Day 4 Hardy to East Helena - 64 miles, 2500 ft of climbing

Quite a mixed riding day today - 1/2 serene beauty, following the banks of the meandering Missouri, the other 1/2 on Interstate 15.

Two flats for me today. One, a faulty valve stem - my third this year. Number two was a "wire snake" - a remnant of a disintegrating steel belted tire, lurking along the freeway shoulder, waiting for the hapless bicycle tourist. In all this vast, baking openness, it happened as we went under an underpass! Then, as we rode up the longest, steepest climb of the day, clouds rolled in with just enough rain to keep us cool.

We skirted around Helena, avoiding the downtown and headed to East Helena where there was an "RV Park" with showers and laundry. Turns out most of the "visitors" trailers have their wheels off,  there are abandoned cars and motorcycles and a note on the laundry room door from the ticked off landlord...

But wait, there's more!

We have:

An active railroad across the highway

We are on the incoming flight path for the airport.

2 sheriffs cars have come in since we arrived...

All the cars that have left here need new mufflers...

Travel broadens one's horizons, eh?

Trudy just found her ear plugs.

Day 3 - Simms to Hardy, 67 miles... 1200 ft elevation gain, a nice easy day!

Today, we left the roads we'd travelled last year, heading southwest toward the Missouri River. This is an area where the Corps of Discovery split up to explore different areas, then regrouped again later. We skipped it last year because we didn't have time. We spent the past two days traveling roads we were on last year, although our stopping points are different.

Today was pretty flat, so we made pretty good time and had a pretty easy day.

Of course it didn't hurt that they rebuilt a highway for us..

Nice folks around here!

It turned out that the flag woman for this stretch of road was the ex wife of the RV park owner where we stayed last night... Hmmm, small state?

At Great Falls we started our new maps... This is our first view of the Missouri River.

Or,

Or,

Soon, the terrain changed dramatically...

Tonight, we're staying at a fishing, rafting, outdoor sports place with showers, laundry and a store... Very nice owners...

They let us stay for free!

As we were checking our maps, a rain storm came through. We were sitting at a picnic table in a sheltered area, so getting wet  wasn't a problem... Good thing! The rain came straight down at first, then it blew horizontally one direction, then from the other direction.

Hmmm? So, we set the tent up under the shelter...

As I'm writing this, there's a deer grazing ten yards away. Earlier, a couple of young bucks were practicing sparring.

Day 2 - Deer-ie me! Lincoln to Sims, MT 56 miles, 11.3 mph ave. 2500 ft elev. gain

Our deer friend wandered over this morning to see if we had anything for her breakfast, accompanied by three handsome bucks who will probably end up in a stew if they don't wise up by hunting season.

Today's ride included riding over Rogers Pass, the Continental Divide, so we planned for fewer miles.

Not too far out of town we ran into a bit of a slow down, a construction / obstruction... For 5 miles.

Skinny tire bikes, gravel, traffic and pilot cars make for interesting navigation. Slow and steady.

We made it to the top of Roger's Pass before the heat of the day, in perfect weather.

The descent was fantastic! Last year it started raining just as we reached the summit, so we were riding in driving rain and wind. It's so much better with dry, clean pavement! With a 70 pound loaded bike, I think the fastest I went was about 35... all the luggage probably creats a lot of wind resistance.

After the pass, we started the rolling hills and heat... We can tell when it's going to be a steep climb because there's a passing lane ahead sign. If it's a steep downhill, there's a truck with a wedge of cheese sign... Pretty tiring, going up and down hills... So, I decided to establish my new work cubicle...

Nice, huh? Sunny, airy...

We made it to Simms about 3. And found the only camping is in an RV park behind the gas station / convienence store - no showers, and the store hours (rest rooms) are from 7-6. Not many bushes around, either...

But, the Sun River is just down the road...

So, off we went for a swim / bath and to rinse out our riding clothes of the day.

Day 1 (and getting there... Grass Valley to Missoula - arrrgh!) Missoula to Lincoln, MT - 80 miles, 1700 ft. Elevation gain, ave speed 12.8...

OMG! First our feet, then our legs, then our asses went numb driving to Missoula!  18 hours... Total. We switched driving every time a body part went numb and forged on, finishing the drive after midnight, collapsing as soon as we had a horizontal surface to fall on.

We were up at 7 to put the bikes together, repack a bit, and were on the road by 9. 

The continental breakfast at the hotel turned out to be weak coffee and a muffin, so the start of our journey was from a grocery store parking lot...

Soon we were headed into the wildness of Montana...

We rode along the meandering Blackfoot River... So beautiful!

I took Trudy out for a romantic lunch along the way - it was a surprise! The service was good, but the food was so, so...

So, I took her out for a drink...

It was a pretty quiet place...

So, we kept riding... It was only 95 degrees... Talk about a hot honeymoon!

I guess she wasn't that impressed 'cause she took up with this frontier guy...

It didn't last - the guy was a block head.

So we pedaled on to Lincoln, and found a camping spot in town... Must be where the Montana wildlife comes for vacation...

oh deer!

Only 10 hours of driving left to Missoula!

We started a little before 7 this morning - Trudy's driving, so I can brush up on one finger typing...

We made a "fuel stop" in Truckee...

A great place, if you're in the neighborhood!

Our wedding celebration was wonderful, with so many family and friends - the time went so quickly!

Our entrance...

I DO! Do you?

We do... did!

Many, many thanks to all the people that made our day so wonderful: especially St. John's United Methodist Church, which provided a place and many, many hands, logistical support, love and friendship; Grace Johnson, our our officiant; Santa Rosa Cycling Club for getting us started on this journey and all our family and friends for everything they do... Far beyond words!