THE MAKING OF A BIKER CHICK – Bear Tooth Pass

This week's Spin Cycle assignment is "adventure". One of the most exciting (if not THE most exciting) adventures I've had was our bike trip out west.

I'm really better described as a reluctant biker chick. I feel that by calling myself a biker chick on this blog, I've maybe given some of you the wrong impression. I'm not very tough unless you threaten my children and I'm not very bold unless you count stalking complete strangers. I was more than a little nervous about taking this trip. My anxiety was on so many different levels, it would be impossible to list them all. Thus far in posting about our trip, I've taken you in chronological order. But when I heard the spin this week was "adventure", I decided to skip ahead to the most life-threatening adventurous portion of our trip: Bear Tooth Pass

We pulled into Cooke City right about lunch time. The plan was to have something to eat and then hit the road to cross Bear Tooth Pass. Before we headed into the café, The Saint and I decided to check out the trading post to see what we could see. Once inside we were overwhelmed with t-shirts, mugs and all sorts of souvenirs proclaiming "I survived Bear Tooth Pass." Until this time, I wasn't aware that we were about to undertake such an adventure. While reading t-shirts that said "The top ten ways you know you've made it over Bear Tooth Pass", I began to secretly panic. I lost all desire to purchase a souvenir and found it hard to concentrate on anything besides how I was going to tell MHS that I needed to find an airport make this trip without xanax having a full-blown anxiety attack.

Just an innocent looking little town that gives no clue what lies beyond. (unless you read the t-shirt)That is The Saint and MHS standing in front of the store.

We had lunch at a little café next to the Trading Post where I discovered the solution to my problem: I would drink my lunch. Now My Harley Stud rarely drinks at all and never drinks when we are on the bike. But there are no rules that say that the passenger can't drink. Thank the Lord! A few beers later I was ready to tackle the Pass and anything else that came along.

Courage in a bottle can be found inside this little cafe. It's not the way I usually roll but sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Once on the road, I began to relax and enjoy the view. There were still times when my knees would squeeze together to grip MHS in a way that said, "If you don't slow down, I'm going to push you off and drive this blasted thing myself!" Other than that it was lovely trip.

I thought the colors were interesting in this photograph.

It wasn't very long before we saw snow on the mountain tops. This trip was in late July.

Each turn brought new terrain and an even more beautiful view.

What I wasn't able to capture either in still photos or video was the winding hairpin turns that sometimes did not include guardrails. It was during those moments that the camera was safely stowed in my pocket while I held on for dear life.

The Biker Nazi and The Saint get ready to take off after a butt break.

We came upon this young girl almost at the top of the mountain. She was traveling by herself as far as I could tell. I wanted to get off the bike, grab her by the hair and say, "Does your mother know you're here!?!" I repeat: RIDING.BY.HERSELF!

These kids were venturing a little to close to the edge for my comfort. Loose rock and flip flops do not make a very safe combination in my humble opinion.


I had to take this photograph. The daytime speed limit is 70mph. This has to be a joke. This is at the top of the mountain where there are no long stretches of straight road. The entire ride is one hairpin turn after another. You would have to be out of your mind to go 70 mph.

This stop was close to the top. Notice the elevation.
Try to ignore the helmet hair.

It's the passenger's job to spot wildlife. It was pretty amazing how the deer could maneuver these steep inclines.

I apologize for the quality of this photograph but it's all I have. We came upon several cars pulled over at the side of the road. Everyone was out of the car with their cameras pointing in this direction. That little brown blob in the right/center of the photograph is a bear. I wasn't about to get close for a better shot.

The next morning, I was informed that we had a change of plans and instead of moving on toward Billings, MT, we were going back over the pass. While I'm sure it was 5 o'clock somewhere, drinking my breakfast didn't seem like such a good idea. I distracted myself on the way back by taking video of our trip. It's very noisy due to the wind and exhaust. I was jamming to my ipod so I couldn't hear any of it.

For more adventure spins, visit Jen at Sprite's Keeper.