Sunday’s ride stared in Lodge Pass, Montana and ended in Billings with an exhilarating 2 mile curvy downhill after a steep climb up through a gulch. What goes up, thankfully must come down at least in bicycling. 🙂 We did 87 miles at a blistering pace averaging over 20 mph for major parts of the journey to have time to shower and change to join some rowdy fans in Billings for the US-Portugal World Cup game. Along the way we stopped for an hour and a half to tour Little Big Horn, the site of Custer’s Last Stand. It was a moving experience for me in many ways. The Park Ranger there did an excellent job retelling the background and the “why” leading up to June 25, 1876. The clash of cultures, the strategy, the mistakes and putting faces to the people who sacrificed their lives at Little Big Horn on the highest ground in the area was really riveting for me. The actual battle was over in 20 minutes or so with the Indian Nation winning the battle, but soon losing the war. This picture is taken at the top of the hill on the actual site where Custer had his men shoot their horses to serve as barricades and where most of them lost their lives. The monument in the background marks the gravesite for the enlisted men.
This photo is taken from the monument area looking out at the terrain the Indians traversed.
Just click on the photos and you will be able to view more detail.

Climbing out of the gulch before our final descent into Billings, I rode alongside a young man named Paul for a short ways who was out skateboarding in the middle of nowhere Montana. He was walking up the hill after skating down it as I was climbing the hill on two wheels. That tells you how slow I was going for a while. 🙂 At the end of our conversation, I shared with him that I was riding for him and the Next Generation. He thought that was cool and wished us the best.

At the end of the day we were 70% complete with our journey and it was time to give my sore butt a break. Craig discovered that one of my problems occurred because of a saddle that broke sometime on this journey. The past two days were spent trying out one of Craig’s spares. Breaking in a new saddle on a journey like this is not ideal, but I realize I have my “thorn” and continue to carry it. 🙂

We left Billings after the Soccer match and drove to an RV park in Emigrant, Montana just outside the Northern entrance to Yellowstone National Park. The next two days were spent touring the Grand Daddy of our National Parks: Yellowstone. I really don’t know where to start when describing Yellowstone. This park is far grander than I ever imagined. This park founded in 1872 is simply immense in every way and diverse in geology,terrain and wildlife. The sights are too grand to capture on picture or really paint with words. Suffice it to say that every American should have the opportunity to visit Yellowstone once in their lifetime. When we sing from “sea to shining sea”, Yellowstone alone gives new meaning to those words for me. From Mammoth Springs to Old Faithful, to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, to the mud volcanos we took it all in for two full days. With Elk, Buffalo, black bear, fox and numerous other animals as regular companions we navigated the by ways and were enthralled at most every turn. Here are a few pictures to wet your appetite:
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone which is 20 miles long.

The Prismatic Springs complete with Themophilic bacteria that live at 160 degrees F.

The mud volcano and wow the H2S that brings a smell of “rotten eggs”.

Mammoth Springs near the North Entrance-We saw lots of Elk near this spring both days. Further on down the hill near the park ranger camps we watched a fox focus on his prey (ground squirrels) and capture one in full view of a handful of photographers. He was putting on a show for the cameras!

Tower Falls


Yellowstone Lake

On Monday, we noticed a young man at one of the overlooks on a bike with satchels and struck up a conversation. We learned he is doing a 16 month ride around the world. Rob started in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska last month and is heading to the tip of South America. He will fly to South Africa and bike to northern Africa then across Spain and Europe through Siberia and around the world, a distance of 34,000 miles. That’s only 10 times what we are attempting! He commented that a couple dozen do this each year, but generally they circumnavigate west to east. He decided to do it different going north to south at least part of the way. He is riding for a really good purpose: World Relief. I was captivated by this 20 something, his purpose and his determination. I sensed that I should ask if I could pray for him and his journey. He responded: “Certainly!” So I laid hands on him and prayed. He is a Texan and has two books along with him: The Bible and Saturday Night Lights. He mentioned he had never read the Bible all the way through and intends to do it on this trip.
In many ways this young man represents why I am riding for the Next Generation. I intend to keep track of his progress and continue to pray for this young man. What a journey! (I will load a picture of us later…..)

Finally, one little tidbit I forgot to mention from our trip to Mount Rushmore over a week ago. They sold Thomas Jefferson Ice Cream. Apparently, he ate it in France and loved it then got the recipe and fixed it often for guests at Monticello. I have to tell you that I loved it as well. For the grand sum of $1 I bought the recipe. I have never made ice cream in my life even though that was Dad’s profession. My intention is to borrow the Ewing family ice cream maker and make some Thomas Jefferson Ice Cream for one of the upcoming holidays. This stuff is rich, but oh is it good!