Helena, MT - Townsend, MT: My first cooking rotation. - Following the Lewis and Clark Trail 2005

June 29, 2005

Helena, MT - Townsend, MT: My first cooking rotation.

I don't think any of us wasted time getting on the road this morning. The sky was very dark and threatening. The cloud cover made for some interesting photos. I snapped them quickly and got back on the road. The ride was basically flat all the way. We had a slight downslope heading into town, which made for a nice run. It never did rain on us, other than a slight mist.

The cooks instructions were to arrive in town by 4 PM, take your shower and get your tent set up, go shopping by 5 PM, start preparing dinner at 6 PM, dinner should be served by 7 PM.

This was my first evening to cook. My partner was Oregon John. All of the food so far had been delicious. Who said camp cooking wasn't yummy? The cooks also had to furnish some sort of pre dinner snack to keep the rabid wolves at bay. I did most of the planning. John said he'd be the slicer, dicer guy. I planned deviled eggs and celery stuffed with peanut butter and topped with raisins. Chili for dinner and no bake cookies for dessert. In retrospect, this was too much stuff to fix. I kept the slicer, dicer guy very busy.

Bob agreed to go with us to the store as there was no water available at all in the city park. We bought 10 gallons of water. Bob was very kind to haul all of that back in his trailer while we continued shopping. Quantities were a bit nerve racking. We were starting to eat like cyclists: anything is fair game if it doesn't move, and if it did move it had better move fast. John and I were very conscious of our $10. per person budget. We lamented the need to spend $10. of our money on water. We decided to buy cheap white bread (John's first choice anyway) as a cost saving measure. That did not prove to be a popular choice the next morning when everyone was fixing their sandwiches. However, even with the water purchase, we managed to come in under budget. The budget was a frequent conversation item over dinner at night. All extra money was put back in 'the pad' for emergencies. No one wanted to be the one to go over budget. Ryan was quite concerned that we build up a nice pad.

This was my favorite campground so far. Lack of showers and water was definately a down, but the park was large, grassy and quiet. Oh, except when the trains rumbled through. Which they did on a very regular basis all night long. Ahem.

Our mileages so far had been fairly low to get our legs under us. The next days ride was longer. I was still feeling good and didn't worry too much. All of those long, slow miles I had put on over the spring were standing me in good stead.

This is one of the many beautiful cloud cover photos I took this day. That bit of water in the background is a lake.

Smoker John on one of his many photo stops. He is a functional cyclist with cut off jeans, smokes inside his sock, and tennis shoes. His bicycle was very home brew. His was the only Brooks saddle on the trip. I spent many enjoyable breaks chatting with John.

I liked the Townsend campsite. Notice the plastic bags covering our bicycles. We were cautiously optimistic that the sky would stay clear, however . . . better safe than sorry.

Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 129 miles (208 km)

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