Whatever her allegiance, Linda certainly rode stronger each day of the ride and with greater enthusiasm. While I don't care if I ever spend another night in a tent, I'm sure I'll get another opportunity. All I ever wanted to do was ride my bike. Now I get the entire catastophe of a vacation.

The people
a general practictioner who couldn't get in any training but still out rode me,
his wife who is training for an iron man and who he claims is stronger than he is,
Paul, a plastic surgeon, who applied sun screen in great sheets across his face,
his brother, James, who road a Bike Friday the entire trip,
Jon, a semi-retired lawyer from Spokane,
a couple from BC,
Janna, from Toronto,
Alfred, an Italian American from East Brooklyn riding a $300 Giant mt. bike from Walmart on only 90 days of riding total,
a physics professor,
a math teacher,
Liz, a high school English teacher and her two friends, none of whom had done more than 50 miles previously, (Kristin was on a loaned mt. bike)
an assortment of bureaucratic types for Washington DC,
Skip, at 71 years of age, Skip consistently finished first all week. Skip's doing all the Cycle America National Park tours this summer traveling with them from one trip to the next;
Kimmerly who complained there weren't enough hills. She often finished among the first riders with Skip; Gary and Janie on her Bike Friday from Atlanta,
Mary Lou and her son and daughter in law,
Maurice and Paulette: Maurice is Dutch and has ridden most of the European routes including the L'Alp D'huez in 57 minutes. (Lance did it in under 40, but I'm still impressed);
Terry, another unattached woman rider who made the men look weak.
Joey, the 17 year old who wore blue jeans to ride in everyday,
Stephanie, a teenager on her first ride. Her parents were on one of three tandems.

And Linda knew them all.

This tour seemed to attract people from all over the US and Canada. They almost all had done many tours before and many did more than one tour each year. Often they told tales of tours in Europe. The topic of many dinner conversations concerned the next tour. Linda's eyes grew wide and the wheels began to turn.

The best day For me the ride from West Yellowstone into Grant Village on Yellowstone Lake was the best day of ridiing. We feared heavy traffic and narrow roads. Sunday was, for whatever reason, a low census day in the park. Not until Old Faithful did the traffic begin to be an issue. We had the best scenery I thought of the trip and because we planned to take all day and see the sites,

One of our hosts

Linda insisted on wading.

we took almost every side road we could find. I did draw the line at hiking around more than one field of bubbling hot water.

We waited about 30 minutes.

Leaving Old Faithful headed us toward the two crossings of the Continental Divide we were to make on this day. I left Linda behind as the climb started and found myself anticipating the first divide and the promised water stop. The climb was long but broken up with long stretches of little or no grade. Soon I was passing folks and enjoying myself. The first divide was punctuated by a small pond filled with lilly pads at 8000 feet.

We expected the second pass to be somewhat easier since it was only a few hundred feet higher. We started with a long descent and then several rollers. Rising to the top of one I caught a group and asked if we shouldn't be seeing the sign for the second divide. A woman told me it would be in less than a mile. I passed them going down hill, roared through a turn that climbed a bit and saw the second divide up a long, gentle climb. I hit the second divide at 26 mph and felt wonderful.

The worst day

We camped at Grant Village that night and learned that one should waterproof one's tent before undertaking any ride that requires rain gear. Why hadn't I thought of that? Those dark spots on the tent walls came from the rain fly sopping wet and sagging into the tent. Oh, and wasn't that a drop of rain I just felt? Though we stayed warm and mostly dray, morning revealed dampness all around the foot of the tent. The rain fell throughout the morning. We hiked to the laundromat instead of joining the hearties who dawned rain suits and headed out for the optional days ride despite rain.

We spent the day hiking from one place to another, doing laundry, drying out our tent and moving to the hotel. Yes, Linda managed to wrangle a room for the night despite everything having been booked months in advance.

We spent the day walking and walking and drying out gear. My back refused to consider the hike to a view point Linda made and I only got about 10 miles of bike time. Not my best day for sure.

The next day we were to be shuttled out of the park toward the Tetons over 40 miles of road construction. Registered for the 10:15 shuttle, I was pleased to wake at 7, observe the rain, and go back to my dray motel room bed.

The next day played a close second for worst day. The shuttles were delayed by road construction and we didn't get on our bikes until 1:30. Jackson was 50 miles away. We arrived in camp about 6pm leaving us little time to set up, shower, and get to dinner.

The Hills The first shouldn't have offered any challenge but at 6000 feet I discovered small rollers left me breathless. The seond day saw 35 miles of head wind, so the climb came as welcome releif. I had trouble after lunch until my digestion kicked in. On the third day, I felt strong climbing everyting in site and loving the continental divide. The fourth day we shuttled 40 miles, started late and while we did have the Tetons to reflect upon, I found the ride lacked challenge and interest--oh, and we had a headwind into Jackson. The fifth day was the real challenge: Teton Pass. This is a little rise of 4 to 5 miles if you don't count the preliminary hill. The grade is 10 to 12 per cent. Linda skipped (missed) breakfast and beat me up this monster. She bragged about it the rest of the trip. The end of that day saw 30 miles of rollers similar to the Palouse. I loved it. Played too hard and rode on tired legs on the 6th day as a result. Several climbs seemed more challenging than they should have. Just to add insult to injury, we had strong headwinds and long straight stretches of road again. The seventh day was a century. 100 miles down hill. To be fair, we had several rolling climbs through trees at the edge of the park. The first 50 miles were wonderful. After the rollers we got to ride downhill. For 50 miles we re happy. The seond fifty miles saw less descent and more head wind. That last 20 miles was grueling much of it at less than 10 mph.

Henry's Fork Source of the Snake.

Compared to Bike Idaho Food: Cycle America depened upon local groups and restaurants for our meels. Both organizations used groups like the lions or a school club to provide breakfasts but only CA did that for dinners as well. We had two good restaurant dinners, a pasta bar, and several grouop provided meals. Bike Idaho had their own chuck wagon and cooks. We never went hungry, the food was good but I'd say Bike Idaho wins this round. While BI never provided a lunch stop, there spread at the two waterstops was extensive. CA did provide a cooked course at each lunch stop outside of the parks.

Water: Cycle America hands down. I remember looking for water to fill my bottles last year. CA had jugs of filtered water in camp and at two unmanned stops each day as well as at the lunch stop.

Camping: Cycle America had us at school grounds when we weren't in the parks. No barrels of ice beer and pop. No shower truck--we had to descend to the depths of some gymnasium to find showers which were tepid or cold if you arrived late. No real complaints. They were clean but those shower trucks were wonderful.

Riders: Linda and I thought we had gotten into the wrong crowd. In Bozeman the first folks we saw were tall, slim, and looked fast. Where were the fat old middle aged types? Turns out we had a number of couples, a great many folks older than we but quite a few younger as well. Bike Idaho riders were generally older than Linda and I. CA riders were experienced tourists as were many of the BI riders last year but their experience seemed to inclulde more tours in more places including Europe. Still Linda and I stayed securely in the middle of the pack even toward the front most days.

The weather

Cliff had me scared. I came prepared with too many clothes especially cold weather gear. I only put on my leg and arm warmers on the last day. I felt the need for a jacket only one evening. The lows stayed above 40 and the highs seemed moderate. When clouds blocked the sun, it could get cool on the bike. You needed heavy sun screen, though. Less atmosphere to filter the rays at 8,000 feet.

We were hot in the afternoons especially in Ashton, but never where we couldn't find shade. We usually finished early enough to seek out beer or ice cream and friendly place with the Tour de France on the TV.

Headwinds plagued us. From Ennis to West Yellowstone we endured a gentle climb and a stiff headwind for 35 miles of almost straight road. We were pleased to finally have to climb into the mountains and enjoyed the scenery afforded by the river valley and the lake created by the earthen dam.

Headwinds stayed withus from Ashton to West Yellowstone on the return trip and again as we did the final century from West Yellowstone to Bozeman. That last 20 miles was miserable.

Yes, we endured two nights of rain, but no one save those who would not give up their optional day ride ever had to ride in the rain.

The gallery Be sure to click on slideshow in the upper right corner.

Linda loved it all.