Montana and North Dakota

On we rolled to Circle, MT, more of the same as far as the scenery went, long low hills over and over. We crossed the Missouri River early in the day and picked up a dog for several miles. When we were going uphill and slow he would run ahead and hide, jumping out when we got near. When we went fast he would run all out to keep up with us. He stayed with us for several miles before turning back for home.


At the Corner Bar in Circle where we had both lunch and dinner, I came across this odd site again, I wondered if it was a Montana thing.


The next day we were on to Glendive. Again the same rolling hills, but did have a short (2 mile) stretch with some white sandstone outcroppings, it was nice to have something a bit different to look at. We finally stopped at Lindsey for a snack. Our maps said there should be a convenience store there. When we finally found a tire store which had drinks and candy bars, so I guess that was it. There's not a lot out there sometimes. The last 20 miles were fairly flat so we motored in at a good pace. The campground we expected to stay at was closed, so back in a hotel and out of the heat again.



We finally made it out of Montana and into North Dakota --- yea! Another big plus for the day was that we had something new to look at; more sandstone rock formations! I find them really interesting shapes and there was also a bit of orange coloring in some of them, kind of like the southwest US with less color. We had entered what was called the National Grassland on our maps and also Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We ended the day in Medora, ND and happily bedded down in a campground.


The next day we really wanted to get to Richardton, but didn't know if there were any acceptable accomodations there. The plan was to get to Dickenson and then call ahead. The first motel I called wasn't open yet (there was only a sign so far saying it was coming) and told me the other place was probably full, they only had 6 rooms, but I called anyway and were able to get in. Now we had 20 more miles to go, but it would also set us up to get to Bismark the next day. We were still riding on I-94 like the last couple days and most of the time it wasn't bad riding, a big shoulder, not to much junk littering our riding space. There aren't a lot of roads to pick from, but leaving Dickenson they were doing road construction so all the traffic was down to 2 lanes, still ok riding, but very loud!

I'm finally caught up to yesterday. We made it into Bismark, it was a very long day. More of the repeating hills all day, more freeway except for the last 10 miles and more heat - 93 degrees. About halfway we stopped for lunch and met Bill and Carol. They had started at the Mexico border, cycled north up the Pacific Coast and turned east at Annacortes heading to Maine. I am still amazed at how many cyclist we are meeting, I was thinking I might and was hoping, but I'm still always surprised.



Also at lunch just outside New Salem we saw "Salem Sue" the largest cow in America! Sue is 38 feet high and 50 feet long and looks out what is dairy country in North Dakota. It takes so little to amuse when you're on a bicycle.

Rest day in Bismark. Tomorrow we get off I-94 and continue on to Minnesota.

More Montana

Since I last left you...

We flew to Malta on a tailwind, a 90 mile day without too much effort. It was fun to put in a long day for once. The terrain tends to be the same with long rolling hills and big views. The temps get hot in the afternoon so even when there is not a lot of effort on the pedals, you're still out there for a long time. I try to put my head in a 'happy place" and let my brain float to wherever it wants to.



We ended up at the same campground as Nick and David again, we found out that they were planning to Amtrak across North Dakota. They had arranged a ride back to Havre (the nearest place they let you put bikes on) with an RV and then will take the train to Fargo -- 10 hours vs. a week(?) of riding for us. We gave them a bad time since they are young lads (both of their ages added together is less than one of us), but they are convinced they won't be able to handle the boredom of North Dakota. We'll probably regret not going with them.

On to Glasgow, 70 miles. We hoped to get an early start, but my bike foiled those plans. On the way to Malta I heard a pinky, plink sound coming from my bike, but couldn't figure out the cause until this morning -- broken spoke. Well Crap! I was told I could probably ride on it and make it, but that didn't sit well with me -- "probably?" out in the middle of nowhere?

The guys I have been riding with said they had a temporary spoke they could try to install -- try, because they had never done it before. I said ok to that and in an hour I was ready to roll. I also decided to get rid of a bunch of stuff and move as much as I could to the bags over the front wheels, to lighten the load on the back. So I gave all the food I had to Nick and David and left the little stove, pan and fuel bottle on the picnic table at camp -- Merry Christmas to whoever finds it.



On the way to Glasgow we came upon a supported bike tour going our way. I talked to the leader and made arrangements with him to fix my wheel that night, since our next bike shop was 4 days away. Problem solved -- yea!

Today we slowly made it to Wolf Point, 50 miles. The lovely tailwind we had for the
last 2 days was now a 35 mph headwind. It didn't start out so bad when we left at 6:45, but it gradually increased all day until we were going 7 mph. There also were no services along the way, so we just trudged along coming into Wolf Point on fumes collapsing at the McDonalds. It's hard to even look around on days like this, your total focus is on moving forward.



Yes, dinosaurs still roam the earth in Montana.

Haver, MT

Since we left Glacier National Park our riding has been easier, we're now in the part of Montana that has long rolling roads. Generally the grades are fairly shallow, but once in awhile a harder one just so we can remember what it was like.

Our challenges for Montana and North Dakota will be the heat and wind rather than the terrain.

We have had pleasant cycling the last few days, which is a welcome relief, there is time to look around and think. I am wondering what kind of images are sinking into my brain.



Happily there has also been time to work on the stitching project I have with me. It's nice to have something familiar to relax with at the end of the day.

I have been riding with a group of 3 for over a week, it's nice to have the company, but there have been other cyclists which have come and gone as we cycle down the road. In Shelby we got a campsite and pretty soon, David from Boulder who I met on the Going to the Sun Road showed up, then an hour later Nick from Bellingham showed up and finally Dennis from New Hampshire. Last night in Chester it was Jim and Mary, Nick again and finally non-stop talker Roy the carpenter from Tennessee. Roy is one of the first west bound cyclists I had been able to talk to, although I had seen a few on the road. I think he was so grateful to have someone to talk to the words just flooded out, but it wasn't like those people who only like to hear the sound of their own voice. He was excited about everything! He also listened too, I wish he was going eastbound so there would be the possibility of talking with him again. He had heard from 2 people that there would be a bunch of cyclists staying in Chester that night, so he went as fast as he could to get to us. It's weird, I know he heard about it from Dennis, but have no idea who the second person could have been. There seems to be a cyclist communication system up and down the highway. We know of people who are up the road or behind that we never meet just by everyone talking to each other. It is a community.

Going to the Sun

Big DAY In the cycling touring world. This is the day I rode the Going to the Sun Road or otherwise known as Logan Pass in Glacier National Park. Somebody asked me what I thought of it, I said "as hard as I thought it would be, but wished it wasn't"



Sleeping was ok, but cold! It was hard to get out of the sleeping bag and move forward, but there was a schedule to keep -- cyclists have to be up to Logan Pass by 11 a.m. because the road is so skinny and curvy and lots of cars, and cars and bicycles don't play well together. I got going at 7 and the first part wasn't too bad, up and down, but the grades were very rideable, I knew it would't last long. Finally there was the sign "Logan Pass, 12 miles." What a 12 miles it was -- an even 6% grade for the whole 12 miles and a few before the sign too. Now 6% isn't bad, but for 12 miles it was a grind! The scenery is amazing! Taking photos is always a good excuse to stop and rest. There was also road construction with flaggers and pilot cars, another nice excuse to rest when it worked out, but I also couldn't stop when I wanted. Besides the scenery there were also a few animals to entertain me and the many other tourists in cars who created animal slowdowns and stoppages -- that's when you know there's something to see.


Finally I was at the top! Barely within the time limit, but I didn't care, I'm really slow carrying all my gear, but I did it!

There were still 20 more miles to go, but generally downhill -- yea! The couple of little uphills were quite a shock to my legs, they said "No! We're DONE!" but they did their duty and got me into St Mary.

Up and Down

Finally back to a place with an ok Internet connection.

I've been riding 60+ miles for the last several days. All of the roads go up and down over and over. On Saturday I rode to Libby, MT. It was a pretty nice ride, the hills were sort of flat, usually 3-4%. The sun came out when I got to the Montana sign so I could take a photo of it with my bike (a bike tour tradition) --- it will be a long time before there is another state sign to take a photo of. After that the sun only came out for a few minutes here and there. The sky's were getting darker and darker as I neared Libby, so opted for a hotel after hearing the weather forecast. After I got settled, the sky's opened up and it poured. The Kansas 3 are also at the hotel, we went out for dinner together.

The next day it was off to Rexford. The ride was pretty much the same as the day before except the hills were more numerous and steeper. OMG over and over, they seemed to be in a pattern, a steep long hill followed by 3 less steep ones, then another long one over and over, they kind of all seemed the same. I stopped for a while at Libby dam and was told that when they built it it flooded the valley 40 miles into Canada. A guy told me his wife lived in Rexford when she was young and they moved their house (and many others) up the hill and formed a new Rexford, leaving many buildings from the original under water. Last year the water level was down and you could see some of the buildings. We stayed the night at an RV campground mostly made up of Canadians who leased the lots a year at a time. The Kansas 3 were planning on going to Eureka today, but I guess the climbing got to them too, as I was sitting in the cafe eating, I saw them roll up outside. We had another nice time eating and drinking while we all did laundry.



Yesterday I woke up to rain drops on the tent, rolled over for another hour, but then slowly moved forward and got ready to go. The sun came out after an hour or so so the riding was good, still some up and down, but with a tailwind to help at times. The Kansas 3 started out ahead of me, while I waited for the post office to open up. I did managed to catch up to them at mile 40 (ok they waited for me once they caught sight of me). There were lots of lakes to ride by and other pretty sites, but accumulated days of hill climbing took it's toll and with 15 miles left to go to Whitefish, I hit a wall. Combined with the heat, and the last hills, it was a struggle to get in. Again the forecast wasn't great, but I probably would have got a hotel anyway.



Today the thunder started at 4:30 am. I had kind of thought I might use the day as a rest day, but the weather made it official. I've been taking it easy, working on my stitching project and watching the rain pour out of the sky with regularity. The Weather Channel said there was a flash flood warning for the Going to the Sun Road today and other severe weather warnings -- a good day to be inside.

Idaho

Hanging out in Clark Fork tonight, shorter mileage than I hoped, but the weather forecast of thunderstorms made camping out a distant second choice. Rode along or near Lake Pend Oreille most of the day -- it's really big! To bad there wasn't a little sun to go with it.

I met 3 cyclists yesterday going to Maine (they're also at the hotel because of the weather.) And today I met Roger from Australia who is also going to Maine. He went on to the campground 20 miles down the road, said he'd take a chance with the thunderstorm. I heard there is also gal a couple days ahead of us. It's weird, but also fun. I'm not alone in this adventure.

Because we stopped short of our intended mileage, tomorrow will become an interesting day. There are few services, it will be more hilly than the last couple days, and it might also rain -- oh goodie!

Rest Day Reflections

It's amazing how much there is to do on a day of no riding. I went over my route for the next few days, cleaned the bike, went shopping for food, repacked the bike and tried to just relax.

I also had time to reflect on what images from the road I liked and may inspire me.

I guess you can't go through eastern Washington without loving the way the patchwork of green (new wheat) vs the gold/brown fields of the harvested winter wheat. When the wind was blowing a few days ago the green wheat was in constant motion, it looked so soft and fluffy - like fur.

There also was the huge wall of rock before me when I went down that huge downhill. This wall was totally in your face, it looked like there was no way out - but of course there was, another climb. My photo doesn't even come close to showing how big and amazing this wall was.



I always have loved basalt, the angles it "grows" in has always fascinated me, but I have never put it in an art piece. I guess I'll have plenty of time to think about it over the next many days.