Wind and Wuthering

Really, after Peter Gabriel left Genesis, everything started to go downhill. Sure, Phil Collins could sing, but the artistic inspiration wasn't the same.

After I left Tom's backyard, things started to go downhill. Getting out of Billings? Next to impossible. When someone directed me to a quieter road, it turned out that no one drives on this road because a bull (yes, the bull that just crossed the road in front of me) gets loose far too often. Luckily, a pickup came along and drove between me and the bull.

And then, the wind. Every time I looked at my speedometer, I was sure it was broken. Could I really only be going 6 mph? When I met a family of 4 happily cruising the other way, it was only when they stopped that they said, "Wow, it's really windy, isn't it?"

Going so slowly made me appreciate the scenery, though. Montana has enough artistic inspiration for anyone.

On the Yellowstone River from Wyoming going to the Missouri in Montana 

Milo and Alex from bigfatlunchbox.com in Columbus 

Isn't there something wrong with this picture? 

From Broadus to Billings

3 flats
A little morning rain
Road closures
Antelope
Prairie dogs
20+mph tailwind
Seeking shelter
Old hwy 87 - what a ride
Tucked in in Tom's backyard
Now off towards Bozeman

The high plains

Swiftly moving rains

Starting from Belle Fourche (rhymes with pooch), I could tell it was going to be a long day. The next town was 35 miles, and I made it there just as the rain started in earnest. Perfect timing for a second breakfast! The next town after Alzada, MT, was 54 miles, and I was starting to suffer from the headwind, so a little more bad coffee and good egg sandwich would definitely help.

Wonderful moments of the day:

• Lashes, treasurer of her Tennessee Harley club, commenting on my calves while saying it would take her and Peaches 11 days just to get back to the truck in Spearfish. Bad Egg, vice president, looks on. 
• The woman sitting in the lawn chair with her pot-bellied pig in the only shade of the ghost town of Hammond, offering me a water refill, guaranteeing that the water came from Broadus. 
• Jim Davis, rancher, who stopped and gave me vitamin water and water, and also a crash course in SE Montana natural and human history. 
• The fine people at Seabeck Pizza in Broadus, letting me finish the pizza first before going to get money. 

Remembering those moments helps when I think of the antelope that ran beside and then ahead of me before bounding into the road about 50 feet in front of me, right into the path of the car that was passing me. The antelope died immediately. 

The road to...

I'm convinced that if Google Maps had existed, every Hope/Crosby adventure movie would have started with Bob Hope saying, "If Google says to go this way, well, then, what are we waiting for?"

Having to go back up...

That's where I found myself today when the already sketchy gravel Whitewater Creek Rd. turned into a 3-way conundrum. First I tried going up, knowing that coming back down would be easiest. Nothing. Then I tried going down, knowing that coming back up would be ridiculous if the trail fizzled out. It did, and it was. Finally, I went around the gate for door #3. A No Trespassing sign met me 1/4 mile later.

If all of this hadn't happened, I would not have been looking pretty desperately for water a little while later, and I wouldn't have met Mark and Trouble.

Mark and Trouble 

Mark has raised wolves since he was twelve years old. Trouble is one of a dozen that Mark now has, along with about ten foxes. He routinely drives to Lakeville, MN, to the dog food factory, to pick up food for the animals, by the ton. Did I mention that he drives from outside Deadwood, SD?

I'm sure there's something very profound about this, but I'm tired, and that will have to wait for another day.

Hills...

As soon as I rode through Hot Springs, I could tell that things had changed. Overnight, the rollers of Iowa and Nebraska turned into longer, steeper climbs and descents. I'm now resting at an elevation above anything in Vermont. Why didn't anyone tell me that there would be climbing like this? Ah, well...

Once on the Mickelson Trail, I was able to avoid steep climbs. It was awesome. Anyone want to join me for the second half of the trail?

The Marvelous Mickelson 

What's left of the Black Hills Lime Co. 

The trail to Hill City

New Rule! New Rule!

Tonight's accommodations are thanks to my new dictum: If you're over 50, you're entitled to stay in a motel on 100+ mile days. 

During the first thirty-some-odd miles of today's  ride, there was no way I would have pictured myself in Hot Springs, SD, by the end of the day. The thought of the family of skunks who I was told like to hang around the airport where I was camping last night kept me a little preoccupied, and the morning headwind had me fantasizing about pickups with room in the back, heading anywhere West. Was it best to try to start up a conversation with someone at a gas station, or would I have better luck looking tired and forlorn on the side of the road?

Then, with twenty miles to go to Chadron, the wind, and with it, my attitude, shifted just enough. The road from Chadron to Hot Springs, with a bear claw in my belly, was sixty miles of good riding. Now the Black Hills...

Buffalo basin in the Sand Hills

Last night's tent view

Inside the Gordon Airport



One of many old grain buildings

Thanks to the Sheridan County Sheriff who had ice cold water in his cruiser!

Stuart, NE to Valentine, NE

Now this is Nebraska 

At Grandma's Ice Cream in Wood Lake for lunch, my table mate (there was only one table) said, "I'll bet you're not thinking Nebraska is all flat like everybody says, are you?"

Ames, at the start of the ride, is at 170 ft above sea level. 

Valentine, where I am tonight, is at 2150 ft above sea level. 

Then the phone rang, and Grandma learned that she had become a great-grandma to Lucy Ann. So we stopped talking about elevation. 

After lunch, I kept climbing, expecting all the time to be passed by Grandma on her way to the hospital. She probably didn't take the same bridge into Valentine, though.