old faithful

Today I decided to start my 2007 bike season. And to start it I decided to ride to Old Faithful from here in West Yellowstone. A good 30 miles. The road started as really hard packed snow, then eventually changed into just plain road. The snow/ice was actually quite nice, not a whole lot slower then the blacktop. Anyways eventually I had to pee, so I stopped and peed of a bridge while watching some elk. Then once I started riding again the elk got spooked and ran into the road in front of me and stood there. Needless to say I had to stop and let them do whatever they want. After a minute they took off and I continued. Saw some buffalo off in the distance and blocking the road too. They make surprisingly good road blocks. Eventually I came to a climb and for the next 16 miles I went in the general direction of up. Not steep, once in a while flat or a little down, but none the less generally up. Along the way I started to see geysers and hot springs and all that kinda fun thing. Eventually I got to Old Faithful, and the had to wait 90 minutes for it to go off. The usual interval between eruptions is 94 minutes. I am so lucky. After that I cruised back the 30 miles. Taking a few detours to check out some other interesting things. Since I was the only one around I could do anything I wanted, like ride my bike on the board walks I wasnt supposed to and pee on hot springs. Good times...My total ride time was 4 hrs 18 min. It was only about 1000 feet verticle change, but I think the altitude was really hitting me. Once back I veged out for a bit, it was great.