Tandem Tales

Day 67, July 29, Grant Village, WY, 0 miles I woke up just before dawn to relieve myself, and upon taking my first step out of the tent a sudden excruciating pain in my left ankle almost caused me to fall over. After limping back to the tent, I tried to recall what I could have done yesterday to injure it. Then I remembered the mad dash back to the campground after dinner, and doing it with joints that had gotten cold and stiff from sitting for hours. We had planned on taking a day off in Yellowstone, but with all that there was to see and do here at “Coulter’s Hell”, hobbling around the campground was not exactly how I had planned to spend it. I took some Ibuprofen and kept my leg elevated. Sewing a few souvenir patches on our panniers helped pass the time. Stephanie took a nap and did some reading. Dave and Carole took a “zero” day also, opting to go on a guided bus tour of the park. The most exciting event of their day wasn’t a close encounter of bison or bears, but the stumble off the bus by a woman, requiring ambulance and EMT assistance. By the evening, news had spread through the hoards of vacationers in Yellowstone that a sow grizzly bear and her two cubs had gone on a rampage, killing a camper and seriously injuring others. Luckily for us, the incident occurred at a campground at the opposite corner of the park. We also learned of two escaped and highly dangerous convicts (from a prison in New Mexico), who had been seen in the park. We were anxious to get moving. Day 68, July 28, Grant Village to Madison Junction, WY, 39 miles The day of rest had done nothing for my ankle. It was now a dull but severe ache that radiated up my leg. We were puzzled, as there was no swelling or discoloration that Stephanie or I could detect. To get medical attention, we would need to ride to the clinic at Old Faithful, which was 21 miles away, which included 2 more crossings (the 7th and 8th) of the Continental Divide. After breakfast, we decided to give it a try. I kept the tandem in a low gear (Stephanie called it “spinning air”) and surprisingly, my ankle began feeling better with each passing mile. Soon we were at Old Faithful, where we checked in at the waiting room of the clinic. The receptionist informed us that the clinic did not participate in our insurance group (what else was new?) We settled into some comfy waiting room chairs and began perusing through their fine collection of literature. About 15 minutes later, I startled my wife by jumping up and throwing my copy of People magazine aside. “What’s wrong?” she exclaimed. “Old Faithful! She’s erupting! Where’s that camera?” I ran outside, and finding it quickly in the handlebar bag snapped a few pictures. I was only able to get the top of the geyser; the clinic was not at ringside. Morgan, the cute Physician's Assistant at the clinic, diagnosed me with what was basically "carpal tunnel" of the foot. By touching my toes with a vibrating tuning fork, she detected a loss of sensation, caused by compression on the nerves where they ran through my ankle. “Soaking it in cold water at the end of each day and taking an Aleve each night before bed should do the trick!” were her comforting words. We were relieved; there was no reason why we couldn’t continue. We rode a short distance to a café. Over some burgers and fries we discussed our options for the day, and I suggested trying for the Montana border at West Yellowstone; it was mostly downhill. We called ahead to get prices on campgrounds and hotels. Rather than take out a second mortgage on our house, we decided to stop at the National Park campground in Madison Junction. Dave and Carole were staying at the Old Faithful Inn, which was also way over what our budget would allow (if they even had a vacancy). We pitched our tent at the quiet, grassy hiker/biker loop of the campground, secluded from the blacktopped cul-de-sac campground of RV vacationers. I walked down to the Gibbon River, where I soaked in the cool waters as the trout rose for the evening’s fly hatch. Before the sun set, we had the pleasure of meeting 7 other cyclists who rolled in to camp. One from Switzerland had a longing to get to Devil's Tower National Monument in northeast Wyoming. We noticed he was living off mashed potatoes and had a passion for sculpting them with his fork. There was an older couple from St. Louis headed west to Oregon; he wanted to reconnect with some old army buddies. The rest were college students, including a girl who carried a Ukulele on her bike. They planned to rent a car in West Yellowstone in the morning and take a whirlwind tour of the park.   CHAPTER 9 MONTANA Day 69, July 31, Madison Junction, WY to Hebgen Lake, MT, 35 miles The ladies working in the nearby campground registration booth invited us to help ourselves to their coffee maker in the morning, although we were instructed not to let the RV campers see us. Ken Burns was right! The National Parks were America’s best idea! The doctor's orders seemed to have worked as my ankle was pain free today. After the "entering Montana" photo shoot and a few errands in West Yellowstone, we met up with Dave and Carole at a backstreet diner that an east-bounder had tipped us off about. The skies were darkening as we headed out of town, and after 8 miles it caught up to us, a brief but nasty thunderstorm, spewing lots of gusty wind. Luckily we found shelter at a Montana Department of Transportation building. The storm blew over quickly, leaving a clear blue sky. Soon we were cycling along the shores of beautiful Hebgen Lake, a long narrow body of water tucked between two mountainous ridges. We stopped at a campground store for some chocolate milk and a "New York Hotdog", featuring Sauerkraut and Gulden's Mustard. Oddly enough we’ve only been able to find “Michigan” style hotdogs in New York State. We were soon joined by newlyweds William and Lauren, an Australian couple cycling eastward. William’s grandfather had been the inspiration for their journey, having completed the BikeCentennial Ride in 1976. He had penned a book of his journey, which William and Lauren carried with them and read from each night for the ultimate déjà vu experience. When Dave and Carole rolled in and joined the party, they informed the Aussie’s that they had better get to work producing some grand-babies for the their parents down under.