Days 63 – 65: Glendive, MT to Winnett, MT

Note: Dan is providing a brief update for Liz

Wednesday, August 16. After a very warm night Elizabeth enjoyed beautiful views in early morning sunlight as she packed up for the day. The wind picked up early and was very strong. While she hoped it was a local canyon effect, it became apparent that the wind was going to be with her all day from Gendive to her destination in Circle, MT.

About 5 miles out of Glendive the road paralleled a long line of stationary railroad cars – a line of cars that continued for about 20 miles. These cars blocked the view to the south. The view to the north was also consistent – wheat fields being harvested. After about 25 miles of wheat fields and railroad cars she reached the town of Lindsay and her only real rest stop at the Prairie Ag COOP. Jarrod, the clerk at the COOP, said that those particular railroad tracks were not in use so the railroad company was staging cars for the upcoming wheat harvest.

Also at the COOP was a couple touring on a motorcycle. Isaac was retired military and said he had no “bucket list” items but was happy to be doing whatever came along. His girlfriend was a cancer survivor and said her bucket list was to “ride iron” in all 50 states.

Elizabeth continued and reached the apex of the route and had a down hill section into Circle. However, she got no rest as the wind was so strong she had to continue peddling to go downhill!

Elizabeth made it to the campground in Circle. The campground was, well, not great. On the plus side it did have clean showers — and laundry machines. Unfortunately the tent sites were right next to those facilities!

On Thursday leaving Circle for Jordan, Elizabeth quickly ran into road construction that went on for about 12 miles. Again there was only one rest stop for the day at Flowing Wells. It was a real highway rest stop. After Flowing Wells it was 10 miles of riding to the next round of road construction — a section of construction that was deemed too difficult to cycle on. At that point the bikes were loaded onto the van and the group was shuttled past the road construction.

After being shuttled past the construction Elizabeth had another 17 cycling miles to get to the town of Jordan. While riding this section there were a number pilot cars leading trucks transporting wind turbine blades. These blades were huge. After the first truck passed at very high speed Elizabeth decided to be safe and get off the bike and the road when a pilot car came by!

After a hot afternoon of riding (temps near 100) Elizabeth arrived into Jordan and to the motel (a night off from camping!).

Friday the ride was from Jordan to Winnett — a distance of 76 miles and a lot of climbing with over 4400 feet to ascend.

Elizabeth took a short break along side the road and saw a pair of cowboy boots nailed to a fence post. Curiously, just a bit ahead Elizabeth found another pair boots on a post.

The map showed a village called Edwards before reaching the first rest stop — a store in Sand Springs. Where the village of Edwards was on the map there were only a few dilapidated buildings.

The day was hot and windy. Elizabeth was happy to get into Sand Springs and the only store in town. It seemed to cater to campers and cyclists.

After the store, the next 20+ miles of the ride was not as hard and ended at a Montana highway rest stop. The final 25 miles, however, was a real challenge. Hills, wind, heat, and the effort of the first 50 miles all added up to make the final leg a very hard slog into the town of Winnett. Accommodation issues had the group split up for the night. Elizabeth opted to spend the night at the First Baptist Church who had graciously opened their doors for the group. After a shower at the community center Elizabeth found the Winnett Bar and Grill where a few other cyclists showed up to toast the end of one of the harder days on the trip.