Sept 21st to 23rd Drive from Livingston to Montreal

The car was fixed and we were on our way by 11am. We kept an eye on the temperature gauge as we drove through Montana, North Dakota (Tuesday night in Bismarck), Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan (Wednesday night in Marquette), Sault Ste Marie, Ontario and arrived home at midnight Thursday. So, that’s it, 2653km and 21596m of hill climbing in fantastic countryside. Thank you all for following us and we hope you enjoyed the ride. We will produce a book of the blog and use more of the pictures we have and all being well you should get a chance to see it some time in the next few months. Until the next tour………. TG & TB

Sept 20th: Mammoth Hot Springs to Livingston 96km 251m

Gardiner, Montana

Today is our last day.  With just a coffee and a granola bar for breakfast we were on the road by 7:15.  We exited Yellowstone Park after 5 km and passed through Gardiner, a real western looking town.  Our route followed the Yellowstone River to Livingston, so it was downhill all the way.  With the wind at our backs we flew down the highway at an average speed of 30kph.  It was 55km before we stopped for breakfast.  After breakfast we continued non-stop to Livingston and back to our car.   We arrived in Livingston shortly after noon.

We disassembled the bikes, packed them into the car and headed back to Montreal.  Within 15 miles we had a broken-down car and we flagged down some locals.  The local tow truck recommended Larry’s Foreign Car Service and there we went.  Larry looked at our car and diagnosed a seized alternator.  The parts had to be shipped overnight, so his wife Cornice arranged a ride to a hotel and we over-nighted in Livingston.  

Delivery to Larry's Foreign Auto Service

Sept. 19th: Canyon Village to Mammoth Hot springs 59km 499m

Norris Geyser  Basin

Tim G’s shoulder injury seems to have recovered after last night’s cure. On our last day in the park we rode to Mammoth Hot Springs via Norris. We stopped to look at the Norris Geyser Basin, but it paled in comparison to the Old Faithful area. When we resumed the journey we were heading north beside the Gardiner River, with a tailwind. It was the gentlest 30km we rode all week. Unfortunately we were going so fast we broke the speed limit and when we stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs we received a lecture from a ranger about obeying the traffic rules. We agreed to comply.

Steam Vent - Norris Geyser Basin

Mammoth Hot Springs Upper Basin

Mammoth Hot Springs -Upper Basin

 

Sept. 18th: Grant Village to Canyon Village 79km 730m

Natural Bridge

The price for everything in Yellowstone park has been high so we were pleased to find an all you can eat buffet breakfast to start the day.  It had all our favourite breakfast items and included a bottomless cup of coffee.  We hit the road rather late. 

Our first stop was a natural stone bridge followed by the mud volcano area.  The mud volcano area was impressive, but the pictures of mud looked just like mud.  When we arrived near Canyon we rode to the viewing points along the south and north rims of the canyon.  The Yellowstone river flows through a canyon of high rock walls.  The colouration in the rock was a surprise – bright yellows and reds.   It was an impressive sight.

Yellowstone Canyon

    

When we planned the trip I had read that cycling in the park was difficult.  This has proved true.  The traffic is heavy, the roads are poor quality and the shoulders are narrow.  I have ridden off the road twice so far due to narrow shoulders, but until today we have had no serious mishaps.  Our luck ended today.  As we were crossing a bridge we were overtaken by a camper van.  I was startled by the blast of air as the van just missed me.  TimG was 10 meters ahead of me and the van hit him in the shoulder.  TimG was lucky to maintain his balance and neither of us fell.  The driver pulled over about 200 meters up the road and was checking his mirror (which was broken) when we arrived.  He said he wasn’t used to such a big vehicle, pointed out the mirrors were really wide, and blamed us for being on the road.  I took his picture, with the van’s licence number, and we carried on.   We waved down the first ranger we saw and he wrote up a report.  Then we had lunch.  TimG is suffering from a bruised shoulder, so as a preventive measure I made sure he drank lots of alcohol to deaden the pain and improve the blood flow to the injured shoulder.