Saturday, June 30, 2012

Day 13 Billings (still in) Montana

BEST: BBQ ribeye steak for dinner catered by Beyond Basil.

WORST: Setting up for breakfast and cleaning up resulting in my being the last out on the road (I am on team 4 which was the team on duty today)

MOST UNEXPECTED: Seeing cows underneath a collapsed bridge designed by an ex-civil engineer. Don't the cows know it is bad luck to stand under a broken bridge.

Last night we had dinner at Tod and Liberty's house who are starting up a restaurant in Harlowton. It was a gourmet meal including flatbread pizza with grass fed beef (the beef wasn't green). It would normally have made my best list, but it got beat out by tonights dinner.

I had to get up at 4:40 today for breakfast setup and I was on the road by 6:30 getting to Billings by 12:30. We had a rough 9 miles of riding at the beginning due to road construction and the road was washboard and gravel. They also watered it which made the bike a mess. After losing all of my fillings and my manhood, we reached good pavement and flew down the road to the lunch stop at mile 46 after making a right turn off Hwy 12 which we have been on for several days. As a result of a 90 degree bend, the wind somehow shifted 180 degrees and became a headwind. I was fortunate to get picked up by 'Team Pink' and rode with them for 35 miles to the end with all of us very tired by the end. The picture below shows 'Team Pink' with one oddball member wearing bright yellow.

I really like the irony of one of the pictures below showing a cafe with the sign reading world famous burgers next to a for sale sign.

Pictures also include views down to Billings before the final descent.

You will notice a lack of scenery pictures below. That is because someone stole the trees and green grass and replace them with power poles and dead weeds. Visualize Hwy 5 in California heading to Bakersfield and you will get some idea of what we saw. This made the ride even longer. I think we went around 10 miles before the road actually had a curve in it which made it pretty mindless, something which normally suits me well.

My photo assignment today was to photograph something more comfortable than a bike seat, and I assume you can figure out from the picture below what I think of my bike seat. Tomorrow on my rest day I will be going into town and buying a new saddle.

We are staying in the Montana State dorms without any kind of air so I will be plugging in my fan tonight. Last night we stayed in the basement of a church where it was cool. Temperature today is again in the 90's, but the good news is that when we start the ride it is in the 60's, so go early and go fast and try to beat the heat.

Tonights catered dinner included salmon as well as the beef and had various salads, apple pie, and a scrumptious beer which included huckleberry flavoring. It states on the label that is the bears favorite beer. (picture below)












Friday, June 29, 2012

Day 12 One Quarter of the Big Ride is Done

BEST: The 40 mile downhill with a TAILWIND

WORST: Alarm didn't work and I had 1/2 hour to pack up and get ready for the ride, amazingly I made it on time. Then a wrong turn out of town got us some bonus miles.

MOST UNEXPECTED: Seeing a gang of horses on a small hill planning their next rumble with the cows (see picture)

I ate breakfast at a local coffee shop and I was able to order off the senior menu because I met the minimum age requirement. The first 20 miles were climbing and we did over 2500 feet in this stretch. The best part was the 11 mile climb to the top along a wooded, shady, and overall beautiful stretch of road with a small stream running along the entire section. The Climber Pouch is photographed 20 miles outside of Townsend at the peak. Unfortunately on the climb, my camera setting changed to black and white. It was tough riding for me until around mile 55 when we had some ups and downs until our rest stop at mile 60. Our lunch stop at mile 40 still had cinnamon rolls from yesterday's breakfast and I am happy to report they were still very tasty.

Around mile 60, we had to be shuttled around a road reconstruction project, and when we got put back on the road 5 miles later, we flew down the highway with a 1% downgrade and strong tailwind to our final destination of Harlowton. You can tell there is wind in this area with the multiple wind generators in one of the pictures. At the shuttle spot (which is also our rest stop) I took a picture of some of the riders with a background of trailers which were just all plopped in one spot of the landscape. There was a bar within walking distance, so I suspect it is kept quite busy by the residents.

The ride went from one giant landscape to another throughout the day. Montana is one big State!

Last night we went down to the local cafe, Woods cafe, and I had my first steak in Montanta; a ribeye. We all drank a ton of water and had a Big Sky Orangesicle drink that tasted just like its name.

Tonight we are staying in a church in the basement where at least it is cool. Temperatures were in the 90's today and the actual riding distance was 95 miles. By the way, I have decided there is a Jane on this trip.











Thursday, June 28, 2012

Day 11 X Asia/Africa= (Crossing the continental divide)

BEST: Riding along the road and getting the railroad engineer to blow the horn (obviously a courtesy from one engineer to another). Not a big deal in itself, but hearing the horn when I wanted instead of in the wee hours of the night was cool.

WORST: Climbing up McDonald Pass to the Continental Divide only to find the descent was on fresh chip seal meaning we had to follow a pace car.

MOST UNEXPECTED: Left my Black North Face Bag out last night, and this morning it was no longer black but white.

We crossed the Continental Divide today! It is all downhill from here.

We got an extra hour of sleep today because of the short ride (60 miles) and because it was feckin cold. Great breakfast prepared by the ladies of the Avon Family Cafe who were extremely nice. I had gotten chummy with them when we stopped at the cafe yesterday for my chocolate malt, and made sure to let them know I loved pie. So at last nights dinner, they took care of me by putting a piece of blueberry pie and pecan pie with whipped cream on a plate before serving the other riders. The highlight for me today at breakfast was the fresh made cinnamon rolls which was absolute heaven.

We rolled out at 7:30 a.m. for an 11 mile climb up the McDonald Pass including 4 miles of 6%+ grade at the top. I was excited to take a picture showing the Continental Divide sign, but of course the paving contractor had removed it, so feast your eyes on the picture of me with my arms spread showing which way the water flows from that spot, Pacific to my left, and Atlantic to my right. We would have had an awesome descent of 11 miles but as I noted, it was freshly chipsealed so we convoyed down being careful not to overheat our rims. Pictures show the chipseal descent and the view off the side of the road as I kept one hand on the brake, the other holding the camera, and the third hand steering. Of course the day would not be complete without an awesome headwind. It was strong, but not like days 3 and 4 where it was a HEADWIND. At one of our rest stops we were at a Montana subdivision which I tried to capture on the image below. I pictured the ad for the area stating something like 'Come to the big Sky Country where you can have your little piece of Heaven' and the picture showing established trees, log cabins, and the perfect family out in front. The reality was some tract houses on bare ground with a lot of wind.

We went slightly off track to see the Montana Capitol in Helena, but didn't see any mounties. Oh wait, that is is Canada.

One of the pictures below shows one of our riders trying to entice a horse to come closer to eat the grass in his hand. As you may have noticed, there was a lot of grass already on the ground, and suprisingly the horse did not come any closer.

A bright spot came for me at the lunch stop today which if you recall has not been my favorite meal. The ladies of Avon had baked extra cinnamon rolls which made it to the stop, and you might guess what I had for lunch. Sorry Clif bars, you were trumped today. @o windy miles after the lunch stop, we made it to Townsend after passing over the Missouri river, yeah thats right, THE Missouri river. After checking in at the local high school where I am writing this blog in the library using their free wifi, we went into town and ate at a cafe. Tonight we are at leisure and were given $12 for a dinner at a local cafe. Tomorrow, 102 miles, and if there is another headwind, I will probably hide on the truck and pop out at the final rest stop.










Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Day 10 Ding Dong.....Avon calling

BEST: Getting to the campground and laying in my hammock listening to Izhtak Perlman.

WORST: Lunches are definately not what you would normally eat for lunch

MOST UNEXPECTED: An actual tailwind

Todays ride was just under a century, 99.6 miles. Conditions were great, cool at the start, with the above mentioned tail wind (not due to eating beans last night). We are still climbing in elevation and are at about 5100 feet.

We ate breakfast at the dorm, and one of the pictures below was my photo assignment which was to take a picture of food which looked worse than it tasted. The food is oatmeal on french toast, and I didn't eat it, but the rider said it was good (it looks disgusting and I should get an A for this assignment). The picture of the giant bull includes the Rider pouch attached to the bike. Other pictures show the support mechanical car known as "blue thunder". Anyone who can identify what the mysterious wood structure is wins a kewpie doll. There were a lot of houses on this stretch of the travel which had fallen into disrepair, and I think we could probably homestead a few of the acreages.

We are in high meadow country with few trees. Once again we are camping next to a railroad line, but the good news is that this campground has some bungalows, so learning from past errors, I did not pitch a tent but threw my sleeping bag on a bed inside.

Back to lunches: We stop at the truck where they have a spread laid our for us which includes bread, peanut and almond butter, jam/jelly, and energy food. There are also some fruits. I do really love peanut butter, but the bread slices are about 2 inches thick, and after trying the sandwich gig, I am now just grabbing a clif bar, something salty like nuts, some juice and shot bloks, and then back on the road. Today we hit the Avon cafe just before we got to the campground, so we stopped in and I had a chocolate malt at around 2:30 which was my lunch. The Avon cafe will be catering our dinner so I asked what it was going to be. Spaghetti (blah) and a wide selection of pies (Yippee, yahoo, whoopie, hooray) I will plan my strategy accordingly and eat a tablespoon of spaghetti, and a whole pie (or two). I like the picture of the lady changing the price inside the Avon diner sitting up on the counter.
















Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Day 9 Thank goodness its a rest day!

BEST: Walking through the downtown and discovering fun things specifically the Boone and Crockett club.

WORST: Only sleeping until 6:30 ( I am having a hard time coming up with worst events)

MOST UNEXPECTED: Getting hailed on today after arriving in town yesterday with the temp in the high 90's


I slept in until 6:30 today. Several of us ate across the street at the Food for Thought restaurant where we gorged on very large proportions (I had a three egg omelet with fixins including what looked like large french fries which were cooked in the breakfast potato style). After taking my shot of the Climber Pouch on the University of Montana Bear, I walked into town to explore. I loved the houses and have included several shots of them including one with an awesome treehouse. I visited the Adventure Cycling Association which is a nonprofit group sponsoring bike routes. They arrange tours, print out maps, and coordinate cross country bike riding. I got my picture taken on placed on the wall for riders crossing the country, took a tour of the building seeing old bikes which were used to cross the country, and got free ice cream, soda, CO2 cartridges, and cleat protectors.

Yesterday I stated the Big Ride was hard. It is kind of hard to back this up when I met a young man who is traveling from Alaska to Florida by himself on a fully loaded bike. He also travelled 100 miles yesterday although it took him 10 hours. I feel so inadequate.

Heading back to the college dorm I saw kayakers practicing in a standing wave in the river doing rollovers and other fancy maneuvers. Then across the river to the Boone and Crockett club about which I knew nothing. Turns out they were the first environmental group in the US started by Teddy Roosevelt and other important dignataries. Of course there motivation at the time was to preserve open preserve areas so they could kill things on four legs. The inside of the building included a alot of dead stuffed animals and animal heads. It would be worthwhile for you to look into the history of this group because they really did quite a lot for preserving land including many national parks. Back to the dorm I had a Skype call with my family which was liking talking to someone on the moon with the multisecond delays. We (all the riders) then went to an Ice Cream social at the Big Dipper where the Mayor said some choice words along with the President of the American Lung Association. My main focus was on getting my free ice cream in a waffle cone (did cost me $.75). We are going to the friends of one of the riders for dinner tonight, although I will most probably be using a cab to go the two miles to the house along with three other people. I definately did too much walking today, but I had a great time talking to various people throughout the town. One lady saw me taking a picture of the soldier statue in front of the city hall and made sure to tell me that the barbed wire around the statue was removed two years ago and she was happy it happened. Missoula is lovely.