This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

And We Thought Bike Travel Was Slow

It's amazing how far we've come in just seven months.

It may be slower than a car, but I'm amazed at how much we've accomplished in just seven months on a bike.

With as fast as this year seems to be flying by, we managed to take our time in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. We couldn't get enough of the scenery and drank up as much as possible with every turn we took. It's a good thing, too, because within one day of leaving the park, our scenery has changed.

At first, the snow-capped mountains morphed into towering buttes and painted rocks, but soon, even those gave way to an open, expansive, nothingness. It reminded us a little too much of the flats we encountered in Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, and eastern Montana. It's still a little too close to home to go back to that.

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Along with the change in scenery, our accommodations took a turn from one night to the other. In Grand Teton National Park, they have hiker/biker sites at every campground. Essentially, they can't turn down someone who is hiking or biking through and they only cost $6 per person, per night, give or take a buck.

Traveling by bike may be faster than we thought, but a car still has the advantage to get to a campground before the first-come-first served campsite fill up. Well, we made it to Signal Mountain campground, but not only was the whole campground full, even the hiker/biker spots were taken.

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The ranger, not able to turn us away, offered us a separate place to camp. Lucky us, it just so happened to be right behind the recycle bins. On the way to the site, the ranger informed us that this was usually the place the bear visits first.

Cool.

Turns out, another four cyclists came in that night and shared the gravel area behind the recycle bins with us. At least there was an abandoned boat trailer back there that we were able to use as a makeshift table. True McGuyvers!

After the dumpster-in-disguise-as-a-recycle-bin campsite, anything would have felt high class, but only one night later and we really were high class. Back in Jackson we had met Connie who owns a Dude Ranch in Dubois, WY called CM Ranch. Connie invited Adam and I to enjoy a whole cabin to ourselves that night, the Shoebox cabin.

Don't let the name fool you, though. This cabin had it all, and there were horses grazing in the pasture next door. Somehow we managed to get dinner and breakfast out of the deal, too. The pulled pork and corn on the cob was much better than our plan of pasta and hotdogs.

I know there is comfort with going home to the same house and sleeping in the same bed every night(and I'll probably be pretty excited about this when I come home), but the surprise element that we experience on a daily basis is hard to top.

Christy and Adam are currently in Wyoming. To find out more, check out their blog at http://giveabike.blogspot.com/ or their Facebook Page at https:/ /www.facebook.com/giveabike. To see where they are, you can check out this map at Track My Tour. Christy will be writing occasional stories for Patch as she and her husband make their way through the U.S.

Madison Patch is proud to be the Connecticut sponsor for Adam and Christy's trip. If you'd like to sponsor their trip, visit this page on their website.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?