Gone Fishin'

To Great Falls, Montana -- 59.9 miles, 12.6 mph, 1825 ft -- Tue-Wed, July 20-21

Am I ever happy we started early today. Kylie is not a morning person, so she is therefore almost always the last one up. Usually, the rest of us are all packed and sometimes have even eaten before Meg or I finally coax her out of bed. Believe me, it works a whole lot worse if Dex is the one doing the “coaxing!”

In any event, we were out of the motel and rolling by 6:40, which worked out brilliantly! There was no wind, there were few cars on the highway, and it was a beautiful morning. The new route and highway that we opted for yesterday meant that we only had 60 miles to Great Falls and we would be there a whole day earlier than planned!  We had thoughts of eating in the tiny town of Belt. However, the only eating establishment we knew of was a bar. We had just made it to the top of a heart stopping hill, so the prospect of heading back down the windy side road into town and the unknown food situation made us decide to make due with goldfish, a day old cinnamon roll, Pop Tarts, and cookies.

Lunch stop

Road side rock collection

An hour and a half later, we rolled into town. Although Meg has a personal grudge against Walmart, I suggested stopping at the super store right on the edge of town before making our way to the Comfort Inn -- for two nights!  We could use drinks and food, plus this would be the ideal place to pick up a shirt and shorts for Kylie to make up for the ones she left in Glendive. Hell, I even bought a new five-dollar, off-the-bike shirt to replace the one that I never get a chance to wash. (I typically have to wear something while washing the biking shirts, which inevitably needs washer way more.)

Our stay in Great Falls, which included one rest day, consisted of six main activities -- eating, working on the bikes, eating, fishing, eating, and visiting the Lewis and Clark museum.

To my surprise, the new chains we’d bought in Milwaukee were already stretched past their recommended limit. Hmmph, only 1300 miles! Unfortunately, tandem drive trains, despite the higher weight and loads, are no more robust than standard bikes, and, in fact, are typically use the identical components. A couple new tires, four new chains, and new handle bar wrap completed the maintenance for now. New brake pads for Meg’s bike will have to wait until Missoula.

Tool collection

The fishing portion of our activities was strictly for Dex and Kylie. They’ve been dying to fish ever since Minneapolis when they saw a guy at the river pulling out a fish every two minutes. Just across the street from the hotel was Scheel’s, which may be my new favorite sporting goods store. We were treated like kings as we picked up a few more bike parts and fishing gear for our anxious, little fishermen. We made enough of an impression that when leaving we were given free water bottles, shirts, caps, and even free tokens to play the shooting game.

So, while Dex and Kylie tried their hands at fishing along the Missouri, Meg and I explored the Lewis and Clark museum. The goal of the Lewis and Clark expedition’s as outlined by Thomas Jefferson was to follow the Missouri upstream as far as it would go and, if possible, find a “Northwest Passage." As a result, the entire distance to the Continental Divide was literally against the current. With no mules or horses, muscle power of the enlisted men, was the only way to move the boats. When they came upon a series of five impassible falls -- including Great Falls -- they had no choice but to portage their 33 foot barge and two flat bottom boats 18 miles. It took them two weeks!

Meg with a statue of Seaman, Lewis' trusty canine sidekick

Portaging canoes around the falls

No matter how much we complain of our minor difficulties and inconveniences, it is absolutely nothing compared to the true hardship and real dangers of the Lewis and Clark expedition. I’ll try to remember that the next time I walk out of the heat and into an air conditioned gas station just to find they are fresh out of Mt Dew -- I have it pretty damn easy.