I have covered almost 1 400 km in the last two days, riding from Cochrane in Canada, to Cody in Wyoming…
Full updates on my rides will follow, but for now, just a few words and photos to keep you in the loop…
Gabriella and Vinnie Ricci bid me farewell outside their home in Cochrane… Vinnie made a short ride with me as far as Bragg Creek… I think he was making sure I was leaving town, as I had kept him up until long after midnight on each of the three nights I stayed at his home…!! Sorry Gabbi…!!
There were a few points on interest worth mentioning about the last two days of course, most notable being the ride through Glacier National Park in Montana on the first day, and today’s ride through Yellowstone National Park…
We entered the Yew-ess-aye in the cleanest condition we had been in for some time… The Big Fella; thanks to the efforts of Vinnie and Mark; and my kit, thanks to Gabriella’s washing machine…!!
At the entrance to the Glacier National Park, I hooked up with Ian Farguson, who would ride with me for a good portion of the day….
The blurry foreground was probably caused by high wind… It had nothing to do with the fact that we were bombing along at 130 km/h in a National Park…!!
Nearing the top of Logan’s Pass and the Continental Divide… We were up at 2 525 m, and patches of snow were draped on the flanks of many of the mountains…
Logan’s Pass snakes its way down into the valley below… A great ride, marginally spoiled by the traffic that we had to contend with…
Ian on his Honda 1200, waves me goodbye as he heads for Kalispell, and I turn south for Missoula…
I was also briefly detained by the Sheriff of a small town called Wye, who strongly objected to my overtaking on double yellow lines…!! Go figure…!! Luckily, after much consultation, it was decided to let me off with a stern warning, which I have taken to heart… (And if you believe that one, you’re more gullible than I thought…!!)
The Grinder Girls of Cardwell… They were keen to hear about my journey, and their Mom Julie arrived just as I was leaving… If you’re looking for a good cup of coffee just off the Interstate 90, then Grinder’s Espresso in Cardwell is the place to go…!! Tell them the Gypsy Biker sent you…!!
I had to cover over 400 km between Missoula and Yellowstone before I entered the Western gate of the park…
I stopped in the small farming village of Cardwell, and bought a mug of coffee from a small mobile coffee shop I noticed as I passed through…
I met and chatted to the four Grinder sister’s who were either working in the coffee “shop” or had popped in to visit while I was chatting to their older sisters…
I spent far longer than I normally would have for a short coffee break, but enjoyed the girl’s company, and took almost an hour to sip my coffee and answer their polite questions…
About 200 km further south, I entered the small town of West Yellowstone, and joined the long queue of cars waiting to enter this world-famous Park…
While the scenery in Glacier National Park the day before was more spectacular than that of Yellowstone, I thoroughly enjoyed my long ride through this park today…
I spent a good deal of my time watching the geysers “blow”, and then rode sedately through to the eastern gate, covering the 150 odd kilometres in about three hours…
My, but the Big Fella gets around…!!
Out on Geyser Flats, things were getting steamy…!!
Another geyser erupts, spraying boiling water and steam high into the air… A very impressive sight…!!
“Hand me the soap and my towel, please…!! There’s a good chap…!!”
Apart from this lone Bison, I saw three Elk and a White-Tailed Deer… And 479 million pine trees….!! If you’re in to Botany, head for Yellowstone…!!
The road from Fisher’s Bridge inside the Park to its eastern entrance, is a bikers paradise… Too bad about the speed limit…!!
The road through the Shoshone State Forest to Cody, is just as good, and the speed limit is higher…!! A great way to spend the last of my ten hours on the road today…
The North Fork Highway from Yellowstone to Cody, winds its way through a range of sandstone mountains… It reminded me of Golden Gate back in SA….
The Buffalo Bill Reservoir lies just west of Cody…. A series of tunnels has been blasted through the mountain in the background to shorten the distance one has to travel to Cody from Yellowstone…
Wyoming is cattle country, and Cody epitomizes this… Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley performed here in this town, and his likeness adorns many of the building in this town which was named after him…
Finding a room in any of the Cody hotels wasn’t easy…!! I was lucky enough to get one at my fourth attempt… The Western Six Gun Motel is run by a grumpy old man who should not have been dealing with the public…!! He was both unhelpful and rude when it came to enquiries about the internet… I had to give him a stern talking to before he backed down and called the owner of the motel to get the Username for their network…!!
The main street in town is lined with Harley’s and about a dozen of them are booked in here with me… The roads were filled with bikers today, and the weather was perfect for riding in… There are Australians, Germans, French and Dutch riders here on their BMW’s, so I am not completely outnumbered…!!
Tomorrow I ride to Keystone in South Dakota, to see Mount Rushmore, and if I have time, I might pop in to Sturgis to see the end of the biggest biker rally in North America…
GB
Cody, Wyoming.
For me, your ride has been so inspirational. I have been Blessed to see you evolve from what used to be the Dark Destroyer into the Gypsy Rider. Over the years, you seem to have alternated between the two, but I firmly believe that you have come out on the other side far better than when you started. I thank God for you, your family and the lovely Patricia – I am excited for the new beginning you have been granted and look forward to many more happy stories along the way.
Hey Mark… Thanks for the kind words, they mean a lot to me, as well as the support you have always shown for what I have been doing… As soon as the rand get to a 4 : 1 ratio against the Ozzie Dollar, I will be back to see you…!! Ha…!! R.
Hey, Ronnie! We are the couple that roomed beside you in that lil cowboy motel in Cody! I’d like to know how to post our pic we took of you and Mark. Enjoyed meeting you Ronnie and look forward to following your journey!! Please look up my son in Brooklyn. He is expecting you!