Day 19 – Hamilton, Montana to Sula, Montana

“It’s Going to Get Cold”

So far I’ve cycled 965 miles (1553 kilometers) since leaving the Pacific. Yesterday’s ride was a short, relatively easy 39 miles to the town of Sula.  I’m averaging 50.7 miles a day for the 19 days so far, and 57.7 miles a day for the 17 days on the bike (not  including the two rest days).

The smoke had cleared in Hamilton yesterday morning when I left.  On the way out of town I passed by a mansion of a home, built in 1892, for sale for $100,000. Someone had told me that Montana has high property taxes and that’s one reason why they have no sales tax here.

I was getting some pretty strong crosswinds/headwinds for a bit, but eventually the route went to the southeast and it was the first time on the trip that I had a strong tailwind which was consistent for miles to where cruising along at 17 mph was very easy.

Later on, I stopped by Peoples Market, the grocery store in Darby,  where the topic of conversation of a few employees was the smoke from recent fires and where it was heading.

After leaving Darby, the riding was great and there were nice spots to pull over and enjoy the peace and quiet for a few minutes.

By mid-afternoon I arrived in Sula, which is pretty much just the “Sula Country Store/ Campground and Resort.” “Resort” is stretching it a little. It’s a store with a campground behind it. Some people were sitting out in front when I arrived and they recognized me.  “Hey, we passed you on the road earlier.”  People in cars usually do.

I talked with the woman who owns the store as I was arranging the campsite. She came here from Tennessee to help a family member run the place for a year.  Nineteen years later she’s still here and says she loves it. I  like passing through these places, but think it would be tough for me to do nineteen years.

I had seen on a review of the campground that the restaurant in the store closed early.  “Marge, what time does the restaurant close?” “We only serve breakfast and lunch, dear.”  Much earlier than I thought. Plan B was buying microwaveable food from the store. Not exactly the relaxing dinner I was hoping for, but at least they had something.

I had briefly considered bringing a stove and cooking equipment with me for this trip, but with the space it takes and how often I thought I’d use it, it wasn’t worth it. In meeting others on the road, I’d say more than half didn’t bring equipment either.

As I was ready to head out to the campsite, Marge said “It’s going to get cold tonight.”  “Is it?”  “It usually does.”

She wasn’t kidding.  It was much colder than any other night.  When I checked the temperature while writing this this morning it was 34 (1 Celsius).  My sleeping bag did the job, but much colder than this and it’s going to be a problem.

An issue that disrupted the night’s sleep was my inflatable sleeping pad.  It punctured and often during the night it felt like I was lying on some rocks– which I was.  The pad had deflated and several times I woke up needing to inflate it again.  So that needs to be fixed.

I’m in the restaurant now while writing this (good timing as it’s breakfast and they are open).  Paul, Al and Tim, three nice guys cycling the Trans Am who I’ve crossed paths with often in the last few weeks walked in about a half hour ago.  They looked like blocks of ice as they had already started their ride this morning from Darby, the town I passed through yesterday.  I couldn’t imagine being out there a few hours ago.  But they are able to form words again now so that’s a good sign.

We all still have a big climb this morning to the top of Chief Joseph Pass at 7,241 feet, the highest elevation of the trip so far.