July 23, 2008
Day 72: Malta, MT to Chinook, MT
70.11 Miles, 7:23:41 Ride Time, 9.47 Average Speed, 21.61 Maximum Speed (Obviously, the wind changed direction today)
The "prevailing winds" prevailed today; I walked outside to find the worst headwind since the long, long day in Minnesota that ended in the fish-cleaning shed. The wind, which was directly out of the West, was already at least 20 mph this morning. I liked Malta alright, but the idea of spending a rest day there didn't thrill me, so I got back on US 2 and rode out.
It was 18 slow, slow miles, through the unvarying Eastern Montana landscape, to Dodson (pop. 122), where I stopped for lunch. Rather than sit at a table and wait for the waitress to get to me, I just strode up to her, gave her my order for cheeseburger, fries and Diet Pepsi, and seated myself. This is a (probably rude) technique that I've developed in the last few weeks. I didn't want to spend too much time inside while the wind got stronger.
While I ate, I listened to the conversation at the table next to me. It was a group of (literally) cowboys and Indians, and they appeared to be getting along famously.
After lunch, I got back into the wind, which had gotten stronger, and soon encountered a pair of friendly Eastbounders - a father and son who were riding from Spokane, Washington to Minnesota. They were, of course, thrilled with the direction of the wind. Who could blame them?
Later I entered the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, where for miles I could see some sort of building on a hill beside the road. I finally reached it, and found an abandoned, boarded up church. The scene was interesting and a little eerie - and I probably committed some major violation of the Reservation rules by trespassing and photographing the church and adjacent graveyard. While I was there, the wind got so strong that it knocked over my bike, despite the support of the super-strong kickstand. Perhaps the Indian wind-gods were angry with me.
Not long after that, I rode briefly with thousands and thousands of grasshoppers who were jumping all over the road - that was a first. They weren't biting or otherwise harrassing me, so I was not displeased by their presence. Live and let live, I say.
It continued to be a slow, hot slog. This might have actually been harder than the Minnesota headwind fiasco, because I was riding directly into the wind the entire day. After 45 miles I stopped in Fort Belknap Agency, the last (and only) town in the reservation on my route, and got my chocolate milk and Gatorade. While I chugged it outside, a car of young male Native Americans pulled up and this conversation ensued:
"Where are you from?"
"Kentucky"
"Is Colonel Sanders really from Kentucky?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Are there hillbillies in Kentucky?"
(Uh-oh, where is this going?) "Uhh, I guess so... I'm one, kind of..."
"OK, well, have a good trip"
I soon exited the reservation, passed through Harlem, where I probably should have stayed yesterday, instead of squandering hours of a decent tailwind, and finally arrived in Chinook (pop. 1,387), exhausted.
I looked around Chinook just enough to see that it looked like every other small town in Eastern Montana I've seen on the High Line, then failed to negotiate a good deal with the woman at the motel: First, my attempts at "charm" failed, and then my playing of the pity card ("I've been riding in this terrible wind all day, etc. etc.") also accomplished nothing. What a hard-ass that woman was.
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Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 5,311 miles (8,547 km)
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