A New Low

To Circle, Montana -- 50.3 miles, 8.5 mph, 1400 ft

Eight-point-five mph! That was our average speed today -- a new low. For the last half of the day, we could only endure an hour of riding at a time. As a result, we broke the last half of the day into three hour-long riding sessions. Though there was nowhere in particular to stop, we still gratefully laid the bikes on the ground and found a spot to plop down for a little while.

For the third time in the last few days, Meg was totally done with biking, everything hurts -- shoulders, knees, legs, and bum. Unfortunately, the fact that we all misjudged our first and only stop, didn't help. As we fought the headwind, Meg was convinced that we were only two miles away; I thought it was four, but tragically, it turned out to nine!  I have no idea how the maps could have been that far off, but it ended up being an hour to “town,” and I use the term town very loosely. We sat outside the gas station for an hour.

Candy is always a good thing!

What's amazing, is what a difference the wind makes. When your mode of transportation relies on a fraction of a horsepower, the wind is a huge variable. It’s crazy how our outlook of the ride is completely different depending on which direction we happen to be facing. The sun was out, it was 80 degrees, and the scenery was beautiful. Nevertheless, the howling wind and snail-like pace were soul-sapping. We briefly discussed alternatives -- catching a train from somewhere, renting a four-door pickup, leaving Montana for somewhere less windy, or just giving up the idea of getting to Missoula by the 25th.

Despite the one-day rest in Glendive, we seemed to be in the exact same boat as before. Once again, we broke the remainder of the day into hour intervals all the way to Circle.

Kylie unfortunately realized after we arrived at the hotel, that she left a bunch of her clothes in Glendive -- her one pair of bike shorts, her one long sleeve shirt, one of her two short sleeve shirts…. She was thus in a foul mood for most of the afternoon. Additionally, one persistent and inexplicable thorn in her side has been the fact that Dex has gotten ahead in his reading of the Wings of Fire book series. She absolutely cannot stand the fact that she is behind and no amount of persuasion will convince her that it’s not of critical importance.

The can of Pringles they ate after finishing the ride seems to have been a bad idea because neither Dex nor Kylie had any interest in dinner.  Meg and I eventually gave in and headed into town on our own. We met Craig, an old-timer, at the town bar and restaurant. Before we knew it, we were privy to much of the details of his life -- time in Vietnam, marriage gone bad, motorcycle wreck at 90 mph.... He was a nice guy but may have had one drink too many. "Keep the greasy side down," he advised as we left the bar.

End of another long day

High tech, Montana style

Downtown Circle