Getting warmer

If this post is a touch haphazard it is because we have just completed an eight day stretch, riding more than a thousand kilometres over the Teton Mountains, in and out of Flaming Gorge and a dizzying amount of climb and descent, much of it in gusting headwinds; the brain has been alternately frozen and fried.  We're now in Utah and since we left Montana we've zipped through Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado with ever changing landscapes of high dessert, mountain, forest and now the spectacular canyon lands.

Yellowstone National Park was a fabulous highlight and four of us hired a car to make the most of our day there.  Francine is a wonderful organiser and had us breakfasted, equipped with a fine picnic and on the road by seven.  We did the recommended circuit backwards, starting at an almost deserted 'Paintpot', a heaving, bubbling volcanic area of hot pools, steaming vents and beautifully coloured salt crusts.  It was magical in the morning light and looking across to the mountains beyond we could see herds of bison grazing peacefully. 

Next the Yellowstone Grand Canyon with spectacular falls and extraordinary rock formations showing the ancient folds and striations, all the different layers eroded irregularly over millennia.  In a ramshackle nest on top of a central pinnacle an osprey preened, apparently oblivious to a fascinated audience and eventually swooped effortlessly away towards the falls.

The Osprey

The finale was 'Old Faithful', a geyser that erupts generously, predictably and frequently, the perfect feature for a tourist attraction!  The whole of Yellowstone is an ancient caldera with geysers, acidic pools, seething  mud and all the lively characteristics of an active volcanic area.  It was mildly unnerving to learn that the entire floor heaves up and down measurably every year. 

We liked some of the smaller geysers performing modestly away from the crowds

The 'Morning Glory' pool 

Speaking of volcanoes, I recall almost daily a moment from the Africa ride.  About halfway through Ethiopia, a normally affable Dutchman became ominously quiet, his expression suggesting a dark interior dialogue.  At the routine rider meeting one evening our leader once again described the next day's route as having 'rolling hills'.  The Dutchman erupted.  'Rollink hillz - zeez are not rollink hillz, zeez are bloody mountainz' and in a wonderfully John Cleese moment said it for us all!

Back in the USA!  Wildlife sightings have included a caribou bathing, a fluffy caramel-coloured baby bison and otherwise humbler critters - three indeterminate snakes, many prairie dogs outnumbered only by rabbits, a few skunk, a bald eagle, pairs of softly spoken grey jays, several ospreys; I remain utterly moose-less.  We went through the village of Dinosaur, so called because it is in the centre of an area where some of the earliest fossil remains and prints have been found.  In true American style they've maxed out on the dinosaur theme and malevolent looking plastic replicas lurk everywhere dwarfing gardens and forecourts.

Caribou  

Here in Moab the temperature is in the thirties and it's hard to credit that less than a week ago I crushed ice as I stuffed my tent in the morning and we were all frozen to the marrow for the first couple of hours riding despite layers and hotshots.  Heat is now going to be the biggest challenge and early starts and ample fluids essential as we head on south to Monument Valley.  I'll return to the canyon lands in my next post when I've sorted yesterday's photographs.

Millimetres matter on a bike.  I'd had a few odd twinges in my back and neck and the other evening realised that the cleat on my left shoe had slid backwards.  I picked and scraped the hard encrusted mud out of the Allen key sockets sufficiently to get purchase but to no avail and in the morning asked Liam, our good-natured mechanic, if he could have a go.  Before 6am, still on his first cup of coffee, he not only solved the problem but lent me a 'courtesy' shoe while he did so!

Bit rowdy but very comfy...

And that must be all for now.  Once again, posting was delayed for technical reasons but our next stop is in Flagstaff, in a hotel so with luck Canyonlands and Monument Valley will be up soon.

So long

Viv x