Day 22: Marias Pass to Cut Bank

June 22, 2021

Tailwinds turns us into E-bikes

“Losing elevation is not the same as downhill,” Rachel says. We broke camp and moved to the parking lot to eat breakfast, thinking the mosquitoes wouldn’t be as bad. We’ve dressed for the downhill expecting a chilly ride. Extra layers also help with the mozzies.

There’s more climbing in the downhill than expected between Marias Pass and East Glacier losing only 465 feet total. We stop at a closed shop to lose some layers of clothing. The ride to Browning remains about the same, we do have a tailwind that helps, and we are hoping for a second breakfast. We ride through this desolate town looking for a café, and not finding one after a Concrete Tee Pee at the curve, circle back to the IGA for shopping and picking up something for breakfast, a pretty bad imitation of a sausage egg McMuffin. As we are eating, a woman with a T-shirt advertising a coffee shop, says there’s a very nice café with an outdoor sitting area that’s open just past the Tee Pee. (She is the owner).

We swing around to the Post Office for Robert to pick up his new tent, only there is no tent. So we continue on returning to the curve past the Tee Pee and then see the brown building with a deck, this must be the café. There’s a bit of climb out of Browning and we pass a very modern supermarket. Patrick says “That must be why it looked like the IGA was going out of business.” As we pass, a woman in a car waiting to pull out shouts that there is another cyclist just ahead of us.

Now the fun begins, for we are going essentially downhill and have an awesome tailwind that pushes us up halfway on the few rolling hills. The road has a wide shoulder. “This must be what an E-bike is like” Patrick says. We make it to Cut Bank before noon. After dropping down to cross the river there’s that last steep hill up to the town. We cycle to the Riverview RV Park now renamed Sunset RV Park. Robert calls the number at the closed office to talk to the owner, and later charms the man into charging us only $25 from his original $40. There’s a nice grassy area by rock formations that is perfect for the tents. There is also a nice shelter for us to wait out the wind and heat. Patrick rides back to the Albertson’s for some cold cokes and later returns to pick up lemonade and Beer. We need to toast the wind, before it makes us humble with a headwind. The rest rooms are nice, and we are able to do laundry in the machines. After dinner, we play Yahtzee for the evening.

We have left the Mountains and Passes, and now on to the Plains and Winds.