Day 21 – Wisdom, Montana to Dillon, Montana

First Day of Rain

Yesterday (Wednesday) was a busy day filled with running into a lot of people,  but it took a while to get started.  I was awake at 5:45 but by the time I finally got up, wrote a bit, got cleaned up, and repacked the bags (again)  it was nearly 8:30.

On leaving my room at the Nez Perce Motel, it was clear but the temperature was very, very cold.  Anja, the girl from Belguim, was also staying there and was leaving as well.  She said the temperature in the morning was 22 (-5C).  Later I heard that the low was 26. In any case, this is still August.  I have no idea what these people do in February.

I think Anja is prepared to survive the end of the world with her 132 pounds (60 kilos) of bike and all kinds of  gear.  She had already eaten, but I needed to stop by the store so I told her I’d catch up with her down the road.

While I was heading to the general store, I noticed that the place across from Antler’s Saloon, where I ate the night before, was open.  I found that it was more of a restarant than a bar and when I went in I saw Paul and Tim, two thirds of the biking trio who were eating there. I sat down with them and before I knew it it was 9:30.

After leaving I noticed there was an outdoors store right next to the restaurant.  I needed some warmer clothing so I went in. The girl behind the counter was helpful (and looked like she could be a model for the clothes she was selling) and in conversation I brought up what I heard the night before about general safety here and people not locking their homes.  “That’s true. I don’t even know if I know where my house key is.”  She sounded like she was serious.

Next was a trip to the general store. I went in and shortly after a woman enters and says to the cashier “What’s up, buttercup?” Then she went into a few details about her late night out. I think there would have been more details forthcoming if I wasn’t there.

Wisdom, population 114, was one of my favorite towns of the trip so far. As I was leaving I ran into a cyclist, David, who was waiting for his father. They are doing the Trans Am together. David told me of a good bike hostel in the town of Twin Bridges, which I’ll go to today. It’s  a pipeline of information out here with cyclists you meet, sharing where you’ve stayed.

Finally I got on the road just before 10:00.  This was one day when I actually wanted to keep up a good pace as I wanted to do 67 miles to the town of Dillon, which included two big climbs over mountain passes.

About ten miles up the road I ran into Colin, who started in DC, went up to Pittsburgh, to Chicago, and onto Route 66.  It was his birthday and he wanted to do a century (ride 100 miles).  He told me that David’s father had a bit of a run in with an overzealous sheriff about cyclists and the rules of the road.  I’m not sure who was at fault but perhaps everything is not rosy in the state of Montana. So far I’ve had no problems.

Eventually I caught up with Anja, who was on the side of the road pouring honey on what looked to be graham crackers. Montana is so wide open.  You feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere, and you pretty much are. After a snack, we hit the road to climb the first pass. Along the way, I didn’t like the looks of the dark clouds that seemed to be building.  The chance of rain had been listed as 20% but I was guessing 80% by now.

By the time we got to the top of the pass and took a few photos a few raindrops were falling.  Anja was going to do a shorter day and stop in a place called Bannack, which was off the route four miles. I considered it but really wanted to make it to Dillon.  (Incidentally, this whole area is full of old west history. Vigilante justice was big in the 1860s and onward as people trying to get gold out of the area were being ambushed and killed.  It turns out a sheriff,  Henry Plummer, was the leader of the “road agents” and was hanged.)

As I went down the pass, the rain started but only lasted about five minutes. Up the road I saw that I was lucky because it had really rained there.  But my luck didn’t hold out as another storm cloud eventually came over and I was riding in a moderate rain for about half an hour. Having the right clothing (helmet cover, jacket, rain pants, shoe covers) makes all the difference.

After the second mountain pass, a tough four mile climb, it was smooth sailing downhill and into clear skies the last 19 miles into Dillon.  The University of Western Montana is here and they have a very nice campus.

When I arrived at the KOA campground I told the owners (Bob and Pam) that I had ridden in from Wisdom and how cold it was. Bob told me he heard it was 26 there last night and had read where that little town had the coldest temperature of any place in the lower 48 states. And that just happened to be where I was.  What are the odds of that?