Yellowstone: A Tourists Paradise

There's nothing quite like a bunch of affluent (enough) Americans driving full-size RVs around a 60-mile circle in the middle of a 2.2 million acre mile wilderness to severely distress a cyclist. Or anyone riding a bike, for that matter. Not only do middle and upper-aged men not always understand how big their vehicle is, but they also don't understand what it's like to be young, passionate, and riding a bike...


Yellowstone is gorgeous, but it wasn't the resting place some of the group thought it might be. At least not on the first day. Besides almost getting hit a few times each day by the same people who were living much more comfortably than we, the wind made things less than pleasant to ride in. We decided to take a day off from riding and hitch-hike around the park.



I'll only mention once that the same people who irritated us on our bikes irritated us as hitch-hikers because not only would they not pick us up, they wouldn't acknowledge us. There's something about affluent (enough) white Americans that can be enraging. Try begging on the street--or working on the same committee as one.



We got a lot of rides with, hippies, foreigners--people who were exploring the national parks of america from other countries--and a few kids our own age. All people worth consulting about the future of the country or personal substance. We really liked all of the people we met. We learned from them.

And so we saw the park. We ate lots of peanut butter sandwhiches. We slept. We read. We hiked. We conquered the tourists; being ourselves, well, tourists.

When Leon was asked why it was so natural for us to get so upset with the tourists driving their cars (almost) into us, getting in our way, and sometimes stopping to wiggle their finger and scream bits of advice like: "Ride Single File" he replied:

"I think it's because I've pedaled my butt off to get here--and at first glance it seems like they're getting a similar experience for a lot less work, with a lot more convenience and comfort. We're being forced to share the same beauty with a million others who don't seem to care about us, and who seem to be having a much easier time doing it."

And so we learned about expectations and the old saying about not worrying about what other people are getting for what they do.

Did I mention we also saw Yellowstone?