06/06 Today I got to see first hand why Montana is ranked the 2nd worst state for cycling. The roads are just horrible. Their DOT decided to drop “stupid strips” into the already narrow shoulder area so cyclists are left with a foot to half-foot wide section of road to ride on. Riding to the left of the white line would be suicide. With virtually no shoulder, cars have little room to move over so if a car didn’t nail you an 18-wheeler, of which there are many, surly would.
When I left this morning the wind was blowing hard from the south so I had a nice tailwind to start the day. In fact when I was packing my tent I had to chase after it as it rolled away from me like a big, green tumbleweed. Boy did the wind change fast. At mile 15 I felt the wind hitting me in the face for the first time that day. Within a minute it did a complete 180 and instead of having a strong tailwind I had a strong headwind. Then the temperature dropped about 10 degrees and it started raining. Brutal.
Just got back from lunch at Reel Decoy BBQ & Grill. It was one of the best meals I’ve had in quite a while. This was only the second time I’ve eaten it but huckleberry anything is my new favorite dessert. Today it was huckleberry pie. Yummm. It was 2pm when I left and a digital sign nearby proclaimed the temperature to be 37 F. I practically ran back to the motel (Fan Mountain Inn). If it’s still this cold, wet and windy tomorrow I might have to stay one more day. I can’t imagine it being any nicer 2000 feet higher.
Update: Almost 4pm MDT and it’s snowing. 
Update #2: Had some deep fried pickles with dinner. I think I’ll stick with regular fried pickles from Tennessee.
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Hey, Scott,
Looks awesome…we’re getting psyched for our trip. Keep on truckin’
Check this out, I thought you were crazy, but this guy isn’t even on a normal bike:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-biketeacher-outlook-060709sbjun07,0,87566.story
But then of course his trip is shorter and doesn’t go to Alaska.
I was checking this out this morning. Should be a very interesting trip for him. I’d be worried about riding something so wide if it were me. I guess if you are visible it’s not a problem as long as people make room for you (assuming they can). I like that SPOT gizmo he has. It was on my list but with tracking it’s $150 a year and I’m too cheap and don’t want to be that trackable
. He’ll have a much easier time going west to east with the wind and temperature both in his favor. He did a great job on his site too. Very clean.