Glasgow, MT to Poplar, MT

July 2, 1996

Al's Bike Shop in small town America

Another day of headwinds and temperatures over 100 degrees. We were hoping to sail quickly across the plains and are quite disappointed. Of course, my first thought is that we'll never get to Ocean City in time to vacation with the family. It's hard to keep enough liquids in us; just like in Colorado last summer. I can't stand to drink warm or hot water, so I have begun buying bottled water when we stop and forcing myself to drink it while it's cold. Many towns have water that tastes horrible!

When cycling an established long distance cycling route, when you encounter other touring cyclists, you stop to exchange route and logistical information. Also you hear about other cyclists along the route. For several days we had heard about two guys cycling west who were pulling B.O.B. trailers loaded with golf clubs. Today we finally met them. They had also heard about the middle aged couple on a tandem. Their story was that this was their second cross country cycling tour together. They are bartenders and decided this trip they should golf their way across the country. Every time they came to a town with a golf course they arranged to play at least a few holes. They claimed they were actually pretty poor golfers and hadn't played a lot prior to the tour. For some reason they played better the more tired they were.

We stopped in Wolf Point to get spare tires and to remove the drumbrake. Dave will add more about that later. While he was working on the bike, I laid in the backyard and enjoyed the clouds, wind chimes, songbirds, and even a rainbow when there wasn't a drop of moisture anywhere. Lots of hymns come to mind.."This Is My Father's World.." We planned to stay in Poplar because Colbertson was too far, but along the way two people told us it wasn't a very safe place, that it is known as "Stab City" due to the violence. But they said if we didn't camp or go to the bars we'd be okay. The people we met in Poplar were the same friendly type we've become accustomed to. We conversed over dinner with the ex-mayor and a farmer. They helped us get motel reservations for the next two nights.

AL'S BIKE SHOP TURNED OUT TO BE A FRIENDLY RETIRED MAN RUNNING A ONE ROOM SHOP IN HIS BASEMENT.

HE'S BEEN DOING THIS FOR 60 YEARS..HE HAD TO IN ORDER TO KEEP HIS TEN CHILDREN PROVIDED WITH BICYCLES. HE SOLD US TWO TIRES FOR $7 EACH AND ALSO HELPED ME TAKE OFF THE DRUM BRAKE. SINCE WE DIDN'T HAVE THE SPECIAL TOOL, WE HAD TO JURY RIG A TOOL..SOMETHING I THINK HE HAS DONE MANY TIMES BEFORE. AL WAS MARRIED FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS, BUT HIS WIFE DIED 1 YEAR AGO AFTER RECEIVING A HEART TRANSPLANT IN 1982. I THINK AL TAKES CARE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS' BIKES AND THE NEIGHBORS TAKE CARE OF HIM. ONE LADY STOPPED TO CHECK ON WHAT HE HAD FOR SUPPER. ONE BANK THERMOMETER READ 102 DEGREES WHILE THE ONE ACROSS THE STREET READ 112. I THINK THE 112 WAS THE ACCURATE ONE.

Today's ride: 73 miles (117 km)
Total: 1,210 miles (1,947 km)

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