Jellystone ride

Last year around this time I took a bike ride through Yellowstone Park with a couple friends and had a wonderful time. In fact, the only bad part was realizing that I hadn't already been doing the same thing for years.

The park opens to auto traffic on April 26 this year, and, if I'm not mistaken, opens to bicycles April 6, weather permitting. Road crews have been hard at work clearing snow and ice from the highways through the park, and if the conditions are OK, two-wheelers will be there in earnest.

Neither I nor my two friends knew what to expect last year, and we may have over prepared a bit - especially Brett, an avid outdoorsman. It turned out, however, that there actually is a bit of four-wheeled traffic with park employees getting the place ready for the season. Also, there are hundreds of other folks on bikes, so you're never too far from help, if needed.

Even with all the other bikes, the traffic is absolutely nothing like the masses of cars present in summer months. You can go for miles and see many more buffalo than people. At one point last year, we saw a herd of dozens of bison approaching on the road ahead. We veered off the road in plenty of time to let the mass of bovine pass, and ate lunch as we watched the parade. That show came less than an hour after we passed a grizzly bear that was digging for grubs. The bear was less than 60 yards or so away, and we had our bear spray unholstered and ready for action. Still, he was too busy searching for a smaller lunch than us, and never really even gave us the time of day, so to speak.

Brett and I will make the trip again this spring, and though George won't be there (he moved to Oregon), we expect a few more bikers to join us on the 100-mile trip. We'll start out at Mammoth on April 13 and ride around 50 miles to West Yellowstone, where we'll find a hotel to spend the evening in the nearly deserted town. Then we'll make the return trip on Sunday morning, hopefully giving ourselves time for a quick pit stop at Chico Hot Springs on the way home.

This time around my wife and youngest daughter will meet us in West Yellowstone, and there may be a few others coming to meet our group. So far, we're looking at about six riders, though more are welcome. There's plenty of room on the road, even with the wildlife.