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Hi guys. I am sure you are just about ready for another care package....Take care and peddle safe!
Sheila Flint

Hywel is getting a little obsessed with these..

Updated pics..

Chris with 'energy drink'

Chris without 'energy drink'

On our way to Beaverdam

Harriet descending Fleecer Ridge

Chris on lower section of Fleecer Ridge

Hywel tries one of Pat's Bear bullets for size

Harriet riding 4 miles in a straight line

Road from Bannack to Morrison Lake

Chuck Norris at Lima

Our long held fears confirmed...

Tattoos seemed like a good idea at the time..

Lunchstop on road to Lakeview

Antics on divide crossing No. 6

West Yellowstone

We are in West Yellowstone - just outside of Yellowstone National Park. We have travelled about 1000 miles since leaving Banff on 28th July. The journey south from Helena has taken us through some quite remote areas, and has resulted in us meeting some interesting characters along the way.

First mention has to go to Ian who we met at a campsite in Basin several nights back. Ian was a man in his 60s who was in town in order to take part in a shooting competition the next day. He was kind enough to not only show us his small armory of weapons, but also allowed us to play with them too - even Hywel. Kate has some photos kicking around somewhere - I will see if I can get some up at some point.

Second mention goes to Mike Williams from the bike shop in Helena. Mike's customer care knew no bounds. Having had enough of her trailer, Harriet wished to switch to racks and panniers. Unfortunately, the required racks were not available in town. As a result, Mike offered to take delivery of the panniers and drive them to our camp in Butte the next evening. Not only did he do that, but he also agreed to take responsibility for shipping the discarded trailer back to the UK. Mike was a top bloke.

On our way to Beaver Dam campground a day or so later we met a solitary walker - Jim . Jim was a retired chemical engineer who was walking the great divide route from the Mexican border to Canada. He had been on the road since May and was expecting to finish his stroll in September. It was somewhat reassuring to meet someone even more mental than ourselves in terms of the physical task being undertaken - at least we get to roll down the mountains.

Last but not least there was Pat and Nancy. We met them while we were sheltering/cowering from the heat of the midday sun outside a small mercantile store in Wise River. They were camping some 10 miles south of Wise River along the same route that we were to travel that afternoon, and invited us to drop in on their camp on our way past. This completely by chance meeting resulted in us being provided with shower facilities and being entertained all evening with food, wine and endless stories about their own travels and (formerly) delinquent children. In the end we stayed all night and were treated to breakfast too. They were great. I particularly liked them because they relentlessly took the mickey out of Hywel for all sorts of things...

The current plan is to remain in West Yellowstone for a few days before heading on south, so the SPOT signal is not going to change location until about Tuesday. Harriet and Kate have sorted out a hire car which will allow us to see more of Yellowstone National Park than we will be able to get to by bike alone. At the moment nobody actually wants to drive the thing, mainly because none of us actually understand how American intersections work! Any pointers will be gratefully appreciated.

Good to see you're doing so well: keep it up. Love the beards! I'm dead jealous.

Is that Butte as in buttee (sandwich), butte as in butt (arse) or Butte as in beaut (Australian for lovely)?

Updated pics....

Montana washboard gravel

Montana roadside sign.

Ben & Kevin with their 'Nepo' flag

Morning stretches....

Afternoon snoozes.

Gunslinger Cafe in Ovando

Harriet re-enacting bear event No. 1

Coopers Lake/Bike wash

Hywel's tent at Coopers Lake

Not entirely sure what Chris did to deserve this

Continental Divide crossing No. 1

Continental Divide crossing No.2

Continental Divide crossing No.3 (Priest Pass)

Helena

We are in Helena, Montana. It is one of the larger towns we visit on this ride with a population of about 27,000. Riding into town with so many people and so much traffic yesterday afternoon was a little surreal after spending so many days riding in the middle of nowhere with just animals for company. We stumbled across the world's cheapest motel within spitting distance of downtown, and the nice lady who runs it doesn't even mind us keeping bikes in our rooms. After spending a few hours doing some laundry,and having my first shower in 8 days, we went off to eat (where Chris blagged a free desert by pretending it was his birthday). For some obscure reason that I still can't quite work out, 4 of us then went off to the cinema to watch Mama Mia (something to do with Sarah Tudor telling Hywel that it was 'really good'). If anyone reading this is even remotely contemplating watching it - don't. It is dire. How we weren't thrown out within the first 10 minutes for laughing I don't know.

Anyway, within 24 hrs of writing the last post on this blog I was unfortunate enough to see bear No2 of the trip. We were heading up a 4.5 mile climb through some woodland an hour or two out of Lincoln. I was riding up front some 4-5 minutes ahead of Hywel and Andy - the others being further back again. As I was riding along I heard a noise to my left. I looked across to see an adult black bear some 10 metres off the trail. I remember thinking - oh, it's a bear. I stopped and we stared at each other for a few moments until it turned and ambled away up the hillside away from me. I figured that I ought to warn the others about it so walked back down the trail, following the progress of the bear on the hillside as I did so. By the time Hywel and Andy came into view the bear had disappeared into the undergrowth on the mountain above us. Having now seen 2 bears I am completely convinced that I really don't need to see anymore.

Tomorrow we head for Basin and on towards Butte the day after that. The map suggests that we have some tough riding in store. Fortunately, we are not yet in Colorado - Kate told us a little earlier that the area we are riding through there has been hit by snow : )