread. This had caused significant confusion for the poor waitress, as the Pumpkin Bread is more like a cake... I opted for the soup as well, but skipped the Pumpkin Bread to avoid further confusion (I tried Richard's and it was delicious).
After warming up a little, it was then time to head up Bear Tooth Pass, which has the reputation as being “the most beautiful drive in America”, a claim I'd dispute bearing in mind some of the roads we've already ridden, but as it reaches a height of 10,947ft, the views from the top are quite spectacular. The road itself was marred by roadworks, with great patches of gravel preventing a smooth “in-the-groove” ride (at least for me, Richard disappearing into the distance clearly grooving). Once near the top I past Chris and Richard heading back down, them opting for the alternate route to Cody via the Chief Joseph highway, another recommended riding road. I stopped to take a photo of the view before heading up and over the top, taking the Bear Tooth Pass down towards Red Lodge...
Once I crested the top, the road deteriorated into a pure mud-and-gravel road, and it started snowing. Great. With my riding already suffering today for some mysterious reason, I rode slowly and nervously down the hillside, until back on tarmac when it became a little easier, though still far from my normal fluid style. The snow had eased as soon as I left the summit, and the sun was struggling to come out and reveal some of the scenery that was no doubt all around, but hidden from view by the clouds. At the valley bottom, I rode into Red Lodge with my fuel warning light on, and took no chances, filling up at the first petrol station I found. I then rode through town looking for a phone box so I could call Tracy. The town was littered with BMWs from a nearby rally, mostly RT's but I did see a couple of other GS's as well. At the far side of town I found a phone and called home, getting the answerphone again, but the phone card did say I had 60 minutes of call time, so I decided to try her mobile. Big mistake. It also went through to voicemail, so I hung up immediately, to be told I had 4 minutes remaining on my card. I tried the house phone again, only to be told I had insufficient credit left... damn...
From Red Lodge I rode on to Cody, first taking highway 308 and then highway 72, but by now my riding was even worse, my mind wandering all over the place for some reason (and I don't think it was anything to do with the phone fiasco, I'd been struggling to concentrate all day). I had to stop several times to give myself a good talking to and to wake myself up, the loss of focus not helped by the road straightening out and the scenery losing any sense of perspective. Relieved, I eventually arrived in Cody, and found the hotel, where most of the group had already arrived. I quickly unloaded the bike and got showered and changed, then went for a wander round town. It's a bizarre place, the main street full of shops selling genuine cowboy gear to genuine cowboys... and tourists... so far, I've resisted the temptation to buy some cowboy boots to go with my hat, but only because I've no room on the bike... and no money... and better taste...
At 6pm, in the side street next to our hotel (once owned by Buffalo Bill himself), there was a “gun-fight” show. Starting with about 20 minutes of advertising for sponsors and the charities it tries to raise money for, and of course the obligatory national anthem (for which everyone stood and removed their hats, the effect ruined somewhat by the lack of knowledge for the words...), it was then enacted in front of our very eyes, with Buffalo Bill, Wyatt Earp and the others shooting blanks and falling over a lot. I'm sure the kids loved it...
With the excitement of the gunfight over, I went for dinner at a local Mexican with Richard and Karen and Kevin and Julia (the Italian I fancied having a 40 minute wait for a table). I declared today a “dry day” and drank only sprite, the Green Chile more than making up for any lack of alcohol by being decidedly hot... While we were eating is started to rain, then thunder and lightning, but by the time we walked back to the hotel the rain had almost stopped, thought the dark clouds filling the sky promised more rain overnight....
And so off to bed, with a rest day tomorrow and time to catch up on the blog...
posted by Paul # 23:32 
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