The Wild West and beyond

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Before leaving Wyoming we spent a day in Cody (founded by 'Buffalo Bill' Cody), which as you would expect, is now a slightly cheesy wild west themed high street with an otherwise normal US small town built around it.

It has become a bit of a Mecca for the particular kind of American folk who buy into the modern take on the whole cowboy thing - ie riding around on a tassled Harley Davidson wearning nothing but a bandana and a pair of leather chaps. Well maybe some jeans under the chaps - and possibly a Harley branded t-shirt.

We took a trip to the Cody Stampede rodeo, which looked like it was going to be a bit depressing at first, as we stood in the 3/4 empty stadium in the cold and rain, pretending we knew the words to the Star Spangled Banner. Even though it's not really my cup of tea, I was quite impressed by the end - stetsons off to the fellas who had the courage to get themselves thrown miles in the air off some particularly angry looking bulls.

Cody museum has the world's largest collection of - and you're not going to need many guesses for this one - GUNS! Men on Harleys in chaps - cowboys - guns. My kinda place. Hold on, what am I saying here?

After Cody, we had a long ride down into Utah, where the landscape started gradually turning redder and drier, before morphing into some full-on cartoon style glowing rock and desert terrain.

The final few miles into Moab were absolutely majestic - I heard in the town that plenty of John Wayne films were shot on the road next to the Colorado river that we had ridden in on.

As you do on a day off from riding hundreds of miles by motorbike, I took the opportunity to do some mountain biking on the legendary slickrock around Moab. The smooth undulating surfaces give masses of grip, allowing you to ride up and down some absurd gradients, before coming to a halt and admiring the scenery once again. Fantastic.

More fun with daft shaped rocks to come - Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon.

See you again soon!

xxx

PS Thanks to everyone who takes the time to put comments on the site - it's nice to know that you're with us in spirit, and definitely cheers us up (they need cheering up, you're thinking?)

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Photos

A man wearing chaps discusses guns with his friend
Out here, donning chaps doesn't necessarily mark you out as a fan of the Village People

Strange red rocks everywhere
There's me on the bike at the bottom. For a little perspective.

More strange red rocks
etc etc etc etc etc

Slick rock mountain biking
Don't worry Mum, I was wearing a helmet when riding.

Comments

[Pete]

Rocks
I like the red rocks, reminds of Mars. Did you know that the sandstone formations of the Red Rocks have their colour because they contain traces of iron. The redness is rust. Marvellous I'm very impressed at the size of your saddlebags! how on earth did you fit your moauntain bike in there!

[Ludo]

Looks fantastic. Who are the Village People?

[rich]

bike geekiness
what type of bike was it? Looks half decent!

[Fat Debs]

How are the chaps?
Loving the blogs Max Bower flower power. It sounds like you haven't stopped. I hope you're both eating properly and looking after yourself. Have you managed to find anywhere do to chins and dips, chins and dips, coz you love doing chins and dips? Missing you at work, but we have a new HR director who is of the ginger variety so we're filling the equal op's quota on that one! Keep having fun. Word up x

[Alison]

That's the first time I've seen your legs since you've in the Americas... say hi to the Osmonds as you go through Utah.. I assume you may not be going into Salt Lake City?? But you never know... It's nice to see that a liberal veggie is getting a little excited by the whole bull riding and singing the American Anthem! And of course you will now have the name of 'mad max' due to one of the first photos you sent swinging your machine gun around... I always knew Mad Max really should've been a red-head... y'know all that fire and fury locked up in side! P.S. Have you explained to Rich about the whole saying it in a Noddie Holder accent - we even had Debs saying it and we still couldn't get it! Has curriculum really turned into dummies... no don't answer that.

[W.G.O.]

Just taggin along...
Sounds like you folks are havin a Great Time, I have been keeping track since you left Anchorage (my home). Decided to keep up, so I subscribed to your blog. I hope you dont mind if I tag along on your trip... Im thinkin Im gonna have to look into the AMA... That Gatling gun looked fun! Bill

[Stephen]

Sexy legs
Maxie, your bronzed legs make a wonderful contrast against the landscape. How many gallons of sunblock are you burning through? Have you encountered any more Wile E. Coyote's (or Roadrunners)? We're just back from the "majestic limestone", waterfalls and caves of the Yorkshire Dales, Ingleton in particular. But, unlike you I think, the rain pissed down on us.

[Max and Christine]

Clarification re the Village People
Hello Ludo The Village People were a popular disco combo from the late '70s who utilised the subversion of macho stereotypes (Cowboys, Construction Workers, Red Indians, Cops etc) as was common in the gay culture of the time in New York. For more information, visit the following website: http://www.officialvillagepeople.com/ Happy surfing! Hope all is well. Love Christine.