Day 14-West Thumb, Yellowstone

Today began by riding a mile to the park entrance, where we formed a double pace line and were permitted to ride in the park in groups no larger than 4. No more than a few hundred feet into our ride we stumbled upon some bison on the roadside and stopped for a few pictures.

Bison with their young

4 States

Although the day was short in mileage it was not easy by any means, because we crossed the continental divide twice! We spent the majority of the day above 7000 ft. and today was the first day the altitude bothered me. The climbs were gradual but my heart was working hard to keep up with the thin air. We reached the top of the first divide and stopped to take a photo in the “Two Oceans Lake” which runs both ways down the mountain and feeds both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

VT conquers the divide

Two Oceans Lake

We continued on our ride and summated the second divide 5 miles later, winded and out of breath but proud of ourselves and having conquered the difficult ride.

Second Divide

The rest of the ride was downhill and we stopped and ate lunch before checking into lodging. The ride was gorgeous and even though it was challenging its been my favorite ride so far.

After everyone showered and cleaned up we made our way to Old faithful; we made it just in time to see it go off.

Old Faithful

We also made it to the Geyser Bash which was incredible.

Yellowstone is a gorgeous place!


Day 13-West Yellowstone

Today was another very tough day, we climbed 1% grade for 70 miles and fought a head wind for the last 40 miles of the ride. I also swept today so there was a lot of stopping and starting and after yesterday it was exhausting. We arrived in West Yellowstone late in the afternoon and quickly showered before attending to a few chores we had to do before our night off. The team loaded up in the vans and headed off to the local car wash where we all cleaned the vans and vacuumed them out doing our best to keep them in good shape. After that we were set free to explore the town and eat dinner; we found a great pizza shop and I had no trouble polishing off a large pizza on my own.

Sweet rolling photos