TCNJ

8 The College of New Jersey Magazine OCTOBER 11 We had arguably the most scenic day of the trip. We really enjoyed the bike paths in the mountain towns. We went through a burned out forest and went up to another continental divide. OCTOBER 14 Day 48. Biked into Wyoming during a snowstorm, which is not recommended, but something we'll never forget. OCTOBER 15 Wyoming the most desolate state so far? It certainly makes a convincing case. We've spent the past two days traveling between small towns and putting in miles to outrun the next snowfall. We have sometimes biked as many as 60 miles before seeing another town. We biked to Jeffrey City, with a popu- lation of an astounding 23 people. We would've considered this a ghost town, but the Split Rock Cafe, the only restaurant in town, is too stubborn to close. "There's so much to explore out there and we're grateful to have the opportunity to see everything we have." OCTOBER 20 After a tough climb, we enjoyed the most scenic downhill that took us directly into Grand Teton National Park! We watched from afar as the mountains slowly began to show their teeth in all their glory. We were both wowed with the natural, pristine beauty of Yellowstone. We crossed three continental divides in one day. We hiked three miles in at night and three miles out the next morning. We had to hang our food from poles to store away from bears, which was new to both of us. We lucked out and were able to witness three geysers going off nearly at once, including the iconic Old Faithful. OCTOBER 24 Biked through Virginia City, which was a boomtown back in the 1860s as settlers were mining for gold. It was cool to get a little taste of how Montana mountain towns looked in the 19th century. OCTOBER 26 We stopped by the Adventure Cycling Association headquarters in Missoula (the organization whose bike route and maps we've been following). Talked to some cool guys who said we're only the second group of cyclists they've seen come through in the snow in the past eight years. Yikes! "We met three kinds of people along the way: people who thought we were absolutely crazy; people who were really interested to hear what we're doing and why we're doing it; and then those who said, 'Wow! I wish I was doing that.'" OCTOBER 17 We got up a couple hours before sunrise to try and beat out some brutal headwinds. We've been having some warm tempera- tures during the days here which makes biking much more enjoyable, especially when you can feel your toes.

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