Traveling at Mach 0.012

Monday, June 23

Start: Windham, MT
Destination: Great Falls, MT
Day total miles: 65
Journey total miles: 2844

Towns passed through:
Windham, MT
Stanford, MT
Geyser, MT
Raynesford, MT
Belt, MT
Fife, MT
Great Falls, MT

Sleeping in Great Falls

No mountains, but some pretty hefty hills today. Started early to hav breakfast at Eddys Corner. Big truck stop with great water (came recommended). The breakfast was good and enjoyed the comments from one waitress about the other. Good to know that there are personality differences here too.

The ride started out with some climbs and then back down. Came into Stanford pretty quickly and then out and on towards Geyser. The hills were ok and the road good for biking. Then came Geyser. Coming out of town and up a hill you find the shoulder is about 18-24 inches wide and all rumble strip. This means that the choice is to ride on the road and hope that the vehicle will yield to me (most do) or take the rumble strip. Not the best experience. Who ever thought of this one should be subject to screaming babies and whiney children for a 12 hour plane ride.

After Raynesford, the road wound through canyons. Not much shoulder again, but mostly light traffic. Saw a real live coyote along this stretch. It paid no attention to me.

Stopped at t rest stop near Belt, where US 89 joins in with 200. While taking a break, several stopped and asked about my ride and wished me luck. The couple from Lewistown told me that only one more big hill before Great Falls. And it was in fact quite the hill. After that the ride was smooth sailing into Great Falls.

This is a pretty large town with lots of businesses. There is an Air Force base nearby; guess this is one of the economic drivers. Done by 1230 and a rest day tomorrow. Worked on the bike – took off the front rack, remounted the light on the fork. Still need to clean the chain, but that is a fairly fast job.

So I have some things that am not using – one panier, GPS unit that won’t work (ugh), some clothes that seemed like a good idea at the time, and my front rack. Took all over to Ship-it to send home. The folks there were friendly and gave me lots of local info and recommendations. Less stuff in the car and a lighter bike.

One of the great views of the day.

A fixer-upper that should be available for a good price. Needs some paint.