This day was dry and boring. Oh, so boring.
The country was similar to that in Nevada. Nothing but sagebrush (good habitat for the sage grouse) as far as the eye could see.
The Wild West
I was told that the first part of the ride was downhill and then it was downhill all the way to Cody. Well it didn’t quite work out that way. There was a steep, but short, climb out of Red Lodge. No big deal and then it was downhill all the way until the intersection with the Highway I would take into Cody - Highway 72 (it actually changes into Highway 120 in Wyoming). This was really nice to have a downhill all the way to Belfry, MT.
Along the way, I passed the location of the worst mining disaster in Montana history. All that is left is some dilapidated log cabins and the mine-shaft elevator building.
As I descended into Belfry, it dawned on me that I would need water. A lot of water to get me to Cody. And I was only thinking of how much water I might need if the temperature were reasonable, say 75 degrees. I decided to stop in Belfry to get some water. There was really nothing to this town. No store to speak of. So I went to the gas station. Most gas stations have a Coke or Pepsi soda display case. This gas station only had a refrigerator. So I purchased 4 of the smallest-sized bottles. The bill: $2 (approximately 32,000 dong, which is quite expensive, because I was able to purchase one of these bottles for 3,000 dong). In America, $2 is quite a deal. The price of the water lead to a conversation between me and the owner of the gas station (“been working that for more than 30 years”). I also found out that the ride to Cody was not all downhill. Only the last part was downhill. I was told that after the “bench” (whatever that is) there is a climb and then it was downhill all the way to Cody.
Now I went on my merry way. But, I was abruptly stopped by road construction. Of course, here in Wyoming, storm water best management practices are not necessary. I guess they like their rivers muddy. Actually, it had been raining recently and all the rivers I had seen for the past 4 days were brown.
I was told that I couldn’t ride the construction site, which was mostly flat ground, because there were too many heavy vehicles. I didn’t argue, it was getting hot, I wasn’t sure if I had enough water, and I could use a break. So the traffic control flagger found a person who would be willing to drive me to through the project site in his pick up truck. The driver and his buddy were driving from Billings, MT to Cody to do some tile work. It was a pleasant ride - it was 7 miles from the beginning of the job site to the Wyoming border where I took my bike out and kept riding.
Getting in the truck threw me off. The next 10 or so miles were really hard. The weather was hot. The landscape looked like Mars, except not red. It was really dry.
Eventually I climbed out of a river drainage and up to a bluff. One good thing about this drive is that there is really no one out here. The construction site caused the traffic to come in waves, so for 30 minutes at a time there would be no traffic. This helped because initially there were no shoulders on the road. Then I went over a rise and there were the widest shoulders I had seen and there were rumble strips to awaken the drivers from their calm sleep. And the drivers would be sleeping because I was now on the bench. The bench is a 10 mile section of highway that is flat. Except for one slight left hand turn, the bench is entirely straight. I rode 45 minutes and the view didn’t change at all.
The Bench - Looking North
The Bench - Looking South
Every good thing must come to an end and so did the bench. I was tired, bored, hot, and dehydrated. When I came to my rest stop point, Highway 296, the Chief Joseph Highway, I observed two 60 year old men just waiting by the bridge over the river. Eventually another man showed up (“Mr. Belly”). Mr. Belly gave the two 60-year old men three heavy bags. Was this a drug transaction? Here in the dessert? Were these guys smuggling Oxycontin? Before the transaction, I had a chance to speak with the distinguished 60 year olds. One of them (I’ll call him “Lou”) told me that there were 4 hills between here and Cody. To me this meant 4 hard and long climbs. I had only 15 miles to go, so I couldn’t see how there could be 4 long climbs between here and Cody. I mean, what about the long downhill? How would that fit into the 4 long climbs?
Onward, I rode up a slight hill and then up another slight hill. Finally I saw it. I long hill with a steep section at the end. I hoped that there would not be three more of these after this long hill. Fortunately, my wish came true. After ascending this long hill, it was all the way down into Cody.
I could now rest, shower, and take in the sights at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. I guess museum isn’t the correct name. The BBHC consists of 5 museums - the Bill Cody Story, the Nature Museum, the Whitney Art Gallery, the Plains Indian Museum, and the museum of 2,700 firearms (bang bang). Admission was good for two days, so that is why I spent two days in Cody.
Reconciliation
At my campground, I met a biker. A biker rides a Harley. A cyclist is what I am. I had seen many bikers lately. I suffered the noise of their engine roar. Like Peter Hack said when referring to motor boats or the sight-seeing touring boat on Lake Tahoe (the “Skumrunner”), the noise sucked. That’s why a sail boat is so much nicer. Same goes with Harleys. These machines sound like high powered speed boats zooming around the country side. These things are so noisy that it is common for their drivers to wearplugs.
So, let’s just say that the motorcycle tended to destroy the peace of the back roads. Vroom vroom blup blup blup blup snort snort vroom vroom. You shouldn’t judge a person based on the sound of their engine, but for #$%$, isn’t it possible to make a motorcycle that isn’t so damn noisy? The exhaust from my machine might smell, but it ain’t noisy!
So you could say that I have a dim view of most bikers. I said “most.” At the Ponderosa, I was surrounded by bikers. The Sturgis rally was only a week away and many bikers were traveling around this part of the country waiting and getting revved up for the rally. Sturgis is only a state away. It is held in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Well one nice biker came up to me and we chatted for a while. I went about my business - showering, walking around town, seeing the museum. Later when I returned. This guy said some nice things. He said that he and his buddies had discussed it and they were really impressed that I was doing all this traveling by bike. In fact they said that their motorcycle riding paled in comparison to the effort I made on my bike each day. That was a cool compliment.
Day 24 - Red Lodge to Cody - 62 Miles (by bike), 7 Miles (by truck)
Today’s theme song. Ramones: I wanna to be sedated. "Twenty, twenty, twenty-four hours to go...I want to be sedated. Nothin' to do, nowhere to go. I want to be sedated."
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