July 3, 2021
Day 59: Rest Day in Winnett, MT
No Rest For The Wicked
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I included the map above so you can zoom out if you wish to see where we are in Montana. The maps are interactive; you can zoom in or out with the + - buttons. We are, in fact, somewhere in the middle of Montana right now. Winnett is the county seat of Petroleum County Montana. As a Geologist, that catches my attention. At one time, 75% of the millionaires in Tulsa were geologists who made good in the oilfield. Not so anymore, the times have changed and we all need to change with them. Fossil fuel is driving us all to become fossils too, so it's time to move away from it.
While today was a rest day for me, it was not so for Doc; but it was a short mileage day for him. The wind was against him today as he made his way from the B&B near Mosby to Winnett. Doc had an interesting time at the B&B as he rode off in a 4-wheeler to check on the sheep; unfortunately they loaded a dead sheep in the back that he had to smell for the hour journey.
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Sunset at the B&B Doc stayed in was picturesque.
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That trip and this one, you did plenty of before sunrise riding. What lights do you run, to see/be seen in the total darkness?
Thanks,
Kelly
3 years ago
I have a SON dynohub, the headlight is a B&M Luxos U and the taillight is described as "B&M TL Toplight Line Plus Brake Tec pulsing." I have 19,000 miles on that bike since 2015, and have always had those lights on it. Basically I run lights 24/7. The dynohub and lights have all functioned well since I got them (except see below).
I really like having a dynohub and not having to think about the lights. When the front wheel is rolling, I have lights. There are probably brighter and better lights now, but these were pretty good when I got them in 2015. There is a lot of technology in them, and in 2015 they were billed as being the world's most advanced bicycle lights. During the day the headlight is running a daytime-running-light, and that changes at night. Also, when traveling really slow, most of the light is directed to the sides and just a little in front - when my speed hits about 9 mph then the light is directed more to the front so you can see farther at speed. My taillight has a brakelight function built in - when you start slowing down, it senses the dynohub putting out less pulses and that causes the taillight to light up brighter, just like a car brakelight. The headlight has a sort of "bright light" function - I can cause the output to go from 70 lumens to 90 lumens by pushing a button - for an oncoming car it looks like I "flashed my brights" at them - this is helpful when a car is coming at me and blinding me with bright lights. The headlight has an attachment cable that I can use to charge anything via USB. I thought I might really use this, but honestly it's just kind of a gimmick - it does work, but you don't have enough power to run lights and charge so you have to choose - and you don't get a lot of charge.
There is an issue with my taillight that took me a while to figure out. When the temperature is really hot (85 degrees seems to be the cutoff), my taillight will light up for about 5 minutes and then quit. Once I come to a complete stop, and then take off again, the taillight comes on but will again go off in about 5 minutes. Again, this only happens when the temperature is 85 degrees or higher - and that's a pretty exact number, if it's 83 degrees outside I don't have that problem. Fortunately, it's only that hot in the daytime when I don't need the lights anyway. I suspect there is some issue with a heatsink in the light causing it to shut off. When I first got the lights and noticed that happening, I returned both the headlight and the taillight and replaced them with new ones - and still had that problem. So it appears to have been a design issue with those lights in 2015. (the taillight is wired to the headlight, the headlight controls the taillight, so that's why I had to return them both).
Peter White's website has the best overall info on lights - it's truly educational. https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/lightingsystems.php
Buddy
3 years ago
Almost forgot about your first question - the answer is that I was still working in 2017 and that was the best time I could arrange to get 5 weeks off. It was definitely hot, but early starts made it bearable.
Buddy
3 years ago
BTW, I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering how your toenail is doing!
Kelly
3 years ago
Toenail is recovering slowly, thanks - about 25% of it has regrown now. I still wear the road shoes that caused that issue, but only for my short daily ride (guess I'm kind of cheap and hate to throw out something that's useful if I can find a way to get some good from it). I learned my lesson - I'm only going on tour with my comfortable old mountain bike shoes! I have seen some modern "hybrid" shoes that look like a cross between road shoes and mountain bike shoes - they look pretty comfortable, maybe I'll buy a pair of those someday.
Buddy
3 years ago
Doc enjoyed the B&B breakfast, then made his way against the wind to rendezvous with me in Winnett.
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I took some time today and unloaded everything from the panniers and handlebar bag and determined whether I actually needed everything I had. I gathered a few items to be shipped home later and repacked the rest. It was a good exercise, if for no other reason than to remind me of some things I had that I had forgot about.
With a population of about 500, Petroleum County is the least populated county in Montana. We really are smack dab in the middle of nowhere, or at least somewhere in the middle of Montana. We ate lunch and dinner at the town bar and grill. Like most of these small towns, the local bar is the hub of community activity. This one had some ridiculous signs saying things like "Trump 2024 - Stop the Bullsh$%!" These small town folks have a very narrow and seriously slanted view of the world outside of their small piece of it. They're good folks - good folks who have been misled.
Elevation Update. Hey, we got elevation, don't you? We are hanging around the 3,000 feet elevation point now. This route doesn't have as much elevation change as the Transam does, and I think the highest we will get is about 7,000 feet. I haven't actually researched that, I'm just going by what others have said, so don't sue me if I'm mistaken about that. As we roll higher I will let you know.
Map Update. Shortly after we roll out tomorrow we will switch to Map 40. Since we started on Map 153, that means we will have gone through 113 maps to date, and are counting down from 40 to Map 1.
Health Update. Hey, we got health too. Mostly good. We are pretty strong cycling-wise now, an unavoidable consequence of having cycled most every day for 8 weeks as we covered 3,000 miles of coastland, hills, mountains, and plains. So that's good. We've each got our little "issues" dealing with joint pain and contact point stress and such as that, but it's no big deal. We wear desert gear and/or use sunscreen to mitigate the intense solar radiation, and that's working well. Heat related illness is a constant concern, so we roll out early in the day. We have it under control so far. I figure if the Hula Girl on my rear rack can handle it, I can handle it too.
The Plan to Finish - For Now, Anyway. News flash; Montana is a big state. Ride a bicycle across it if you don't believe me. We have been in the state for 5 days now, and we will be in the state for another dozen days or so as we roll westward to Great Falls, and then north to Cut Bank and into Glacier National Park. Since we can't follow the route for the brief foray into Canada, we worked out an alternate route to take us to St. Mary where we will ride Going-To-The-Sun Road. Then, of course, we will roll across the Idaho panhandle and into Washington state where there are 5 mountain passes to cross. I have 3 more rest days available if we are able to stay on our tentative schedule, and I plan to space them out along the way. I have a flight booked to return from Seattle on July 31. Doc hasn't booked a flight yet, and wants to push on and return home as soon as he can, so it's likely we will go our separate ways the next time I take a rest day. But, as any experienced cycle tourist knows, the "plan" is only a guideline and things will almost certainly work out differently than anticipated. That's a big part of what makes it an adventure.
I hope you make plans, and occasionally change them. That's part of what makes life an adventure. Good night everyone...
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3 years ago
We still have Going-to-the-Sun road to ride, the continental divide to cross, 5 mountain passes in Washington state - so it's not a foregone conclusion that we will make it. Montana is a tough state - we will be a bit more confident when we get through it. But I appreciate your confidence in us!
Buddy Hall
3 years ago
Last year when I was contemplating making the big climb to Hannagan Meadow in AZ and forfeiting my day off, a friend said to keep my eye on the prize of going border to border and not on the small goals. I took the day off.
Which is a back door way of saying you can choose the easiest route to accomplish your ride. Sometimes the big climbs are necessary and sometimes they are an ego boost.
Can you smell the oats yet? As my Grandpa would say about the horses headed home in the evening.
Kelly
3 years ago