We rode into Shoshoni, WY after a hundred mile day, Mike and I were both feeling the mileage. I don't know if I could have finished the day if I wouldn't have had him with me, knowing we were both having a rough time with the last 30 or so miles. We began talking about the 'world famous malt shoppe' all the locals had been telling us about. When Bredt and Brett caught up to us and took the pull for a while (rode in front of us) Mike commented that Bredt was beggining to look an awful lot like an ice cream sundae. The malts didn't dissapoint and all the riders knew to meet there instead of the fire station we were spending the night in. One of the girls that worked there told us there was a street dance that night, so needless to say a group of us went; danced with a few locals and enjoyed the live music we haven't heard in so long.

The following day, we rode into Yellowstone, one of the prettiest rides yet. Once in the park, Lorig and I had a small run in with a bison. Lorig circled back on her bike because I was stopped and taking pictures of the bison. The bison, who was just on the other side of the road, turned and snorted at Lorig. And then we got out of there as fast as we possibly could. Later that evening Libby's family came to visit and took us to get ice cream, it was fabulous. Ice cream is so much better when you're camping.

The next day in Yellowstone was a scheduled day off, but we needed to move to the other side of the park so some of us took the 50 mile ride. It was the only ride I've done totally alone, and it was beautiful. Because the park is enclosed and well populated we all got to do whatever ride we wanted to without van support. I saw a black bear, a ton of bison, elk, artist point, and a wolf later that night. It was a very eventful wildlife-sighting day.

Our last day in Yellowstone, Thursday, was only be a 14 mile ride. Around mile four I was in a biking accident. A group of us stopped on a narrow bridge so that Meg could pick up the bottle she'd dropped. Dan didn't see we had stopped and the two of us took a big spill. Luckily, the car behind us was occupied by two EMTs and their daughter who had stopped just before the bridge to let us ride ahead. I slid into the curb lining the bridge chest first, jarring my knee on the pavement and then the curb. Dan sort of flew over and to the side of me. I had the wind knocked out of me and couldn't catch my breath for several minutes. It only took about 30 seconds for Meg to spring into action. I never saw her, I was face down clutching my chest and she flipped me over and held me up, telling me to breath through my nose and so on. One of the EMTs shouted for me to raise my arms over my head and before I could process what they were saying Meg had my arms up in the air. The EMTs checked my ribs and gave me a ride into town (we were out of sag space in the van) and I'm so grateful they were there to make sure we were okay.

My knee is bruised and sore, although the ribs are not bad at all. Friday was drive day and I took today (Saturday) off as well, hoping the swelling would go down. Tomorrow I will hopefully be able to ride, I'm starting to go a little stir crazy in the sag vehicles-even though, technically, I've only been out one day. Everyone has been really great about helping my gimpy self get around, especially Lorig and Libby.

Carly and I were in the sag today, we told a lot of stories and toured a lot of gas stations. It was in the last 20 miles the weather picked up, with 5 riders in the middle of a storm, (the van, unknown to us, had already picked the riders up) and we speed ahead, finding Bredt and Brandon inching closer and closer together in a ditch in the freezing rain with the bikes. Everyone is fine, and now we're all dry and warm, set up in Helena MT. We'll be in Glacier National Park later this week, which some people have been looking forward to for some time. I'm not sure what to expect, but am excited that others are excited.