Leaving the Rockies Behind

Day 21: East Glacier to Shelby, MT--75 miles

Milestone: We went over 1,000 miles today!


Today was one of those days you would order off a bicycling menu: "I'll have the strong tailwind, no traffic, and blue sky special, please!" And it delivered for much of the day!

We were wishing for tailwinds, especially since we were still a little sore from our walking excursion. And sure enough, the wish came true! It wasn't the Columbia River Gorge, but it came close. There were a few exceptions to this spectacular day, but the overall impression was that it was fabulous cycling!

Our mishap occurred at about 5 miles into the trip. I got a flat--glass in my rear tire. If we were anthropologists researching the culture of the people in this area in 2007, we would guess that one of their favorite activities is throwing glass out of car windows onto the side of the road! It was unbelievable how much glass was strewn all over the shoulder, and it was often unavoidable. We even saw a car with the rear window smashed in--now that's just crazy! David rescued me with a patch and we were off.

Even with the delay, we made it to Browning in less than an hour--and the total 75 miles took about 4 1/2 hours--the same time it took us yesterday to go UP Marias Pass!

There were periods of time when I felt like I was riding a motor scooter--no pedaling and going 20 mph! I also hit my fastest speed of the trip today: 42 mph. That felt VERY fast, especially after the flat earlier in the morning.

As we left the Rocky Mountains behind, we had a huge transition in scenery. We went from lush mountain terrain (very green, ferns everywhere, lots of trees and water) to grass plains and dryland farming. The farmland was also much different than the land we saw in Washington State. It continued to be quite beautiful, but in a different way!

Our next "mishap" occurred about 8 miles before Cut Bank. It was a construction zone, and when they say "loose gravel" in Montana, they really mean "there is no road here anymore." What we had to ride on for 8 miles was washboard of the hairiest degree--the kind that rattles your fillings! We also had the traffic to go with it, and right as we entered Cut Bank, the dirt road became soft so that our tires sank in! What an experience--and one I would not like to repeat!

So we had lunch in Cut Bank at the Village Inn and Casino (did I mention there are casinos around every corner in Montana?). David said that even with all the casinos, he didn't notice an over abundance of sinning in Montana!

After we left the espresso shop in Cut Bank, it was smooth sailing for 40 miles. We cruised into Shelby, MT and stopped off at the visitor's center. While there, one of the nicest chamber of commerce workers we have met gave us the scoop on campgrounds and restaurants, and gave us a gift! We stayed at the local campground and ate a good Chinese dinner at the Kow Loon restaurant on Main Street. We had dinner with another cyclist we met at the campground. His name is Bill and he's also raising money during his ride. Check out his website if you want--www.bikeformima.com is the name.

In the meantime, don't forget to click on the link to OUR donation page! It's on the home page, and I'm setting a fundraising goal of $10,000. Right now we're only at about $1,000 so we have a ways to go! If you haven't clicked and donated yet, that would be a wonderful birthday gift for me--only 4 days away! Please send the link to other people you think would be interested, and let's meet this goal and honor Tom royally!

Six or so more days in Montana--what a big state! And then North Dakota will seem quite small in comparison! We think we'll cross the state line on June 18.