to Clearmont: Miserable day with a beautiful ending
"That didn't seem like a downhill" Rachel says. The elevation profile is generally downhill. "It's because of the headwind" Patrick points out. We fell asleep to the sound of rain and in the morning as we wake up it is still drizzling. At least we are starting out dry as we roll our bikes out of the room. First stop is the cafe for a big breakfast.
We make our way through the rest of the town, Gillette the "energy capital of the nation". We've seen trainloads of coal with the cars painted in graffiti. Then we see the huge open mine pits and the golden hillsides with deer and antelope in the background.
The wind makes cycling a struggle, the rain never is a downpour, just intermittent drizzling and cold. A miserable day and finally reaching Spotted Horse Bar, the only respite along the road to Clearmont. "Do you have soup or coffee?" Rachel asks the woman in the bar. "No, just beer, pop, and hamburgers" she answers. Rachel then asks if we can come in and make sandwiches. She isn't the owner, and is OK with that, and we order two cokes.
As we are eating, she brings us hot chicken noodle soup in a plastic tub and two plastic Tupperware dishes. She tells us how they have not had good experiences with cyclists stopping only wanting to use the restroom and not buying anything. We thank her and move on, the road turns and the wind becomes a little more friendly and we drop into a green valley. About 15km from town Patrick has a flat rear tire. Moving on, making fairly decent time, 3km from town, Rachel has a flat rear tire. For the final push to town, a herd of a dozen dear with 5 bucks run along side of us in the field, a beautiful sight and we have the feeling of being part of the herd.
Just on the edge of town is the Clear Creek "Food 'n Fuel" store. It's around 4:30pm, and before going to the city park to camp, we order hamburgers and fries. While finishing eating and talking to the locals, Pastor Shane introduces himself and invites us to stay in the Clearmont Community Church. The city is trying to discourage camping in the park, though will still allow. The pastor shows us into church, it's OK to roll the bikes inside. We find a conference room to settle into, we are warned there is an early mens breakfast planned for in the morning. The best surprise besides being inside out of the wind and rain is the ladies restroom had a hot shower, with towels laid out for us. The church has a Honduras project whereby the youth go to help build houses. There is a display of souvenirs to be sold to raise money, we purchased a small lantern and left a donation.
Clearmont with a population of 120 people outnumbered by antelope and deer has to be the best small town in America.
Our room at the Mustang Motel in Gillette. You get what you pay for, but $43 is a good deal to be warm and dry.
