DAY 9 - DESCENDING FROM THE MOUNTAINS

Today started off with an early rise from our beautiful hotel on Lake Yellowstone. Although it was nearly impossible to leave the bed, we were on our bikes by 6:20am pedaling in the frigid mountain air. Justin's bike computer read 42 degrees! The ride out included the most beautiful scenery so far. 

An epic early morning climb through mountains and sulfur steam led to an impressive 3500 foot descent to Cody, WY. Just before Cody, we came across a series of tunnels, which were very narrow, dark, and without shoulders. We decided to plunge headfirst and pedal our asses off so that cars wouldn't come up from begins and try to pass us. Fortunately, we were able to keep up a pace over 40 mph and made it through the tunnels without being passed. 

In Cody, the temperature soared into the 90s. We stopped for a much needed late lunch and decided to kill sometime before getting back on the road since we had made such good time in the morning. We cleaned our bikes outside of a kmart when we found the only bike shop in town closed. 

The temperature only got hotter, and with only 32 miles left in the day, we decided to escape the heat and watch a movie. We shoved our bikes in a closet at the theatre and spent a luxurious 3 hours in plush seats and AC. Transformers is a terrible movie, unless you are trying to maximize your time in a cool dark environment. 

 

Our last stretch brought us to Meeteetse, WY, a small town southeast of Cody. On this part of the ride, the hills were lit up by the setting sun. The landscape was vastly different from the morning's. At this point in the trip we took a moment to celebrate reaching 1000 miles! 

We set up our tent, grabbed a shower at the RV park, and had dinner at a little mom and pop's place. Now, off for some solid sleep.