Day 47

104 Miles
I don't think it was humanly possible to pack up faster than I did that morning. The mosquitoes were still out in full force. I packed up as quickly as possible. And met Oak at the nearest convenience store and began to eat while we waited for Lily.
We headed out for the day. We ran into numerous cyclists along the way. Lily's excitement for other cyclist intrigued me. It was kind of contagious. She would chat with any we passed. There would be food, shelter, and terrain information exchanged as well as stories. The frequent run ins with other cyclists meant that we spent a good portion of the day riding together versus the several miles the separated us between our normal stops. It was a nice way to break up the day.
Near noon we took shade with some other cyclists traveling West to East. They had done many travels. We ate lunch with Scott and Katie at a local cafe. It was nice. Lily was especially excited because they had spent a day or two with a cyclist that Lily had ridden with a day or so back in Minnesota. He was a day or so ahead of us. Lily was hoping we could catch up to him. Scott and Katie shared with us their stories and Lily videoed them for the documentary she was making. Katie was a cancer survivor and they were taking their trip across country at a very relaxed pace as a result. Truly great people. Their website and blog here:  http://www.mountainworks.blogspot.com/ We warned them of the mosquitoes ahead and parted ways.
We rode hilly plains. The wind was in our strong but we pedaled on through it. We passed through more reservation land. The roadways were busy as there was a Pow-Wow going on. We discussed going to it at one such stop we made. But Oak especially wanted to press on. He was only 100 or so miles from where he'd be leaving us and heading North. At one gas station I was asked the usual questions, and one guy took it a bit further and asked if I had a boyfriend. I chuckled and said no. He asked if I wanted an Indian boyfriend and ask if I was wanted to go to the Pow-Wow. However flattered I declined and told of my day of travel still only half through.
We made it to Havre, MT, a city of about 9500 people. There was a big downhill into town. And it felt great to just coast for the first time in what seemed like days. We spent a good deal of time relaxing and debating where we would stay for the night. It was evening and at 90+ miles I was ready to be done for the day. There were several options for camping, and we had heard tell of free camping at some park in town. Oak really wanted to push out a few more miles. Lily and I agreed to do that for him. The locals in Havre were the only locals anywhere who seemed to think of us as bums rather than exalted travelers. At least 5 different people offered one or all of us their change. Their generosity was sweet but we didn't need their change or pity. This was an exciting choice and not a lot in life. We ran into some more cyclists. One of which Lily and Oak had both ridden with. He was an interesting character. We also talked to a couple with matching spandex. They told us there was nothing ahead of us for 30 miles. We had enough water and food that we figured we could risk it and just wild camp if necessary.

Hilly plains of Montana

The only problem with riding down a hill into town on the plains is the equally gruelling hill that must be climbed to get out of town. We climbed the very steep hill out of town and pushed on. The skies were darkening and the winds were kicking up. Lightning crashed on the horizon. 12 miles out of town we came to a bar just as the rains started and the winds whipped around us. We went inside. They had food! Yes! We ordered pizza. Lily and I shared and Oak enjoyed one to himself. We refreshed ourselves with soda and water. In talking with the people in the bar, the owner offered to let us camp in the freshly mowed field next to the house.This proved more than adequate.
We set up camp and settled in for the night. It was still light. But my legs were exhausted. I slept through the thunder that offered up very little rain.

Day 46

71 Miles
My sleep was restful. And I started my day pain free. Because I had retired so early I woke before the alarms. I took the time to sort through some gear and pack things up a little tighter. We planned to be up by 6. It was probably 5:30 when I had gotten up. My traveling companions waited until 6.

Oak and Lily, almost always ahead of me.

I spent breakfast feeling much more chipper than I had been the last few mornings and bonded with Oak and Lily who both seemed less than enthusiastic about the day.
I had since meeting Oak and Lily realized that my bike did in fact have a name. It's name was Upstate. I think he had a crush on Juno, Lily's bike. Maybe I'm just crazy and had been on the road too long.
I mounted Upstate and we headed out for the day. We pedaled into the wind today. The sun was hot even before 10 am. Trees and shrubs were nonexistent. The terrain was moderately hilly, but nothing severe.The grass was dry, but still had a tinge of green to it. As we pedaled along the grasshoppers darted all around us. When I say grasshoppers I mean hundreds of thousands of grasshoppers.
I kept good pace today. And as I pedaled behind Oak the grasshoppers looked like they were exploding like fireworks from the pavement behind his tire. I was amused at the constant mini explosions. It helped the time go by, as did the regular plinks that the grasshoppers made as they hit the spokes of my tires.I noticed that as soon as my shadow hit them on road that they would frantically try to jump out of my path. The plinks told me that not all of them made it.
Our stops were frequent. Mostly we stopped at casino/gas stations, as they were quite frequent. We stopped at a bar and enjoyed I nice cold soda and filled up with water while enjoying the air conditioning and conversation with a local or two. They were all okay with the Canadian and the Australian, but seemed to think that a New Yorker had much different values than they did out there. I think it was there that I confirmed and told Lily that I'd continue on with them until at least Glacier National Park. There was a buzz of excitement about that. The bartender let us know of the terrain ahead and warned us to wear long sleeves further down the road as the mosquitoes got pretty thick.
We kept our mileage goal around 70 miles. However the last stretch would be 30 miles with nowhere to rest along the way. This didn't seem so bad. I had been headache free all day and was still feeling full of energy.
I started the last leg behind Lily but a bit ahead of Oak. I had a great cadence going and a few miles into the leg I found myself switching up quickly through my gears. But as sometimes happens when I shift too quickly, my chain came of the smallest sprocket and lodged itself between the frame and cassette. This is an easy fix. I just had to dismount and pull the chain free. I did this. I moved toward the edge of the pavement leaving room for Oak to pass when he got to me. Unfortunately, Oak never saw me get off my bike. He didn't see me moved to the side of the road, until he was literally almost on top of me. His head was down as he pumped his pedals hard. He lifted his head just in time to swerve. I was bent over my rear wheel and his handlebars knocked me over Upstate. And Oak spilled himself and his bike into the road. His groceries rolled into traffic. Luckily no cars were coming. Luckily, Oak knows how to fall. He was unscathed, as was I. We both made sure we were okay. We picked up his spilled gear.
It was about this time that Lily came racing back terrified we were dead or bleeding in the road. A motorcyclist had stopped and asked her if she was with us. He let her know that someone had crashed. She sped the mile plus back in record time I'm sure.
After we reassured her and each other we were fine. I picked up my bike and checked for damage. The front tire had swung completely around and caused my brakes to unlatch. They seemed a little wonky and would need some adjustment. I could just do it at the next stop. I unhooked the front brakes and left them open. I would be fine with just the back ones for now.
Oak's bike had not done quite so well. His front tire was quite out of true, meaning it was bent a bit. This is fixed by tightening or loosening the spokes. Neither Oak or I knew how to do this. Lily did. She also had the spoke wrench needed to do the job. She labored showing us how to do this. The sun and heat was unbearable. The temperatures were near 100 degrees, without a lick of shade to be found. It was getting to be late afternoon and Oak's wheel just wouldn't straighten. This probably meant that the rim was bent, and not just from the spokes not being adjusted properly. Lily and Oak did the best they could and Oak decided it was good enough for now.

No trees. No shade.

We set off to do the last 25 or so miles before we would stop for the day. These 25 miles were especially difficult. It was hilly and long, did I mention the heat? There was no shade to rest in.There were no pull offs or public buildings, or really any buildings at all to shield me from the scorching sun. I stopped for a moment for a drink of water but I was attacked by mosquitoes. So that break lasted less than a minute. The last 7 miles seemed like an eternity. And all my chipperness earlier in the day had been spent.
Finally, I saw buildings and trains and food. Dairy Queen was the first eating establishment I came across. I didn't even look for their bikes. I knew Oak and Lily were there. I ordered ice cream and a giant ice filled cherry coke before I even said hello to them. I wasn't the only one who had struggled through that last stretch. They too felt it. We enjoyed the air conditioning and ice cream before we went off in search of a camping spot. We found a little park in town. The camping was cheap, but we skipped out on registering. Other people were setting up camp in their RVs and a few tent campers were as well. It was quite busy. We set up camp too.
The mosquitoes were quite bad. I kept getting bit and my legs were covered in bumps as they attacked me viciously. I adjusted my brakes. They seemed to be working alright. I found and outlet and charged my phone as I always did. I made some longer phone calls. This was nice, especially since I got to talk to Ron. He always makes me feel proud of myself. And he always gave me the best encouragement.
As evening set in the mosquito population seemed to explode. I was being eaten alive. Almost every inch of my skin was covered and I had sprayed myself thoroughly with the strongest bug spray I could find. They were still biting me through my clothes. My hands were becoming a puffy mess of bites. I was being eaten alive. It was terrible. I could hear their buzzing all around me.I climbed into my tent before dark and did some writing. The mosquitoes were peering through the netting of my tent eyeing me hoping I would be their next meal. I watched them back as they poked their noses through the netting in hopes of just a drop from me.
One or two buzzing managed to sneak into my tent when I had mad a quick dash through the cloud of insects to the bathroom. I heard them buzzing around my head as I drifted to sleep.
Malta Montana is mosquito hell.
More pictures at Lily's blog