Another question I am often asked: are you actually enjoying yourself? I am. I really like riding my bike, and it makes me feel strong. I like the smells and the scenery is fabulous. Certainly I like the feeling of accomplishment.
With that said, I made it into Dillon, MT this afternoon, soaked. The day started off well, as I BS'ed with some Harley folks at the last joint this morning. I rode out of the Big Hole across two mountain passes, neither of which were brutal, although the elevations keep climbing. The last one was at 7400 feet. It was a beautiful road with very few vehicles.
About halfway through the ride, dark clouds showed up on the horizon, and it didn't take long for them to merge into a huge gray wall of evil. I picked up the pace as lightning was striking a few miles away and thunder was booming. I figured if I could make it over the next pass I could outrun it. I actually made it over the pass in time, cranking away, beating the storm. Unfortunately, as I crested the hill, I saw that another big storm was in front of me. Dillon was only 15 miles away, and I flew down in high gear trying to get to town before the storm did. I didn't make it. The headwind roared and rain pellets were stinging my face. Eventually it got bad enough that I took shelter under a bush. After awhile there was a bit of a lull and I rode the rest of the way into town, wet.
I got a room since I didn't feel like getting soaked tonight. The desk guy was grumpy about letting me bring my bike into the room, but he relented and let me put it in the maintenance area. There is a big rodeo and fair in town tonight, but I'm going to skip it because it's on the other side of town and I don't feel like riding at night. It would involve going through a highway interchange and down a busy road in the dark, which wouldn't be much fun. Tomorrow I should be back on the deserted roads again. It's supposed to be sunny and nice and I'm looking forward to it.
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No services, nice view
Big empty
The storm approaches. I only stopped for a second before hauling my ass out of there.
Me riding riding fast to try to get into town
Narrating from under a bush
1 comment:
Hi there,
I am so happy that you are enjoying yourself on this bike journey. After the amount of miles that you have pedaled, I am sure you are in great shape. Good job Ray!
Montana looks beautiful! The sky is so big and blue.
When wild storms are swirling around you, there is a definite sense of vulnerability. Lightning always makes me nervous.
"Ray reporting from the eye of the storm" Great video!
Have a sunshine kind of day!!!!
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