Yellowstone by Moonlight

The Clock Strikes Midnight

Last Friday night, Susan and I drove to West Yellowstone so that I could ride with some of the Billings cyclists on their annual West Yellowstone Moonlight Ride.  I was excited to go because of how close it was to Dillon (about 2 1/2 hours), that we haven't been to Yellowstone yet this year and it's something we have wanted to do.  So we packed up our camping gear and headed for the park.

We got to West Yellowstone about 9:30 pm and went to my first campground choice (FULL)  so we had to drive about 10 miles out of town to set up the night's camp.  "So much for me riding to and from the starting point of the ride," I thought.  'Oh well."

The West Yellowstone version of this ride would take us from the Park's entrance to Old Faithful and back, for a total of approximately 62 miles, or 100 kilometers (a metric century).  The start time was to be midnight and the return time was to be 6:00 am Saturday morning.   Yes, we would be riding all night long.  The overnight low was to be below freezing.  This was going to be interesting, to say the least.

I awoke after a 30 minute power nap and got dressed to go.  It was 11 pm and not that cold out, so I opted for leg warmer vs. tights, a base layer with jersey, arm warmers and my rain jacket.  I have winter gloves and a fleece head band to cover my ears.  I felt good at the time, but would soon find out that I was under dressed.  I was fooled further by seeing one of the riders, Mike, dressed in baggy shorts with knee warmers and not much on top.  

DJ Mike and his Pimped Ride

 "How cold could the park be in early September?"  I thought.

We got all our gear together (I didn't have anything extra to bring along).  Joe would be our sag support, while ride leader, Spencer Stone, Mike, Dick and I would ride.  Miked finished his cigarette and we rolled out at 12:15 am.

Dick on the Long Road into the Park

Captain Spencer

The nearly full moon was high by then.  It was quiet and we had the roads all to ourselves.  I think I counted only two cars passing us on the way in, and Joe kept a good distance away and drove with only his parking lights on.   I was using my new headlight, a 350 lumen light (normal headlights are about 50 lumen), that I got just for this ride  (and for early am or late pm commutes).  It turned out to be a spotlight and made us feel like we were riding in a parking lot, so early on in the ride I shut it down and rode without anything.  (Note: We all had flashing tail lights for safety.)

Riding in the dark with only the moonlight MADE this ride.  I have been through the park in all four seasons, but never at night.  It is a magical place any time of the year, but the moon gave it a completely different feeling.  We could have been on Venus or Mars, or on a haunted trek through the wilderness.  It was eerie, to say the least. 

It was very cool.

My riding mates were cool, too.   I'd only ridden with Spencer before, on a club ride in Billings, a year and a half ago.  Dick and Mike I just met this night.   Mike was a character.  An engineer, 24 hour MTB racer, smoker and lover of vintage music, Mike provided the music, via MP3 player and speaker on his bike rack.  We were serenaded by Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead and  countless others as we rode in the darkness.

"Sugar Magnolia" at 1:30 am.

Like I said, this ride was going to be interesting.

The ride went off without a hitch.   I got really cold about 5 miles from Old Faithful and I began to question my ability to finish the ride off.  "At least we have the sag,"  I thought.   But when we finally got to the Old Faithful Lodge and sat in the warm, cozy and quiet great room, I began to feel better.  We had the place to ourselves and we spent nearly an hour refueling and thawing out.  It was sublime!

A little bleary eyed at 3:30 am

Old Faithful Lodge...the next day.

But alas, we had 30+ miles left to go and after we all accepted this, we mounted up and headed out.  It is here that I have to give big props to Dick, who furnished me with a long sleeve jersey as a fourth layer.  Man did that make all the difference on the cold descent back to West Yellowstone.  All was good on the return trip, but I did get cold about 5 miles out from the finish.   It was pre-dawn and at the coldest part of the day.  Joe said that he saw 32 degrees, but Susan had 28 on her thermometer.  I'll take the average and just call it COLD.

Dawn Patrol...post ride.

We thawed out in the lobby of the start/finish motel along with 150 Asian tourists, getting their breakfast buffet.  Their presence seemed to add to the dream-like state that my sleep deprived, cold induced body was in.  

It was interesting and then it was over.  Spencer and my new friends were on the road, heading for Chico Hot Springs for a soak and snooze before heading back to Billings, the tourists were loading up for a busy day of sightseeing and Susan would soon pick me up and take me back to camp for a nap.   It still feels strange as I write this, but it was an incredibly fun (and interesting) bicycle ride that I would recommend to any and all adventure seekers.

If I'm in Montana next year, you bet I'll be on this ride again.