Despite the frigid cold, I jumped on my mountain bike and headed out to the bison viewing area hoping to capture one of my favorite subjects… The temperature is 30degrees, the wind is constant and like ICE but, I wasn’t going to let that stop me from finding at least one animal on my bingo card!!
I was lucky that there were two bison close enough to the road that I could capture them easily…
the herd was much further away but could be seen in the distance enjoying the warmth of the morning sun!
All of this beauty in just my first mile on my bike… I couldn’t believe if… with this kind of luck, there had to be more sights to behold right?? So, off I go… on my bike, in the freezing cold, with no map, no water… just me and my camera… except this time, I was on my bike… not that matters much, just meant I got lost even further from home than last time.
Anyhoots, off I went after taking a million pictures of my new friends. I decided to follow the fence line of the road I was on and just “see where it goes”… Well, it went 2 miles to a dead end. Yep, I rode 2 miles for NOTHING!!! Let me back up here a bit and explain something to you… yes, I have ridden bikes for a while but I usually ride a road bike! Riding a mountain bike is WAY different!! You might as well ride 20 miles on your road bike for every 2 miles on a mountain bike!! Mountain Bikes require A TON of energy and power to make them roll and I will say, I am a bit out of practice. Send me down a dead end of a 2 mile road, YEA, I’m not a happy biker. It is freezing cold, it is a head wind and uphill both directions and I’m feeling the burn. Once I hit the dead end, I turn around and start making my way back to where I came from.
I came up on a turn off that I had passed earlier and saw some deers in the distance. STUPID DEERS because I am immediately entranced by them and decide to get closer to them a see if I can get a picture.
Isn’t she cute!! After a few minutes and another million pictures taken… the deers decide they had enough and leave me standing there deciding on whether or not to follow this current road. I could see the road I needed to get on way off in the distance in the direction this new road was headed. Was this a shortcut… and cut through… has my fortunes finally changed? I never seem to learn my lesson because I jumped back on my bike and followed the road… straight into another dead end half a mile later… SERIOUSLY!! I am freezing cold, and I can see where I need to get to but I can’t seem to get there without backtracking the entire distance I’ve already traveled.
Oh well, I better get my butt pedaling or I will actually freeze to death… and I’m not sure if that will be before or after I thirst to death!
Once I made it back to a familiar route, I promised myself that no amount of cute cuddly fluffy cows or dopey looking deers was going to trick me into going off route again today. An hour after I rode off in search of adventure, I was returning home safe and sound. Frozen to the core, hungry, thirsty and super proud of my 8 mile bike ride and the gazillion pictures I just took.
Tonight, I go hunting for Dinosaurs!!
Keep following along as I continue to never learn my lesson and end up finding myself on some crazy, amazing adventures!
