Let me tell you a little story about a huge buffalo and about 26 little riders. So we got up at 5am (MOUNTAIN TIME which means we’re really out west and we rode our bikes here!!!). And I realized a little that I have a little sleep hangover from not sleeping the night before. And I was CRANKY. At route meeting I looked around and realized that I was in the mood to ride with/talk to exactly 0 people in this whole group. That is not a good way to wake up when you know you have a 95 mile day of climbing hills ahead of you.
So I took off by myself in full fleece arm and leg warmers. It was freezing when we woke up and ate breakfast. People were hiding in the bathroom under the hand dryer. This information is just in case you wanted to know.
I get about 2 miles up the park exit road to see most of our team stopped on the road. I am wondering why, and then I scan the area around them. There is a buffalo looming on a ledge about 20 feet away from my baby brother and some other riders. Ummmmmm….they didn’t teach us how to deal with this at leader retreat. Apparently, a few of the riders saw the buffalo and rode on anyway, and the creature trotted after them for a moment before giving up (and probably realizing there were more of us to mess with behind him or her). One thing we learned in New Town was that if we see a buffalo, it’s best to get off our bikes and walk. They are used to dealing with cars, and some walkers, but that they will probably chase us on our bikes, and they can go 35mph. We are probs not going 35mph up the hill behind them. And also, I am not going to walk by a buffalo beside the bike they recognize as foreign, I certainly cannot walk/run 35 mph. So we waited. And then I heard Michael call out that there was another buffalo on the other side of him. And they just moved closer for a while. I mean seriously, what do you do as a leader (or rider for that matter) if a buffalo starts charging the entire group? I am not equipped to deal with this.
Luckily after about 20-30 minutes of waiting, the original buff crossed the road and went down into a valley to play (I presume) with the other buff. So the first group of riders kicked it up the hill, and myself and the last group rode slowly behind the cover of the van and trailer. It was odd to say the least, and made me in a bit of a better mood. I mean I just escaped the craziest buff attack in history, right? I had to be in a good mood after that.
The climbing that I thought would be so hard turned out to be cake, and the first 20 miles was rolling hills, at an average speed of like 18-20. Not bad, especially when you’re dreading a long ride. I rode with Liz and Kristen most of the day, and Kristen had an epiphany on her bike behind me, which was this:
“This is amazing. I can’t believe I’m riding my bike across North Dakota right now”. No I know, this seems like an obvious thought we should be over by now since we’ve been on the bikes for 6 weeks now. But there are some moments when you are having a great ride, and the awesomeness of what we’re doing just hits you. And now we’re in Montana, and it’s hilly and beautiful. Today’s ride was one of the best of this trip. It was long and hot as hates, but the hills were great, and even though it’s sometimes scary when a tractor trailer passes you, it gives you a good push if the wind is right. And it was today. Liz and I talked our way to Culbertson after lunch, and were glad to get out of the sun. Day 3 of 11 you were fantastic and I love you.
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