Day Fifty-One: Wisdom Didn't Make Me Any Wiser...

Wisdom, MT didn't make me any wiser, but Hamilton, MT is homey.

How do I know Wisdom didn't make me wiser? Well, I started off this morning by chalking the route east, in the opposite direction. Whoops.







Fortunately the groups recovered quickly, noticed the mistake, and everyone got back on route, and I got back to van duty with Caiti. It was a difficult day for water van--take it from me, miles upon miles between the first group and the last group make things difficult. In the end, we had a water cooler that was left on the side of the road for the front team, while Caiti went back 20 miles to pick me up from the previous water stop (from which the back group was just leaving), stolen. Along with some snacks. Frustrated, with a water cooler down, some snacks gone, and patience short, Caiti and I finished the day successfully. Ending with a donated meal from the Hamilton, MT McDonald's didn't hurt either.







It only got better from there. Grace Lutheran Church, our host for the evening, was warm and welcoming, greeting us at their doorstep. They began preparing for dinner while we showered. Dinner was delicious! It was one of the largest dinners we have had yet, with quite a turnout from the community.

Grace Lutheran Church

After we slowed down our eating (which took awhile, 27 hungry cyclists eat at a rapid pace for quite sometime) we decided it was the perfect time to go around, introduce ourselves, and talk about why we're riding the 4K. If I had only known what we were getting ourselves into--the floodgates were opened and soon stories upon stories were pouring forth from ourselves and our hosts, who all had been touched by cancer in someway. And I say "touched" lightly, because many are continually facing cancer throughout the facets of their lives.

The dinner in Hamilton was the heaviest dinner yet, in more ways than one. I have motivation to take me to Seattle and beyond.

This was only round one. Thank you members of Grace Lutheran Church!

Stay Hungry,
James

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Today's efforts were dedicated to Jack Moran, who I pray makes a speedy and full recovery.

Day Fifty: Watching the Skies in Wisdom

Wisdom, MT is such a strange place. There's only a few blocks to this town nestled between the mountains, featuring one saloon, a restaurant, a gas station, and no cellphone reception. In fact, there is no reception anywhere nearby besides a designated "cellphone pull-off" off of 43-West a few miles away. Ironically enough, both the saloon and the restaurant have wifi. Oh yeah, there's one more building, the community center, which is where we'll be staying tonight.








As it turns out we're now on an Adventure Cycling route, so we've run into some pretty cool cyclists along our way. Some of the people we've met on the road today are camping here in Wisdom tonight. They've been chill, helpful, and fun to ride beside.









Tonight, after making a pasta dinner, we laid out in a roofless structure across the street to watch the night sky. It was nice to just lay out under the stars and gaze, letting the mind wander from light to light, tracing the deep purple sky.






By 12 am I was content and decided to move back inside before I got too cold. I'm tired from today's long ride and will certainly sleep well.

'Til Tomorrow,
James

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Today was dedicated to the staff and volunteers from the hospital auction that we met yesterday. They generously fed us and allowed us to speak about our mission. Meeting a cancer survivor there was especially heartwarming.

Day Forty-Nine: Sharing Causes in Sheridan, MT

The route to Sheridan solidified what I had heard: Montana is BEAUTIFUL. I'll let you judge for yourself:

Cloudy peaks visible from our host's home.

How all roads are lined in MT.

Peak after peak overshadow Earthquake lake.

And sometimes there are rivers too...

But most of Montana is mountainous.

Mountainous and beautiful!

The ride to Sheridan was easier than the last few rides, a little more flat. It still had some climbs and some descents, though. Overall it was a great day, which was made even better when we ran into an ongoing charity auction/dinner for a local hospital. When we told them about our organization and cause they invited us to eat their leftovers--something 27 cyclists can easily accomplish. We even got to speak briefly about the 4K. Spreading awareness with dessert makes for a successful day.

After a long day of cycling, Team Seattle enjoys story time in the public school library.

If all of Montana is like today, I won't mind the 11 days in this state one bit.

Taking in the Magic of the Mountains,

James

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Today was dedicated to our warm, welcoming hosts from last night, Scott and Alice, as well as Casey's step-brother and his wife for their generous food donations.

Day Forty-Eight: Waiting for West Yellowstone

Yellowstone was wonderful but after two nights of camping with 26 other people I was more than ready to leave. I was ready to get on my bike and pedal out of the park rapidly.

Except, we couldn't bike out of the park today. It was a matter of safety--winding, narrow roads, no shoulders, crazy RVs, and bison (bison in the midst of their mating season). The park ranger reiterated the dangers to our ride director, while I reminded him of last year's story of shuttling through herds of buffalo. So, putting riders' safety first, we decided to shuttle out of Yellowstone to our next host in West Yellowstone.

The only problem was that one group would have to hang back and wait for the second shuttle. I was in that luckily group, and  here are all the sights from those few precious hours hanging around Yellowstone:

Yellowstone national land bridge.

View of Yellowstone from the top of the land bridge.

Yellowstone canyon waterfall.

The stone after which Yellowstone is named.

After waiting til about 2:30pm, we were picked up by the van and began the final shuttle out of Yellowstone. Along the way we saw buffalo, bears and elk. I fell asleep during the van ride and woke up just in time to catch the Montana state line:

Welcome to West Yellowstone, MT!

Our host tonight, Scott W. is the local Fire Chief and has generally opened his home to all 27 of us. His wife was kind enough to fix us dinner (and as we're told breakfast tomorrow as well). I wanted to give a very special thank you to both of them for showing us true hospitality!

Tomorrow we'll be back on our bikes and heading to Sheridan, MT. I hear Montana is one of the most beautiful states and I cannot wait to see if this holds true.

Preparing to Pedal Again,

James

Day Forty-Seven: 24 "Rest" Hours in Yellowstone

A photo blog of 24 hours in Yellowstone National Park, beginning with the evening of day 46 and ending with the evening day 47:

Boats docked down by the lakeside general store.

We ate and hung out along the lake shoreline, purple mountains loomed in the distance as the sun set.

We hiked through the woods the following morning.

The afternoon sun warmed us through the trees as we ascended.

The hike to the summit was worthwhile.

The best way to end a night camping-- with friends around a campfire.

That's just a sense of the past 24 hours here in Yellowstone. Tomorrow we leave the park for the nearby town of West Yellowstone and officially cross the border into Montana!

Moving Mountains to Montana,

James

Day Forty-Six: Yes! We've made it to Yellowstone!

I decided to take van duty going into Yellowstone (I wish the van's windshield hadn't been so dirty so my pictures from inside the van would be clearer). There were three reasons for this: 1. I was due for a van duty and decided that I wanted to be able to maintain control over what days I am in the van. 2. I yearned to ride over Big Horn, and got to do so, therefore I knew I would be getting in the van around Yellowstone. 3. Yellowstone was going to be a tough day for the van and I felt competent in my ability to manage the chaos.

Heading through tunnels on our way to the Yellowstone entrance.

The breathtaking lakeside route to Yellowstone

I was right, and I remain satisfied with my decision. As it turns out, we had to be shuttled into Yellowstone. It was cheaper (we only had to pay for two vans rather than two vans and 24 individual bikes) and safer (the roads are windy, lack shoulders, and are bustling with insane American tourists in RVs too big for their own good).

We weren't even in Yellowstone; the route improved in scenery as we approached...

Casey I headed out of Cody after the riders left the church. Stopping to attempt a food donation from the local Walmart (which was a huge waste of time, although we did get coffee out of it so maybe it wasn't so bad after all), the clock ticked away. We had to be efficient today; the plan was to rush into Yellowstone, drop off the bags, the food and the tents (and me) and then head back to the park entrance where the riders would meet the van and be shuttled in. Plus, this shuttling would have to occur twice. It was a lengthy drive from the park entrance to the camp ground so time was truly of the essence.

Snow peaks are present as we climb into Yellowstone National Park.

Forest fires take their toll on an area of the park.

Casey and I checked into the campground and unpacked the van. Before long it was time to go start the first round of shuttling and I--the "city boy" was left in Yellowstone, alone, without cell reception, with five campsites, nine tents, 30 duffle-bags, 30 backpacks, some bikes, two tarps, and boxes of food and supplies. What was my job? To set up the tents. The boy who never camped before now had to set up camp.

And just as Casey pulled away, the thunder and lightning started.

Like the cannon shot that preempts a race, I was jolted by the thunder into protecting all the luggage from the elements. Running around the campsite we deemed as HQ, I gathered all belongings, stacking them into a pyramid and covering them with our two tarps. Except, the tarps had no desire to remain on the pyramid, dancing in the wind and rendering themselves useless. Naturally, I got creative, staking the corners of the tarps into the ground and adding weight to the top using pots, pans, and a hammer.

And by the time it was complete, it had never rained more than a drizzle, the clouds had passed, and the sun was beginning to show. I decided to just leave the setup alone in the off chance that another rouge storm appeared.

I quickly organized the food, taking inventory of what we had for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next few days while brainstorming different meal ideas. 

Then I set off to set up the tents, rain-flies and all. Luckily I had previous experience setting up these tents thanks to our stay in Mitchell, SD (when I slept in the tent in the back yard). I did stop a few times and check how Casey had set up the first two. Mimicking his method of which lines of the rain-fly were staked and which weren't, I completed two tents by the time the first shuttle of riders had arrived. They all laughed as I came walking up from a nearby campsite, hammer in hand, dirt on my shorts, and sweat on my brow.

Camp was looking good and this city boy didn't look so city anymore.

Dinner the first night: a donated frozen pizza becomes a campfire calzone.

Check back to hear more about Yellowstone, as we'll be spending a rest day here tomorrow.

Taking Back Tent City,

James

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 Today's efforts were dedicated to my brother, who I am reminded of all throughout Yellowstone. We definitely need to go camping together in the future. Hearing all these stories along the way about life, death and cancer survival have made me appreciate the time I get to spend with those I love; and have made me wonder why I haven't gone camping with my brother already!

Day Forty-Five: Coasting to Cody

Yesterday's climb through the Big Horns wore us out, but there's no rest for the weary on the 4K. We started another day with the sunrise:

The sunrise over the Wyoming plains. Another day begins!

Luckily, today was a much easier day than yesterday, but just as beautiful:

Views from the route. Wyoming is fantastic. Take a good look at the white, puffy clouds that hang over the mountains in the distance.

Tired, but determined, we made it to Cody, practically coasting compared to yesterday's climbing. We new we had to check out the rodeo that night, it was one of our last opportunities to catch a rodeo. The sun was setting as I arrived, and it was a beautiful sunset behind a mountain:

The sun sets over Cody, Wyoming.

My first time at a rodeo!

Tomorrow we head into Yellowstone. We're all really excited for it; it's supposed to be a beautiful ride. I'm excited to have more camping experience and opportunities for hiking. Who knows what new sights are to be found?

Yearning for Yellowstone,

James

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Today's ride was dedicated to Maureen Moran, a beloved grandmother, mother, and wife who bravely battled with cancer. I never had the fortune of meeting her, but I have learned so much about her through her family. I can see the her light and love continuously weave itself into their lives.