July 4, 2021
Day 60: Winnett, MT to Lewistown, MT
A Fine Fourth Even Without the Fireworks
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Climbing Today; 1,931 ft Climbing to Date; 90,096 ft
It's just ridiculous to get up at 03:00, so I have the alarm set for 03:01. Even with that extra minute it seems early. Ever wonder why the distance traveled doesn't always agree with the distance shown on the RWGPS map? It's because the distance traveled is based on my bicycle odometer, and it includes diversions from the route to go to a restaurant, etc. So now you know.
When the sun rose, it made some dazzling displays on the clouds above.
Today was a fantastic day for us as regards the riding conditions. We had a tailwind at times and light winds otherwise, and there was cloud cover that had us riding in the shade! We also got a brief taste of what it will be like when we finally get out of the Plains as we went over the Judith Mountains and got to ride amongst pine trees for a bit. But let's back up a bit. As usual, I saw a lot of deer this morning. Here's a brief sample.
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Here's today's old building picture.
Parts of our route are coincident with the Lewis and Clark bicycle route. Maybe I'll ride that someday.
We met some other tourists today. Eileen and Ed are eastbound on the Northern Tier.
That's a rather wild-looking picture; with our various head gear we appear to be a bunch of space aliens. Ed and Eileen are in today's video as well. I also met Dan today, sole rider eastbound on a recumbent. I don't have a picture but he is also shown in today's video.
Grasshoppers are all over the road. They were jumping up as I passed and some of them would hitch a ride on my panniers.
It was exciting to see some hills and trees ahead and know that we were going to cross over the Judith Mountains. And it was great to be up amongst the trees and green grass as opposed to the dried out brown grasses on the plains.
I got to town shortly after 11:00, too early to check in at the motel (I tried but no rooms were ready). So I found a cafe downtown and texted Doc, and he joined me shortly and we had a late breakfast. Afterwards, people were lining up for the 4th of July parade; our room wasn't ready so I stayed for the parade. Small town parades are lots of fun - folks on tractors, vintage cars, all the police and fire trucks, you name it. Here's a sample;
OK, I got to quit and get ready for tomorrow. While the cycling gods were kind to us today, they plan to exact their vengeance on us tomorrow in the form of a steady 15 mph headwind. The good news is that the temperature is expected to be much cooler than it has been, with a high in the low 80's. An early start won't help us either, as the winds will already be active and against us at 04:00. So it is what it is; we have been lucky so far and may have to endure some punishment now. I hope you are all lucky tomorrow, cause somebody has to be. Our eastbound friends will benefit from our hardship, so that's some consolation.
Despite all the craziness and lunacy in our politics and the way half the country is misled by "alternative fact" news, I am still proud to be an American. I hope you are too, and that you work to change things for the better. It's going to be a tough day tomorrow, good night all. The usual video is a bit longer today because of roadside meetups and the 4th of July parade.
Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 3,132 miles (5,040 km)
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3 years ago