Betsy got a Boo-Boo :(

Leah

Firstly, I will start with I’m ok, it’s ok. No big deal. Just some scratches and bruises, is all. Mostly a bruised ego & confidence level. But this is a blog, so I may as well report what really happened and not just gloss over it.

Keith and I had done this road yesterday, so we knew what to expect. We decided that we had done our share of stopping and doing the touristy thing of taking pictures already, so we just powered through for the most part. There was one corner that had a pullout that had two cars (likely travelling together) leaving at the same time. The first car got onto the road, then almost stopped right in front of Keith as he was coming into the corner. The second car wanted to keep up and almost pulled out right INTO ME. I managed to get on the horn, Keith manage to give some sign language, and I did mange to stop before I hit either Keith or the little car. So that was heart-pumping moment #1 of the day.

Then a little ways down the road as we went through the super twisty parts of the road, we ended up in a convoy behind an old fart on a BMW motorcycle. He was very slow through the turns (something that tends to make Keith crazy) so at the first straight stretch opportunity, we decided to pass. Well this guy thought he’d use the only straight stretch of the road to speed up. He sped up A LOT. Therefore we had to pass at an even faster speed (sorry to the squeamish worriers reading this) but that’s what happened. Anyways, that was heart-pumping moment #2 of the day.

The rest of the twisty parts went really well and we were ready for a break to stretch our legs (I was ready for another coffee). Keith had noticed a waterfall and canon the day before so we decided that would be our stopping point. There was a small car going very slow through the corners, but quickly on the straight stretches (notice a theme yet?). So again, we went to pass the car. Keith and I had our little communicators on so I knew that he was going to pass. The first corner after he passed was the waterfall that we were planning to stop at, so he started to pull off to the side of the road. As we had already passed onto the Wyoming side of the road the surface was now Chinese asphalt, which leaves a lot of loose gravel on the side of the road. Keith started to get a little panicky over the communicator saying it was gravel. He pulled back onto the road and stopped safely a little further down. Not sure if it was the “too polite Canadian” in me, but I didn’t want to pull back onto the road in front of the car we had just passed so I tried to stick to the shoulder of the road. I heard Keith’s panicky voice and I guess my panic-brake reaction kicked in. Long story short, the bike (Betsy) tipped over into the ditch (soft gravel landing, I will give that god-forsaken gravel some credit), my mountain biking instincts kicked in as I realized I was past the point of no return so I did a duck and roll off of the bike. I took most of the impact on my thigh and elbow. No cuts or abrasions on the jeans, a small scuff on my jacket elbow. I now have a bright purple bruise about the size of my palm on my right quad. It’s nicely swollen and sore. This was heart-pumping moment #3 of the day.

Now for the important update: the bike had some scratches and a broken blinker lens. Scratches to the brake lever, signal light, mirror, highway guard, master cylinder, headlight, exhaust heat shields, and saddlebag. Sheesh, that list sounds pretty bad. It’s really not that bad. Most of it is minor cosmetic stuff. There was a group that stopped (the old fart on the BMW included) to make sure I was ok. One couple was very helpful and helped us to get the bike back to the shiny side up. Shiny side up Leah, sheesh how hard is that to remember?! Keith did some quick roadside adjustments (yes, he had tools) and straightened out everything that had been “abruptly adjusted”. We walked over to the waterfalls, I tried to smile for a picture and failed miserably.

Eventually we got back onto the bikes and continued on. As we entered into Yellowstone Park, the signs and very unfriendly gate attendee (he could take some personality lessons from our border guard friend) let us know that every campsite was full. There were a few campsites back in the direction we had already been, but we didn’t want to backtrack. So we pushed on, thinking we would exit Yellowstone Park at the North Gate. When we got into the Mammoth Hot Springs area there was no road signage to indicate which way to go. We went left, and ended up going away from the North Gate. The hot springs area was beautiful, but holy moly what a tourist trap! So many people! So many cars! It really reminded me of the Lake Louise area, but worse. As in busier. As we got moving on the highway and into a construction delay, we were chatting with two bikers behind us and realized that we were on the wrong road. This trip was all about going whichever way the wind blew us though, so we pursued onwards. Not to mention, neither of us would have survived driving through the tourist trap of the hot springs area. Again, a coffee or even a bag of ice for my leg would have been good, but we were concerned about getting out of the park to try to find a private campground to stay at. What should have been a quick and easy day was turning into an endurance marathon. Finally we found ourselves in West Yellowstone, MT where we refuelled, I called a close campground that wouldn’t take a reservation over the phone but had two spots left. We checked in to the KOA campground (paid full hookup prices for our tent) but we were able to stop and actually relax for a bit. We set up the tent, then went to the Slippery Otter for dinner and ice on my leg, then we headed back to the campground for a fire and some unwinding time. After any traumatic event, you tend to relive things in your head afterwards, I did plenty of that. Think I’ve managed to chalk it up to “shit happens”. At the end of the day, all that matters is that I am ok. I’d be happier if the bike hadn’t been damaged either, but that’s not the priority. Or so I’m told.