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Published: August 9th 2010
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Hello there, with a special mention to my mum as it's her Birthday on the 8th! X
So I'm still cruising across America in the sunshine, but surprise, surprise I've yet to really make any progress towards getting to Alaska. If I was to set my mind to it I could be across & into Canada tomorrow night but I'm just having too much of a good time heading west. If I don't turn north voluntarily soon I'll run out of America.
So when I last put fingers to keyboard we were in South Dakota at a bikers rally. Since then I've toured across Wyoming (my second favourite state) & into Montana (my favourite).
Wyoming is beautiful, rolling hills & mountains which were a welcome sight after so many miles of flat farmland. I knew I'd be stopping in a town called Buffalo & so asked via couch surfing if there's was anyone who'd be prepared to put me up. As there's only one host in Buffalo, Katie said I could have her sofa, no worries.
I turned up in town in my usual a little lost, sweaty, dressed like I'm off to a fetish party in
Big Horn Mountains.
Cold & wet up there but I was still smiling storm-trooper gear kinda way & Katie came & met me. I dropped the bike off at hers & within 20 minutes we were walking her dog Willy (who I swear looks like a hyena) up through the Big Horn mountains. I didn't take my camera as Katie told me we were walking the dog, I didn't realise quite what that involves in Wyoming. Katie normally goes trail running but had the good grace to walk as I was there. Perhaps she heard about my victory in the 10k race just prior to leaving home & was scared.
After breath taking (both literally & metaphorically) natural scenery, total peace & quiet (apart from when we were yapping) a few barbed wire fences (in flip flops), crossing streams & one potential bear incident that had me instinctively grab Katie & muffle a shout to try & scare it off. I was trying to make the bear aware of our presence, show the bear the smaller of the two of us so it would feel less intimidated & therefore be less likely to attack. Katie misunderstood & thought I very nearly screamed & was hiding behind her. Me, as if! It turned
Dave
This man has lived a life! out to be a cow.
She had told her room mate she was meeting me (a stranger) & then going for a walk for an hour. As it turned out we were gone for the best part of three hours so when we came down off the mountain a search party had been organised as her room mate assumed she'd been murdered. Tricky crowd to say hello to but they were all really nice/relieved I hadn't killed her.
When we got back to town Katie introduced me to her colleagues who were monitoring a nest of bats using sonar equipment (I didn't scream once) & then we went to catch up with her friends who were celebrating a couple of birthdays in a local bar. I was told we were staying for one drink, when in fact we got in at 3am. If all of the above wasn't amazing enough - IT WAS A MONDAY. Thank you Katie, you're a star!
The next morning I got on the bike & opted once again to ignore the Interstate & instead chose to ride over the Big Horn mountain range towards Cody which is only 50 miles outside of
Wyoming
Beautiful part of the world. Yellowstone. The mountains were beautiful but when I got up into the clouds it poured, & poured & poured. I once worked with a fella called Dave Little in New Zealand who was full of useful advice. He once told me not to worry about rain as skin is waterproof. (I won't tell you the one he told me about inner beauty). I was starting to know exactly what he meant when I found an old log hut where I could get changed into my waterproof gear. True to form, less then a mile after I did, the clouds cleared & the sun came out.
I arrived in Cody & thought I'd see if the BMW Anonymous book that Bill gave me outside of Chicago was of any use. I phoned the first number listed & explained who I am & what I'm trying to do. Dave who answered the phone said he had a spare room & I could stay with him. He told me where to meet him & then rode into town to collect me. So within a couple of hours of making the call I had a roof over my head, a bed & dinner
on the table. It's that American kindness gene again.
Dave had recently retired & told me about his experience on the mountain roads I had just ridden. Twice he'd hit deer, once he was lucky, the second time when he came round his foot was facing in the wrong direction. A very bad break indeed. He had to sit there for an hour & a half with one foot facing forwards & the other facing back until a car came along. Not a pleasant experience. Hasn't stopped him riding though & hopefully we'll meet up in Canada & share some miles in a few weeks.
The more I chatted to him the more fascinated with his life story I was. He used to be in control of the reponse to natural disasters & the things he'd experienced were so very impressive. He's a qualified pilot with his own plane & back in the 70's he was employed to fight remote bush fires by parachuting into the area. Apparently small trees don't hurt, big ones do.
The next morning it was on to Yellowstone National Park & up towards a famous piece of tarmac called the Bear Tooth
Bears.
Get back on the bike & eat the cake & chocolate stash whilst in motion. Highway. I was excited about Yellowstone but I couldn't wait to get on the Bear Tooth. I'd even heard about it in London, how it climbs & twists its way through the mountains & into the clouds followed by switch backs & chicanes all the way down the other side for over 50 miles. Despite being on a overladen trail bike, I couldn't wait.
Yellowstone was beautiful & Old Faithful was much more impressive then I was expecting - the bears (which look nothing like cows) & the buffalo were amazing too but the Bear Tooth was heaven. The hairs on my arms are standing on end as I type this. It just went on & on & on. Smooth tarmac from the sunshine into clouds so thick I couldn't see my hand in front of my face then down, down, down on the other side. I must of grinned, laughed, whooped & cheered for an hour solid.
On the opposite side to Yellowstone is a town called Red Lodge & as I was setting up my tent a load of Harley bikers came over. I'd passed them on the highway & they offered to buy me a
beer. As we sat round the fire sharing tales the campsite owner warned a bear had been seen stalking the perimetre of the site so to be careful. Less then a week prior 4 tourists had been attacked by a bear in a campsite & one had been killed. Literally as one, these bikers all pulled out enormous hand guns & assured him they'd be alright. I have a penknife. After an evening spent drinking with these boys I wasn't worried about the bear, I was worried about getting shot in the crossfire.
They were really nice lads who despite being covered in tatoos & doing a fine job of looking menacing were very funny & told tales about losing their balance outside a bar whilst parking & falling off in front of a crowd or taking out a garage door as they couldn't handle a bike so big. Not the sort of stories I expected to hear from lads who looked as they do. They had noticed I was on my own & told me to join them, yet another example of Americans going over & above the call of kindness. Thank you gents!
So the Bear
Tooth took me into Montana from where I will definitely, definitely, definitely cross into Canada & finally start making my way towards Alaska. From those I've met who have been up there this summer the weather has already started to turn & my chances of getting to where I want to go are getting slimmer & slimmer. So no time to dawdle in Montana then, I need to get moving.
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Greg
non-member comment
Not so different
Well after getting the service done I picked up the bike and headed east along the Harrow Rd, it was busier than I had remembered, a full three miles, dodging drugged up bus drivers, illegal drivers and gunfire I made it in to Maida Vale. Not a journey I particularly enjoyed but glad to have it as a party annecdote. Sounds awesome buddy. Very impressed with your blogging prowess, keep it up mate. Would say that you're missed but just far too busy to even notice.