8/6/15
Was up early and as I stepped out of the tent the morning dew was very heavy. That meant packing a wet tent and several other things that got wet too. I let my camp partner Justin know I was heading out and he had about an hour before anybody at the businesses we camped behind would be arriving.
Peddled the mile or so into Lincoln MT and pulled into the first open restaurant for breakfast. I’m loving burning massive amounts of calories every day because that means EAT!, and eat whatever my heart desires. This morning it would be biscuits and gravy, normally not something I would have but sounded like the perfect fat and calories to begin a day of biking.
A good cycling snack. Look at all those calories in just one candy bar.
Once I had my breakfast and did some restocking at the grocery store, I headed out-of-town. My camp partner for the night, Justin, passed me while I was enjoying breakfast and shopping. Caught up to him sitting alongside the road rolling his own cigarette. Stop and chatted with him a bit before a local guy who had just bike from Banff to Lincoln a few weeks ago stopped to talk. After a few minutes Justin decided to push on but I was enjoying the company and talked for another half hour before tackling divide crossing #2, but not before missing a turn and riding about ¾ of a mile uphill on the wrong road.
The few miles before the pass was fairly steep, so that meant a lot of pushing instead of riding. This pass crossing also included the return of a problem that I thought had been taken care of back at Tom’s house and that is a leaky valve on the rear tire. Stopped to pump up the tire 4 times within a few miles, before I verbally threaten to insert a tube in the tire. (I’m running tubeless tires that uses a latex sealant to keep everything air tight)
The threat worked because that would be the last time I had to put the pump on that tire for the day. Soon I caught up with Justin again, having yet another smoke and some lunch, a good time for me to break out lunch as well. Soon we were both underway pushing our bikes up the pass. At one point the grade lessened and I decided to peddle. Told Justin I would meet him at the divide crossing which was only ½ mile away.
Once we unceremoniously crossed the Continental Divide we took the long wild ride down the other side. After several miles, we were off the two-track and on more normal road. A car pulled up along side and asked if we needed any water. Told the driver I needed to check . She said to just pull into the next driveway to the left about a quarter-mile up. Told Justin I was going to stop and he said he was going to push on. That would be the last I saw of Justin but I did pass his bike leaning up against a bridge rail. Guess he decided to rest near that river with the book he had been talking about and to roll another cigarette.
An old Mine
About two miles later I missed yet another turn adding another useless 1.5 miles to my journey. Back on track, I was ready to tackle Continental Divide crossing #3. As the grade started to increase so did the roughness of the trail. Even if the grade had been more agreeable, the path was just too rocky and rutty to peddle up.
Soon I had Divide crossing #3 in my pocket and ready to stop for the day, although I’m unable to find a good spot. I’m not sure what is private land and which is public because there is cattle roaming everywhere, private, public, in the road, on the side of the road… There are cattle.
A big buck waiting for me at the top of Divide crossing #3
The sun is getting low and I’m feeling pretty good, keeping an eye for a spot to camp when I learn what it means to ‘bonk’. All of a sudden I notice the ground in front of my tire is moving. Whoa that’s weird… Wait, a minute… the ground isn’t moving, I’m getting dizzy. Immediately I pulled off the side of the road and laid on the embankment with a candy bar and some Gatorade. Soon I was feeling better and back on the search for a spot to camp for the night. A couple of miles later found a spot to pitch my tent. A place not visible from the road and about 30 yds from the railroad tracks.
A few rail cars just sitting. When is the last time you saw one of these?
Since I’ve had these tracks in view for a long time and paralleled them for several miles without seeing a train, I’m hoping they are rarely used.
