7/3- All But 8 With Brian, and Meeting a Follower

Brian and I had decided to ride together today. He was feeling okay after his crash. One of the bike issues was bent rails on his saddle. He was still able to get his Ortlieb seat bag to attach to the rails. 

Almost ready to go 

Brian was incredibly kind to go my pace. I could tell he was having an easy time. But he seemed okay with it. 

This morning before we left, we saw a flock of pelicans. Then on the road I saw this buck and later these cranes. 

We rode quite steady until Three Forks. 

Williams Bridge

We found a coffee shop in Three Forks. There was a dude sitting across from us asking Brian all the annoying questions about Canada. Brian was very patient, but I could see he was starting to annoy him too. While we were eating, another cyclist came in. It was Ben. He has been reading my blog everyday for info on the route ahead. He’ll be spending two days in Bozeman, so he’ll be behind me again, until he catches me. 

Ben and bike

Brian did a little saddle adjustment at the cafe in Three Forks. It was slowly going nose up. 

As we were riding out of Three Forks, I noticed my Garmin said the route was ending in 2.9 miles. I wondered if this would happen. I downloaded the routes Dana created. Instead of all of Segment 2 in one route, he made two routes in smaller chunks. Apparently, part two of Cutthroat was not on my Garmin. I had the route on my phone, but Brian also had most of today’s route on his Coros Dura. I just followed him. 

We were on a really bumpy bike path. Brian hit a particularly bad bump, and it totally tilted his saddle back. We stopped to fix it. 

His route was taking him to his Warmshowers host in Belgrade. Where our routes diverged, I just decided to stay on the Frontage Rd with Brian to Belgrade. We had a celebratory lunch (for his finishing his ride) at a cafe in Belgrade. I was able to get the second part of Cutthroat on to my Garmin. I was off route, but all I needed to do was ride the Frontage Rd into Bozeman. 

Brian and I said our goodbyes. It was nice having a riding partner today. I hope he continues to have awesome adventures with his kids. 

As I headed toward Bozeman on the very busy frontage road, I was reconsidering my plan to go to a campground off route. This being 4th of July weekend, I thought there was a pretty good chance the campground was full. So I looked up a Super 8. There was one just a mile away. I also needed to do full scale laundry. 

Luke, at the front desk, upgraded me to a King room because it was on the ground floor. Same price as the Queen at $105. That’s my cheapest hotel yet!

I asked an employee if they had any rags I could use to wipe down Wanda. He gave me a whole pile. I saved out one to exchange my greasy chain cleaning rag. Wanda now doesn’t have chunks of mud on her anymore!

Not fully clean, but better!

There’s a Mexican restaurant next door. Me thinks that will be dinner after my laundry is done. 

7/2-A Most Excellent Day!

Today was the first day back on the Brooks saddle. I did stop once to adjust it when I realized my knees were brushing up against my feed bags. But, otherwise, it was great! At the end of 53 miles, my butt felt like it had been feeling at 20 miles on the other saddle. 

I had a little funny routing thing as I was leaving the KOA. Turns out, I could have just gone out the back of the campground right to the trail. Instead, I did a circuitous route. 

There’s where I was camping. 

The trail

I was on this trail until it ended at a park, then it was road to an alley. When Garmin says left on Alley, you never quite know what that’s going to be. In this case, it was actually an alley!

I hope people didn’t mind I was cruising by the back of their houses. 

I worked my way to a short stint on MT 2. The guy at the bike shop yesterday told me to be very careful on Hwy 2. A cyclist had been killed there, being hit by a side mirror. It was just 1.1 miles, and I survived to tell the tale. Turning off the hwy onto gravel, it was a 14% grade going up toward Sagebrush Flats. Brooks or not, I was pushing. This was the middle of a 5.4 mile climb. Near Sagebrush Flats a woman in a pickup yelled that she was impressed with what I was doing, and that she liked my red “crocs” (they are Berkies, but whatever).

At the parking area, it took me a moment to figure out that the route went on some singletrack. I rode it until it went straight up. 

Fortunately, it wasn’t too long

At the top of that bit of hike-a-bike, I came to the Milwaukee Trail. Ahhh, this is the “railroad grade” the bike shop guy had been talking about. It was wonderful!

The old Milwaukee railway

Way down there is where I got off hwy 2

Through rock walls

I came to the first of three tunnels. The bike shop guy suggested I walk through the tunnel because there could be ice. 

The sign even says so. 

There wasn’t, and even with my little 300 lumen headlight, I rode it no problem. The second tunnel had more rock in it, but I just went slow.

I could see a long bridge. Sure enough, I got to ride across it. 

It was important to stay on the wood path

 The third tunnel, well, you couldn’t go through that one, so I had to hike the trail up and around the tunnel. 

Quite steep actually

One final push to the road

The road was the summit of Pipestone Pass and crossing the Continental Divide!

The only sign close to a summit sign

From there I had several miles of downhill on the hwy, then turned off for even more downhill miles on a gravel/dirt road. There were a couple of shorter climbs too, but they weren’t bad (and my butt was feeling good!).

At the top of one, I rested Wanda against some mailboxes so I could eat a snack. Of course, who should happen along…the rural mail carrier. I moved Wanda. 

The scenery on this road was very nice. 

Snow covered mountains

Check out this long downhill!!!

Down down down into the valley! The wide open valley!

I said to myself, now I just need a herd of antelope to make it a veritable home on the range! 

Ta da!

This was such an enjoyable ride! I was a little sad when the road went back to pavement. As I was riding along, I saw a couple walking their dogs. I stopped and said, “Isn’t this just an amazing day?” They agreed. They were Charlotte and David. We had a nice chat, then I continued on my way. 

I stopped awhile later in the shade at another mailbox. Yep, the rural mail carrier came there. It was a different one. I told her how she was the second one I’d seen today. She said there were three of them out today. 

I was at the start of another shortish climb. I happened to look at the climb pro, and it said it was 42/42. That means for the remainder of this route segment, there are no more climbs that initiate the climb pro. 

This segment doesn’t end until Columbus, MT!

I arrived at my only services for the day, the Cardwell RV park and convenience store. I got a hot dog and a soda. I was still feeling great, but I was hungry. Plus, I only had 7 more miles to go to Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. The guy at the store said it was a beautiful 7 miles. He was right. 

You can see where I-90 goes. Not me!

I got to go through this canyon

The rock was pretty cool

A cave!

I arrived at the state park at 3:00. Unfortunately, the cave tours were all sold out for the day. That’s okay, I’ve been in several caves. Plus, it would have been a 3 mile steep climb to get to where the tours started. 

I’m on a H/B site in the campground. There’s even another cyclist here! His name is Brian, and he is from near Toronto. He started in Banff on the Great Divide, but he only had two weeks before he has to fly home. He will fly out of Bozeman on the 4th. We’ve had a great afternoon. Unfortunately, coming back down the road from the cave tour, he crashed. He got several scrapes, but didn’t hit his head. Bike has a few issues, but it rideable. He just has to make it one more day. We are going to ride together tomorrow.

Today, was just a variety of scenery, and the first day I felt really strong on the bike. It’s amazing how your butt rules everything! Tomorrow is Bozeman. Not sure if I’m going to camp, or hotel it…

7/1 (for real) I Thought It Was Going to be a Boring Day

Part of it was, but then things got a little spicy!

Since it rained last night, my tent was wet again (but not muddy…thank you grass). I dried it off as much as possible with the Swedish dish cloth. I was on the road just after 7:30. To get back to the route, I just rode Main St to the frontage road that I would be riding for many miles today. I went by the Farm Prison (now a museum).

Looks a bit like a castle

Of course, the frontage road parallels I-90, so you get all of the noise, but not so much traffic. The speed limit on the frontage road is less too. It’s only 70mph!

Miles and miles of frontage road

I came to Anaconda, hole of the historic Anaconda Smelter Tower. 

Can’t miss it. 

I got off the frontage road to wiggle through Anaconda over to MT 1. This is the hwy I was on yesterday. The reason for this was to get to the Rest Area because the Copperway Regional Trail started there. 

Smooth!

I was only on it for a few miles to Crackerville Rd. The trail continued. Apparently, now it does go all the way to Butte, but it’s not all paved yet. That will be a great update for the GAWR. 

I, however, had to do a bit of road riding before coming back to the trail. There was just a little bit of gravel, but it was very washboarded. The trailhead had a restroom. 

Washboarded gravel

Notice the very dark clouds

As I came to the trailhead, the wi d was really starting to pick up. It was also colder. I had put my rain jacket on just for warmth (and it looked like it was going to rain any moment). I pulled into the parking lot of the trailhead because it was starting to rain, and I needed to put the rest of my rain gear on. I was at the other end of the building, sheltered from the wind and rain that was blowing sideways.  I had my rain gear on, but realized I would be riding right into the wind. Then there was thunder. I checked out the restroom. Ah, one big room! I wheeled Wanda in. I looked on my phone to see how long this was going to last. Only about an hour, then it dropped off significantly. I pulled out my chair, and a snack. 

A delicious pecan pie bar. 

About 40 minutes later I opened the door. The rain had stopped! I quickly packed up my chair, and exited the restroom. The wind had mostly died down too. I figured I only had a brief window before the next storm rolled in. I rode like a bat outta hell! I had one final climb for the day on the trail. I powered up that sucker like I had nothing on my bike! The trail snaked around. It also had big cracks which were very annoying. 

Go fast!

I popped out onto Santa Claus Rd (Ho Ho Ho), rode onto Centennial Rd, and then to Montana Rd. Here I departed from the route because I had to go to the post office to pick up my Brooks saddle. It was several blocks uphill. I finally had to walk. I picked up the box (thank you Makaela) and immediately put the saddle on outside the post office so I could mail the other one home. I also sent my frying pan and my spatula home too (just not using them). Once that task was done, I headed to the nearest bike shop (conveniently one block away) to get a new headlight. My other one died in the storm. The guy only had one option. It’s only 300 lumens, but I just need it for a couple of tunnels. 

Then it was all the back downhill to the KOA. I told the people in the office that this was the third time I’ve stayed at this KOA, and on three different bike routes! They have a discount for cyclists. The tent site was $32 which is pretty cheap for a KOA. They even have full size towels for cyclists to use (no charge)! I set everything up (careful eye on the weather), and took my shower. This KOA has pizza, so I got a cheese pizza for dinner. 

I needed a few groceries, so I rode over to Safeway (5 minutes away). When I came out, there was another big black cloud. I hurried back to my tent. Made it in time to get everything put away. When I came out from brushing my teeth, it was raining. I dove in the tent, but then the sun came out, and it was roasting in there. The rain had stopped. 

Rainbow from my tent

I’m looking forward to riding on the Brooks tomorrow. I realize it might take a moment for my butt bones to stop feeling bruised, but it will be okay, I’m sure!

Wanda with the Brooks saddle from Billy. 

7/1-Well…I Was Warned!

Since breakfast wasn’t ready until 8:00, I didn’t need to get up at the butt-crack of dawn. I wasn’t going to miss one of Scott’s muffins. Today was blueberry…delicious! 

It was still kind of chilly so I wore my leg warmers, and my arm warmers over my hoody, but I didn’t wear my puffy jacket. 

The majority of the route to Drummond was downhill on the highway. 

It is July 1st afterall

Highway miles

Welcome back shadow!

I finally stopped at this historical marker to take off the leg warmers and arm warmers. 

As I continued on the hwy, I saw this funny sign. I think it was for the museum. 

The museum, and yes, it was open

Lots of metal animals

I wasn’t too far out of Drummond by now. I rode in on a back road. It went right by the Drummond City Park that allows camping. 

This is where I would have stayed if I’d been able to make it. 

In Drummond, I stopped at the convenience store for some chocolate milk and a snack. I was 27 miles in and it was about 10:00. Not bad. 

From Drummond I was ever so gradually climbing on a frontage road along I-90. I stopped to take my yellow shirt off as it was getting warmer. I looked back, and saw a cyclist approaching. I knew immediately that it was Dan. I’d wondered if he would catch me today. We chatted for a moment. He was also heading to Deer Lodge, but staying in a hotel. I also suspected, but didn’t think to ask, that he was doing a different route into Deer Lodge. With what came next, I’m absolutely certain he did. 

Bye Dan!

The frontage road had those annoying cracks every few feet. I found if I rode smack dab in the middle of the road, they weren’t so bad. 

I turned off the frontage road at Gold Creek. There was one of those “Make-a-wish” camps. Only they called it “Make -a-Dream”. 

Just a handful of miles later, I turned onto Old Stage Road. At first it was paved, but then it turned to gravel. But, it was good gravel. 

Short break for a snack. 

Interesting little shack

Awesome gravel!

I had started a 4.3 mile climb. Things were going great. Then the route continued onto a much less great road. 

Less gravel, more dirt. 

Uh oh, this must be the part the guy who commented on my blog post said might be mud…but just for a mile or two. Let’s just say, I was warned! It was indeed muddy, and for way more than a mile or two. In fact, more like about 8 of the 10 miles of “gravel”. 

Twice I had to scrape the mud off the tires and the chain stays. Fortunately, the drivetrain stayed pretty clean.

Sometimes, there was a side route

The scenery was pretty good though. 

There were 3 more climbs after the 4.3 mile climb. Two were 1/2 mile long climbs, and one was 1 1/2 miles.

One of so many lake puddles to negotiate. For this one, I climbed up on the grass on the left.

I saw only one side by side the entire mud section, and it was just before the last climb. I told them it was pretty muddy that direction. They were surprised I had come that way.

More views

The cows were curious as to why I would choose to do this. I was too.

You can see the last climb in the distance. 

From the top of the last climb, it was mostly downhill all the way to Deer Lodge, but there were still muddy bits and puddles to weave through. Finally, I could see the town. 

Down down down

Finally on pavement into town.

I stopped at a burger place that said it was and A&W, but it wasn’t. They did have A&W root beer! As usual, since the chocolate milk and snack in Drummond, I had eaten very little. I was suddenly quite hungry. 

Refueled, I headed for Indian Creek RV and Campground. Of course, it is next to I-90, but I don’t care. For the first time on this trip, I’m camped on grass. Should be comfy. Penny, in the office, said Welsh Chris was here a week ago. He is riding a lot of I-90.

My new friend. She’s a tripod (3 legs).

Tomorrow I should make it to Butte. So looking forward to getting my Brooks saddle. Although, my butt wasn’t too bad today, even though I did 61 miles. Of course, that’s because I had so much hike-a-bike through the mud.