1 July 2003: Malta MT to Havre, MT; 92.0 miles; 6:52 riding time

Did I mention that Earl (his real name) is 76 and doing the Lewis-Clark Route? He made a good campground companion last night when Chris and David ducked into a motel to escape the storm that didn’t happen. Earl did break camp about 4:00 a.m., but we caught up with him between Dodson & Fork Belknap. He had no interest in joining our pack as we were riding in a paceline to reduce the headwind. Earl caught us again at Ft. Belknap where we had our peanut butter sandwiches. Earl was determined to reach Havre at 92 miles, and his age and determination helped incline David and Chris to that decision. Just outside of Ft. Belknap we me Dan, a 20 something who is with a group of 4 young men doing the Northern Tier. They’re mostly bike shop employees from a bike shop in Tucson that was recently bought out by a chain. We talked to Dan for 5 or 10 minutes and caught the rest of his group 20 miles to the west in an ice cream store in Chinook (about 40 miles separated the two parts!). They ride 60 to 120 miles daily, sometimes sleep at the side of the road, and don’t require daily showers! I asked them if they were on a budget, and the response from one was that he had worked 5 jobs to pay for the trip, and he was not pinching pennies. Their youthful enthusiasm combined with Earl’s aged determination probably pushed David and Chris to support riding all the way to Havre! This jumps us ahead one day and makes it possible for me to drill in Missoula as scheduled.

2 July 2003: Havre, MT to Fort Benton, MT; 28.5 miles; 7:22 riding time (avg 7.22 MPH)

Once we got to Havre, David decided he needed a rest day and would like to take another in Helena, and since he didn’t want to ride Lemhi Pass anyway, so he left a phone message that he was splitting for another week planning to meet us outside of Missoula after my July drill.

Leaving Havre we turned to go southwest, and of course, the wind switched to come from the southwest at 5 to 20 MPH by late afternoon. As the wind built we started taking 2 mile turns in front and 2 miles of drafting (drafting is less safe on loaded touring bikes but often done in headwinds anyway). By the time we got to Loma Chris was saying he was going to hitch hike on into Fort Benton. After a break, some ice cream and lemonade, he decided to crawl back on the bike but said he was too tired to safely draft, so we split up for the last 8 to 10 miles. Fort Benton is a neat little touristy town, the last stop on any river navigation up the Missouri in days of old though nothing comes up the river anymore except tourist boats. We’re back in the land of customer service, and the local ice cream store agrees to put chocolate in the “blizzard”. It also has not big mosquito problem! The worst of Montana is over although I’ll be several more days recovering from the mosquito attacks along the Milk River. No wonder Lewis & Clark complained to extensively about mosquitoes!

3 July 2003: Fort Benton, MT to Great Falls, MT; 45.8 miles 3:15 riding time

There were lots of hills over the prairie above the Missouri bluffs, but not wind today! We spent over an hour in a health club’s hot tub today soaking in the sauna and Jacuzzi after today’s short ride. We’re staying at the B&B Hostel, run by Todd who cycled the Southern Tier in 2000 and enjoys cyclist coming by. He gives us the care of a good B&B for $13 per night! He’s a great host who obviously likes things clean and nice! Were it not for my National Guard drill, we’d have taken a planned layover day here. Todd says he can hardly stand to see us mount up and ride off the next morning as it makes him want to join us.

4 July 2003: Great Falls, MT to 8 miles S. of Wolf Creek MT, 67.9 miles; 6:56 riding time We took a lengthy break in Ulm this morning as we breaked with a local rider in the convenience store and then were met by a woman driving sag for a group of 5 doing almost the same ride we’re doing but a day ahead of us. About Cascade we reached clean clear waters in the Missouri before it picks up its characteristic mud. Wolf Creek had no city park or camping, but there are many undeveloped sites along the creek above town, so owe had dinner there, bought supplies for breakfast, and rode up. We were warned about rattle snakes which combined with the undeveloped sites seems to have made Chris (an Easterner) very nervous especially combined with his yesterday’s decision to mail home his flashlight! He gets up several times each night and doesn’t want to discover rattlesnakes in the dark! He camps in a pile of rocks instead of the overgrown grass to make snakes more visible.

5 July 2003: 8 Miles S. of Wolf Creek MT to 3 Forks MT KOA Campground, 97.0 miles; 7:15 riding time Riding through Helena was unpleasant. Red-necked drivers seemed to have learned from their brethren in Excelsior Springs, MO. We were screamed at a few times to get off the road, and a jeep literally came within 2” of Chris which gave me a good scare. That anti-cycling attitude seemed to follow most of the way down to 3 Forks, and is only the 2nd time in the trip that monster has shown its ugly head. We had a late breakfast here as Chris threw out his bananas (as too bruised) and ate only cheap granola bars for breakfast- which isn’t the breakfast of champions! That 8 miles we rode up Wolf Creek gave us a head start, and with decent tails winds from Helena on we decided to extend the ride from Townsend to 3 Forks which basically puts us into Missoula a day early! This is a nice KOA with swimming pool and friendly guests, but it’s 4 miles out of town, and we got camp set up maybe an hour before sunset! A neighbor drove us into town, and the busboy at the restaurant drove us back out to camp during the last minutes of dusk.

6 July 2003: 3 Forks KOA to Twin Bridges, MT; 59.9 miles; 5:01 riding time We didn’t want to ride into town and back out, so we had peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast. The restaurant in LaHood wasn’t opened and there was no restaurant in Cardwell (as listed on AC maps), so we got by on snacks until Whitehall. Winds were slight, but in our face today. For some reason Chris wanted a motel tonight, but I stayed in the country fairgrounds and enjoyed a swim with a couple families in the Beaverhead River, one of the forks of the Jefferson, which is also a fork of the Missouri.

7 July 2003: Twin Bridges MT to Grant, MT; 62.6 miles riding time 5:21 Another windless morning! Dillion was scheduled for some internet time, but their library is closed on Mondays as are half their cafes! We had to hang around the Dairy Queen for a few minutes before its 11:00 opening. Chris called up the AC number listed in Grant, and we leaned that business is closed on Mondays. However, she agreed to fry us hamburgers and allow us to camp there. It turns out there is a competing business across the road (Grant is nothing – almost like Gifford, ID). Noa, a Japanese man, is cycling the Divide, and was staying across the road at that business that was opened. Enjoyed hearing about his mountain-bike trip. He’s riding 75 to 100 miles daily on that route on a budge of $5 per day! I believe he had ramen noodles for dinner, and his camping spot and shower cost $3! We exchanged e-mail addresses, and I look forward to hearing more about his Canada to Mexico adventure when I get home. Grant is just a dusty spot on the desert, no river, no trees, just sand, sagebrush and these two small businesses.

8 July 2003: Grant, MT to Salmon, Idaho; 58.0 miles 6:17 riding time The woman in Grant didn’t go to work until 8:00, so with a late breakfast, we were off to a late start this morning at about 8:45. Headwinds were strong as we started out, and we were riding into the eye of a storm though in all other directions the sky was clear. Cold rain soon started hitting us. Chris pulled over in the desert, and I road on up to some shelter about ¼ mile away. About 10 minutes later Chris caught me; he was soaked. I was huddled dry but cold under a cattle loading shoot with even my bike out of the rain! It was smelly but dry! The storm didn’t last long, and we were soon cycling up the pass that we had most feared in this trip. The air was cold after the rain and the pavement soon ended. We had lunch as we reached the first trees. Some cowboys showed up to lassoo cattle. We watched them rope a couple and give them shots before taking off. The grade on the Montana side isn’t too steep; requiring my 26” gear only for a brief while, but I’m sure I would have wanted the 19.9” gear to get up the Idaho side! It was a steep descent! Chris has no mountain biking background, and really crawled down the mountain. Between the steepness, gravel, and washboards, it was a challenging ride down. Chris also had a flat about half way down the steep part which caused him to ride even slower afterward. I arrived in Tendoy with an average speed of 7.7 MPH! Tendoy, Idaho is green and clean and gave Chris a good first impression of Idaho. Getting back on pavement into Salmon for the ride along the Lemhi River was good, and I picked up the pace to 17 to 18.

9 July 2003: Salmon, ID to Victor, MT; 104.0 miles 8:33 riding time The schedule had us stopping in Darby, but Chris has a friend here in Victor, just outside Missoula, so we pushed hard. Down the Salmon to North Fork was easy and smooth, but then we started up and over the pass back to were the Bitteroots branch off the Rockies and into western Montana. We found nothing in Gibbonsville, where our maps had promised food. However, the woman who runs a group of cabins gave us the best peaches I’ve eaten in years, bananas which she was afraid would be wasted, and oranges, as well as a delightful pic-nic table under the ponderosas before we started up the mountain. In the hot summer weather winds are blowing up hill, so we had a tailwind up the mountain, but a headwind down into the Bitterroot Valley. We talked to an 18 year old Trans Am ride for 15 minutes. He was carrying 70 pounds on his bike; 20 pounds of which were on his bike! He’s preparing to join the Marines, so he says it’s good training! While talking to him, Ken, a day rider joined us. He’s a mountain biker on vacation. They’re in an SUV camping, and driving along each day until they find something interesting to ride. He was in a recent wreck, so he switched to a road bike while his 2 friends mountain bike daily. He did Odessey 2000- that around the world bike ride and made a very interesting companion for half a day. It was 9:00 MDT before we got to our destination, but our host fixed steaks and a great dinner. He has a hot tub, a great rural setting with a rapid creek flowing just below the deck. He has two computers with separate internet access. No reason to leave here!