Biking, Day 12: 7/28/2009

Day 12: Gardiner, MT to Wapiti, WY
Distance: 113 miles
Route: Through Yellowstone - down to Norris, then Canyon Village, then Fisherman Village, then out the East Entrance onto 14/16/20 East
Lodging: Green Creek Inn and RV Park, $90, good clean lodging, a little over priced, owner super nice

I started the day around 6:30am WITHOUT coffee. My crappy motel, the Westernaire, doesn't even have coffee for their guests. Personally, I think this is criminal. I headed into the little town of Gardiner, hoping to get some coffee before I hit the park, but nothing was open. With no other option, I headed into I headed into Yellowstone. I used the pass that I got with the Jenni's the day before. Here's the deal with passes into Yellowstone: $25 for a car, good for one week, but you can't exit the park. $12 for bikes. So, I said they were still in the park and I had just left to get my bike. The woman was confused, but I talked my way out of it. Saving $12 = a good thing. I mean, I get charging cars (although, I think $25 is a bit high), but bikes?
My goal was to get to Mammoth Springs - about 6 miles - sans coffee, have my coffee there, then proceed. The ride to Mammoth was HARD. not only was it super cold, being 730am and all, but it was all uphill. I increased my altitude about 1500 Feet. It took almost an hour to get to Mammoth. I was rewarded with overpriced, very poor coffee. I sat for about 30 minutes, removed my layers and started riding again.
The ride was gorgeous. I went south from Mammoth Falls to Norris, where I had gone the day before with the jenni's. The first part was super hard - huge inclines. I had to stop a few times to get my seat position right. From Norris I went East to Canyon City, then to Fisherman Village. At Fisherman Village, I took a break, got a water and a snack. When I was sitting there, a guy started talking to me. He was from Buffalo, WY, east of the park, so I asked him advice on routes (since I'm heading east). He's also a biker (more of a weekend warrior) and advised going to Greybull, then heading to Buffalo via route 16. At Greybull, the route I was going to take - 14/16/20 - splits. 14 goes north to Sheridan and 16 goes south. He gave me some advice on roads off 16. I appreciated his advice. As I was leaving, he came over, gave me his card and said if i did end up in Buffalo, I should give him a call to 'grab a beer or something'.
I continued on. The next 27 miles out of the park were gorgeous, but hilly. I went to a top altitude of 8500 feet.
The last 5 miles were all downhill. I stopped at the first place after the exit for a drink. There, another guy started talking to me. he also advised me to go to Greybull. he said if I went north to Sheridan, do NOT go through Lovell because there's a huge hill/mountain I would have to summit. Good advice to have. He was not a biker, just a local. he also said that the badlands were TOTALLY worth going through, as is Wall Drug.

I continued on. The last 25-30 miles to Wapiti were hell. It should have been an easy ride, but the headwind was intense. I could barely keep my bike upright. I thought the whole point of going West to East was the wind! I don't understand why the wind keeps being so bothersome.
Finally, I rolled up to my motel - the Green Creek Inn and RV Park. it was much nicer than I expected! (but not worth the $90). I got in between 6PM and 7pm. A long day, but I had covered 115 miles or so of pretty mountainous terrain.
The owner of the motel/RV park was pretty cool. When I asked where to get food, he offered to make me a pizza. I accepted. I did laundry. In a real washer and dryer. I updated the blog, found my route, and wrote to MC (but the email bounced back! not sure how to remedy that).

Tomorrow, I head to Greybull.