Day 33-Amazing Kindness

We said goodbye to Kathryn and John this morning. They were going to Twin Bridges, but we were going to Dillon. Still 48 miles and two Passes.

I sent this to my son, Dillon, and said we were on our way to him. 

It was cooler, so the mosquitos weren’t out yet. We could actually enjoy the ride and the scenery. 

Finishing with the Beaverhead Mountains. 

Not far into the day, we began to climb out of the Big Mosquito Hole Valley up Big Hole Pass. 

We could see the entire climb. 

Tilmann reaches a new highest elevation. 

It was about 9 miles downhill, which was very fun, even though Mother Nature was trying to put the brakes on with a headwind. 

Nice ranch/farm

We came to Polaris Rd which is where the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route joins the Trans Am for 5.5 miles. 

Polaris Rd

I’ve ridden this road before!

In the 5.5 miles, we saw 2 northbound Great Divide riders, and 4 Trans Am Westies. Just after where the GDMBR turns off to Bannack State Park, we saw two more Trans Am riders. Turns out the 6 of them were all riding together. 

We climbed out second Pass for the day…Badger Pass. It was a longer climb than Big Hole, but more gradual. Unfortunately, there was no summit sign. I guess if a Pass is under 7000 feet, it doesn’t get a sign. 

The summit…I guess…

Down into wide open country. We wanted to eat lunch, but there was zero shade. Finally, I spotted a house with shade in the front. The owners were bringing in groceries. We pulled in, and asked if we could borrow their shade to eat our lunch. Dorothy and Leo Rawson told us to come on up on the porch, and sit in the chairs. It was lovely! Then, when we were done, Leo came out. We asked if we could trouble them for some water. Leo said no problem, and took us into the house. We filled our bottles, and had a wonderful conversation with them. They have four kids, 13 grandkids, and 8 great grandkids. All live in Montana. They told us to let any other cyclists know that they are welcome to stop at their place to rest or get water…whatever anyone needed. 

Leo and Dorothy Rawson…such nice people!

We had 11 miles to go to Dillon. It was mostly downhill, so pretty easy. Once in Dillon, I googled the directions to the Bike Camp, but before we could get there, we spotted an ice cream place. Yeah, we weren’t about to ride by that without stopping!

Full up on ice cream, we continued on to the Bike Camp. As we were getting close, a car flagged us down. It was a guy named John, and he is one of the volunteers that helps out at the Bike Camp. He gave us the low down on who to call to let them know we were there (they keep track to show the city that having the Bike Camp attracts a lot of cyclists to Dillon). 

We rolled on into the camp. 

It really is an amazing place! There is the Wash Room building where there is a kitchen, bathroom, and shower. One person can sleep in there on a cot (first come first serve). Then there are numerous other campsites, including where we set up our tents. 

Inside the Wash Room cabin (Doug having his umpteenth Otter Pop).

There are four “cubicles”, each with its own outlet, bench, and shelf. Mine happened to have a lounge chair as well…such luxury!

Then there is another building that has a full workshop of bike tools (and a freezer full of ice cream bars).

The workshop. 

All the tools…

They also fix donated bikes, and distribute them to the community members, along with a helmet. 

Their mission statement. 

There are 6 of us here tonight. Three of us are eastbound, and the other three (Jax, from Britain, and Elizabeth and Don) are Westies. Todd is the other eastbounder. He arrived later this evening. The others and I had a great time exchanging info. Where was Doug? Well, he had a little mishap with the laundry detergent in his pannier. Let’s just say, his pannier is very clean and fresh smelling now, and he got to do a bunch of laundry in the process…

Lois, who with her husband Larry, are the main caretakers of the camp, stopped by to bring fresh towels, and tell us how the Bike Camp got started. It really is their passion, and they run solely on donations. This is their 4th year, and there have been about 4000 cyclists stay here. It is a huge success. 

We’ve had a great time here. Tomorrow we go to the very first Bike Camp in Twin Bridges. It’s not a long ride, but we are due for a short east day. 

Moon sitting on the mountain. Goodnight from Dillon!