Halleluja

To Stanford, Montana -- 77.7 miles, 11.0 mph, 3000 ft

Today was a study in contrasts. Despite the sunshine and beautiful scenery, our morning was "clouded" by an unexpectedly strong headwind, a windy 23 miles stretch of climbing, and the knowledge that our day would not end until mile 71 in Denton. Meg was again at wits end, cursing the headwind and what would certainly be a ten hour saddle time, and lately, sitting in the “saddle” for six, seven, or eight hours, is a literal pain in the butt!

Head wind and rumble strip in the bike lane!

However, thirty miles into the ride a miraculous change occurred after our McDonald’s lunch in Lewistown. Our good fortune may well have been due to Gordon, our savior who we met at McDonald’s and who suggested Denton might not be our best route to Great Falls. Indeed, according to our biking maps, we would have to cover 155 miles to Great Falls whereas Google showed only 110 miles via an alternative route! Gordon, enjoying breakfast with a couple buddies, asked if we were ChristIan. My pat answer is always yes, and, having been raised Catholic, I feel comfortable with this -- plus, it avoids possible evangelizing. Before leaving the restaurant, Gordon took our hands and led us in a family prayer for our continued safety. It was an incredibly kind gesture and one we genuinely appreciated.

Our savior, Gordon, on the right

With a new route planned to Great Falls, we left the McDonald's at 1 p.m., 48 miles to go.  Lo and behold, within minutes, the angels were singing. The sun came out (figuratively), the shoulder widened, the grades lessened, and the wind miraculously died down!  Hallelujah!! Five minutes after leaving Lewistown, I was ready to proclaim my everlasting devotion to Highway 87. Suddenly we could talk to each, the zero to fifteen inch shoulder was now fifteen feet, and we could comfortably maintain ten, eleven, or even twelve mph! I have no idea why the biking map avoided the wider, smoother, straighter, and flatter highway 87. Although our new route actually required us to bike 77 miles today (6 miles farther than originally planned), doing so means we'll arrive a full day early in Great Falls! A true blessing.

Ten feet of flat, smooth, "unrumbled" pavement

Bikes at Eddie's Corner rest stop

One thing I've figured out recently, is that I apparently need a lot more food than the rest of our crew. If I don't have some sugary snack every hour and a half or so, my legs start to feel like lead. Even after an Egg McMuffin and hashbrowns, a couple cokes, a cup of coffee (with lots of extra sugar), and two apple pies for lunch, seventeen miles later I gobbled down a couple ice cream sandwiches and a liter of Mt Dew at Eddie's Corner. Of course, that didn't stop me from consuming a couple giant oatmeal cookies and a bottle of PowerAde an hour later.

The good news for the day was that we successfully made it to the Sundown Inn and in very good spirits buoyed by the much improved riding conditions. Looking at the weather, tomorrow will, once again, bring strong headwinds. For what seems like the twentieth time, we’ve again warned Dex and Kylie to expect an early morning and potentially long day. Nevertheless, for today, we are very, very grateful indeed.

Happy crew at the end of a much better day