Note: Dan is providing a brief update for Liz
Tuesday, August 22 Elizabeth started out from Stanford on her way to Great Falls, MT. Not far into the ride Elizabeth noticed that she could not get the front crank to shift into one of the main chainrings. This took away some of the main gears and meant that she would have extra work and potentially extra stress on her knee. Elizabeth attempted to do some adjustments but quickly decided she needed to pedal on to Great Falls and find a bike shop to do some repairs. She called ahead to Bighorn Outdoor Specialties only to find that their mechanic wasn’t working that day. Shelly at Bighorn said she would call in another mechanic to meet Elizabeth when she got to the store. Having a 57 mile day Elizabeth decided to forego a lot of picture taking and move steadily on towards Great Falls so she could be sure of getting bike repaired.
Great Falls is a relatively significant town in Montana. Their destination of the KOA campground was situated between the Walmart and Malstrom Air Force Base. Elizabeth arrived early afternoon and cycled past her KOA campground towards Bighorn Outdoor. After several adjustments and test rides Elizabeth got her photos of the staff and headed back to the KOA.
Wednesday, August 23 is a big day of 70 miles from Great Falls to Conrad, MT. Elizabeth added a few miles to go by the Lewis and Clark visitor’s center and the Rainbow dam on the Missouri River. She also caught a picture of a Rainbow Trout Bison (maybe something to do with the Rainbow dam?).
Elizabeth followed tradition and sprinkled some tobacco in the waters of the Missouri River as well as touched the water (since it is the longest river in the US). Headwinds made for a hard ride day. Elizabeth stopped at one of the many grain elevators to have lunch (and maybe shop for new bike tires?).
Elizabeth is happy to find herself in Conrad, MT where she cycles through downtown towards her Super8 lodging for the night.
Thursday, August 24 Elizabeth leaves Conrad for Cut Bank, MT – a somewhat shorter 52 mile ride. Since they had spend the night in a hotel (no tents to pack, no breakfast to cook, etc.) the group was able to get on the ride early. Elizabeth points out (below) that they are crossing Windblown Rd – as if they needed a reminder that they were riding westbound into the wind!
There were a lot miles of riding solo — very little traffic and not much to see. About half way to Cut Bank in the town of Valier Elizabeth came across Folklore Coffee. Apparently several of the other cyclists decided to stop. Elizabeth enjoyed a break and a cappuccino before continuing on.
Elizabeth crosses Two Medicines River on the Blackfeet Nation.
Elizabeth spent some time exploring the town of Cut Bank before going to the next Super8. While browsing a gift shop a local told Elizabeth that she must get a selfie with a penguin(?). Elizabeth encounters a pair of Blackfeet Native Americans on the way to take her selfie with the penguin.
