All in a Day's Work

Day 22

Ennis, MT to West Yellowstone, MT

Distance: 73 miles

RVs performing dodgy overtaking manoeuvres: too many

New tyres: one

In some respects, now that I’m into a routine, getting up this morning seemed a little like another “day in the office”, just a very large and beautiful office.

Panniers three-quarter packed overnight waiting for last minute additions of items that are used in the morning; water bottles soaked and ready for the addition of PowerAde bought the night before; cycling clothes laid out with “DZ Nuts Bliss” my favourite chamois cream for girls (TMI); mat positioned on the wooden floor for my morning stretching routine; sun cream… damn, sun cream… I don’t have enough left (and I will admit to a close call with the SPF lip balm Valerie kindly sent me in my treasure trove of miniatures  - before I squinted at the small print just in time).

But luckily for me, THE breakfast place to go in Ennis, open from 6am, and serving fantastic eggs and the works is also the local pharmacy! And so while my over-easies with sausage patty and hash browns were sizzling away on the griddle, I was selecting my Neutrogena sun cream, and reminding myself not to be tempted to buy anything else that I don’t really need (damn pharmacies).

With a full tummy, ice-cold bottles and a spare in the pannier, suitably slathered with SPF, wheels were rolling by 8.30am into a beautiful, blue morning, with just a hint of a delicious chill in the air to temper the sunshine. 

The wind was kind to me and, although I was climbing gradually the whole way from around 4,500ft to 6,500ft, I was keeping a steady pace and generally quite chuffed with life. Until I passed the first café marked on my map around 36 miles in, which didn’t open until 4pm. And then the second at around 42 miles, that was “Closed Mondays”.

It was while I was shaking my bottles and averting my eyes from the heat-haze that I knew was hovering over the road that my saviours arrived. A group of people in a car, which had also pulled in and been “Monday-d”, wound down their windows and asked if I’d like a cold bottle of water to get me to the next stop. I didn’t get their names, but as acts of kindness go, it was right up there.

Rationing my drink through the steeper climb up past “Quake Lake” where an earthquake pulled apart the landscape, including the lake, in the late 1950s, I eventually rolled up to a tiny café in an RV park just over 50 miles into the ride, noticing on my way in that it closed at 2pm and that the Gamine (still nameless) was showing 1.58pm.

Luckily, the café clock was a couple of minutes slower than the Gamine (nobody listens to her anyway – especially not me) and I managed to cram in some food and, thankfully, a trough-full of liquid before setting off again.

The last nine miles were cruel, with a persistent head wind, a constant stream of RVs passing far too close and doing all manner of other dangerous things that I won’t go into here, but eventually I arrived in the craziness that is West Yellowstone’s main drag.

Heading straight to the bike shop before it closed, I was greeted by Kelli, who proceeded to help me de-grit and re-grease my chain and cogs (and gave me a spare rag since I’d thrown my last one away). Inspecting my tyres while I sipped on an iced mocha from the coffee bar there, we also decided that the back one was on its last legs and, since she had the exact tyre I was using, I let Kelli do the change for me. What would probably have taken me a good twenty minutes took Kelli less than five, and I pedalled off happily into the evening sunshine.

After checking into my comfortable and well-equipped motel, I headed off to the local Laundromat and just managed to sneak a wash and dry in before they closed. Dinner of Thai Calamari and Padang Chicken, washed down with a glass of Riesling, and back via the supermarket for water and breakfast goods for my early start tomorrow.

Some days, it just works. I won’t take it for granted. But I will be grateful, and I will celebrate by giving myself some beautiful blue roadside wild flowers to end the day.

Me x