National Bicycle Vacation

July 23, 2012

I am pleased to inform you that my family and I have survived enjoyed our vacation time out west. But now I am back and you will be subjected able to perusinge some snotty blogging if you so wish. What has been going on? Really? Neat. Well, let me interject that on our pastoral journey I did encounter many bicycles and bicyclers, primarily of the sporty variety. Many of these were in 2 of our nation's 58 national parks.

Many outfitters will get you spinning around a NP.

It appears that many bicyclists have signed up with an outfitter and/or packed up some panniers in order to travel about the national parks on 2 wheels. There are even a few routes that are open to bicyclers that are not on the main roads. Here is one that I encountered at Yellowstone.

It is an old, paved, service road that leads to Lone Star Geyser (near Old Faithful). I appreciate the park service legalizing bicycling on this road, because it was inhabited by a sizable (and hungry) mosquito population during our excursion. Luckily we got there in time to witness the eruption of the LSG (which apparently only occurs about every 4 hours).

We did some camping. Tent camping was prohibited on the Montana side of Shoshone National Forest, possibly due to the presence of bear (pronounced "BAARR!"). We saw a black bear mother and cub from the safety of our vehicle during our visit to Yellowstone. I tried to get a photo, but I was excitedly yelling "BAAR!" loudly enough that it was impossible for me to get a decent shot. I did get this shot of the back of a ranger who was trying to dissuade overzealous would-be bear photographers from endangering themselves and others by their ardent pursuit of the mother and child.

At the 1880 Town in Murdo, South Dakota, I observed one somewhat old timey bicycle in the Diner Car.

I enjoyed the buildings that comprised the town, as they were mostly buildings that were actually in use in the 1880s. Costume rentals were available for a reasonable $5 each. Free carriage rides. The McNasty brothers performed some comedy and music at the saloon. I put in a suggestion for 1880 bicycle rentals (e.g., an American Star

or American velocipede, as described here) in the comments section of the visitors log.

Now that I am back home, I have started a batch of ginger beer and put some of our gear back into storage.

Here is a Tuesday night ride that starts at Aksarben Village's Stinson Park at 6 p.m. and wends its casual way to the Pizza Shoppe for some comedy, drinks, pizza, etc. Proceeds from raffle tickets for a New Belgium Bike will go towards the Community Bicycle Project Omaha. Sounds like a good time. Let's do it! I'll be the sweaty guy with the Tour de Fat shirt missing about 1/2 the buttons. Yelling "BAAR!"