2 to 3 July Kms
travelled – 26,270
I was packed up and
on the road (191) out of Rock Springs by 5, and boy was I glad I hit the black stuff early. The road north was taking us up through the
Wind River Valley, and with a name like that and with a landscape that was
predominantly flat open scrubland, I had no doubt that this would be an
uncomfortable ride once the heat of the day had stirred up the wind. Also it was so great to feel a nip in the
air, and actually to have to put on the heated grips after so long. As we rode along at a good pace I, again,
couldn´t help thinking how similar this route was to the Ruta 3 on Argentina´s
Atlantic seaboard – only this stretch of the 191 did bend from time to
time! Oh, and there were wild horse
herds. I have no doubt that someone
owned them, but so fantastic to see horses just doing what comes naturally in a
space large enough to allow that.
Then we were closing
on small town Bondurant (189) with the landscape growing greener,
literally. And then there was an elk...
right in the middle of town... stood between a couple of cars in the car
park! Doing a double take, and Idris´
grumble growing closer, we gave the beast a start and off it trotted further
into the residential area. A great
sight, but so bizarre... it was like a scene from Northern Lights (for those
who remember that series about life in Alaska).
We were heading
towards Yellowstone and as soon as we had put the town behind us the road
started winding through forest countryside.
Beautiful, and with it still being pretty early, we were able to really
enjoy the open road. Dropping a gear,
picking our line through the bend, leaning in, power on, and out the other side,
only to repeat seconds later. Bike
riding as it should be, and despite Idris feeling a bit twitchy on the bends, I
was soon into the groove... so much so that it was only after the fact did my
near miss fully register. On a blind
right hand bend with a beautiful river to my right we leaned in only to have
the handlebars narrowly miss a deer´s backside as it stood on the side of the
road feeding on the steep grassy bank.
Idris had its usual impact, and the startled animal leaped majestically up the
steep slope in my rear view mirror. Boy that
was close, and a healthy reminder of all the tales I had read about the
wildlife on the road as you got further up in the world.
Jackson (89) was
lovely and a great place to stop for my morning coffee... it was still only
breakfast time! The only problem was
that joining the 89 meant that we had also linked up with all the tourist
traffic heading to Yellowstone from the south.
But first we had to ride through the most excellent Teton National Park
($20 entry to both from the lovely lady in the booth), so that was
exactly what we did.
Arriving in
Yellowstone you could still see some of the fire damaged areas from this year
and previous wildfires the park has had to deal with, so my initial impressions
left me a little disappointed. This was
my fifth and penultimate ´must do´ for my trip, and I was hoping for more. And, thankfully, it was more that I got. Much, much more. This park is spectacular, and aside from the
Old Faithful Geyser feeling more like a Disney show than a natural wonder
given the crowds and commercialism around that spot, it has so much to
offer. I spent a little while watching
some of the other geysers in the area along the faultline, with less people and
being so spread out there were some wondrous sights.
And as the heat of
the afternoon sun started to seep through my bike suit, we headed on up towards
the Madison camp site ($23 for the night) to kick back and relax. The relatively short ride was through lovely hills,
but by now I had stopped enjoying handling the bike. Something was wrong. The landscape was such that wind off the
mountains was channelled through and across some valleys and the wind was
causing havoc with Idris. We´d been through
worse... a lot worse. What was the
problem here?
Bison deciding to
cross the road just before the campsite destracted me from my worries, and I was
soon thinking more about pitching the tent as quickly as possible and wandering
over to the nearby river to get some shots of the herd. It is hard to imagine the scale of the herds
that once roamed this land, but easy to understand why earlier peoples depended
so heavily on that resource. The
campsite was not cheap, but fab. Having
had our compulsory ´bear briefing´ we were visited almost immediately by some
of the smaller inhabitants keen to see what was going on.
Ground squirrels I later learned, which
hibernate so (much like the bears) have to eat as much as possible in the short
summer season. There must have been
thousands of the beggars in the area.
Much time was spent that evening watching the lumbering bison from the
safety of the other side of the small river... what a place!
The next morning I
awoke to a distinct chill... yes! At long last it seems we had put the
unseasonable heat behind us. The early
morning start saw us rolling out of the campsite with misty hills, wonderful
fast flowing rivers and hot springs, but again I was not enjoying the ride. There really was something wrong. When loading the bike at the crack of dawn
that morning I had noticed how easily Idris´ suspension was moving. One hand was all that was needed to push the
bike right down on the rear shock absorber.
And when I got on the loaded bike and the suspension grounded I knew I
had lost all damping on the back. It was
not going to be a fun day, but perhaps we would make it to Calgary in Canada to
get that sorted.
The ride north out of
the park (89) was relatively easy, but at every imperfection on the road the
bike seemed to skit and bounce. Progress
was slow as we headed into Paradise Valley and were hit by scenes on this wide
green river valley that fitted exactly what I had hoped Montana would look
like. I couldn´t help stopping a few
times for coffee and just take in the views.
Well, OK, not just to take in the views, but also to look the bike
over... as if staring at the shock was going to convince it to give me back my
much needed handling!
Bozeman was upon us
in early afternoon and I headed direct to the dealers to discuss options. The
next day was the forth of July – so it looked like this was where I would be
spending the holiday. First class
service from Luke saw the bike checked in and agreement on what to do (oil and
filter change, plus new rear tyre, in addition to the work on the shock). Much research from Luke confirmed that no
parts would be available from Yamaha in north America, so the first option was
to see if it could be rebuilt. That had
to wait until after the hols, so he rang around local hotels and got me a good
deal for a few days. And then drove me over there and made sure I was checked
in safe and sound. Nice people in
Montana.
I liked Bozeman right
away. It looked just like I expected a
small Montana town to look. You had
great views of nearby hills, and plenty of bars including a local brewery! But you´ll have to wait until next time to hear
about my drunken exploits in the land of the horse whisperer!
Thought for the day
Riding from Rock
Springs I wasn´t able to shrug a thought from my mind, despite the growing
worries over Idris´ state. While
checking out the forecast I picked up the news report of a mother who had
beaten her child to death with a hammer.
What the *$%&.!! Beat her own
child... with a hammer... to death!! I had seen some sights in the developing
nations where children were deprived of their childhood through cultural (in)difference
and/or economic necessity. But here in
the wealthiest country in the world, children are still at risk. This child had been deprived of its childhood...
permanently! I was reminded of statements issued by Unicef
noting that violence against children was not the sole province of poor
countries. I also recalled reports that one fifth of children in the US are living below the poverty line. Tough facts to take in. And tough measures are needed to address
them.
When Unicef talks about the rights
of the child, I don´t see that as overly empowering children to be able to
dictate to parents what they should and should not do, but more about
developing our societies across the whole of this marvellous globe in such a
way that protects the basics of that childhood.
Children have the right to an upbringing that provides a safe, healthy
and loving environment – where all of them have the opportunity to develop,
gain an education, and reach their life potential. A mother beating her own child to death with
a hammer really hit home to me that the job is far from over, that more needs
to be done, and that more needs to be done in every country of the world. Unicef does this, so please help me help them
help all of those that need it... and
think seriously about giving a small (or large) donation to take that
forward. See the links on the top right
of this website for more information and how to donate. The price of a beer or two can change a
life. Think about it... then act!
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