Pedaling Pilgrim Blog Home

Miles to date: 1061.3 (after effort to calculate yesterday, I’ll just keep a running tab)

This was a day to remember: we had no horrible afternoon surprises; the biking was gorgeous; the weather was cooler; we have magical lodgings and exceptional hosts for our day off; and we saw a bear!

We were efficient in our breakdown at camp and rolling down Hwy 2 along the Jefferson River around 8am. We only had 61 miles to cover today, so we were in no hurry as we took in the amazing scenery. As we approached Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park, we saw a massive cavern just off the left side of the road. Lecy lobbied to hike up and explore, but Geeto and I have seen the Odyssey and we feared the likely cyclops.

We had only one appreciable climb today: nearly a mile long at 4% grade. It’s odd that a month ago in Chicagoland this would’ve felt like a day’s work, now this is insignificant after what we’ve accomplished. Even at 4,000 feet elevation, we’re all feeling great.

The ride today was again full of diverse scenery, and the miles flew past. Though the wind was mostly in our faces (for the third day straight) our average pace was over 13 MPH. We had lunch in Manhattan and stopped a few times for photos, but mostly we were anxious to get to our day of rest.

As we got into town, we stopped for a photo at a “Welcome to Bozeman” sign. As we stood there, a black pickup drove by and the passenger yelled, “Is that THE Matt Hager!?” The Jerdee’s were just leaving from lunch with their daughter Sarah who lives nearby and they happened upon us on our way into town.

We loaded up ours bikes and bags and drove up the canyon along the Gallatin River to Big Sky. We saw rafters, fisherman, hikers… the canyon drive was full of weekenders doing outdoor things. About halfway up the canyon, we saw a cinnamon colored grizzly bear laying on a branch eating. Cari has driven up this canyon many times in the 14 years they’ve owned their property there, and now she’s seen exactly 1 bear on this drive. It was very cool, though traffic was too busy to risk a stop.

As we approached the Jerdee’s mountain home in Big Sky, Cari pointed out Lone Peak; at 11,166 feet elevation it’s easy to spot this peak from a far distance; in fact we could see this through much our our ride today. Cari said there’s disagreement over how this mountain was formed, whether through volcanic activity or tectonic plates shifting or through careful painstaking craftsmanship by native Americans. There is a popular endurance run on this mountain every year and Cari said the peak is littered with toenails of runners (if you’ve lost a toenail from distance running, you know).

It’s a lovely place that the Jerdees have in Big Sky. In June they sold their home in St. Charles IL and are now here full time. As they gave us the tour, we marveled at the oxygen concentrators in the garage – they have the ability to increase O2 in the upstairs bedrooms to help anyone needing to acclimate to the altitude. They don’t have this capability for our downstairs lodging, but Cari has an oxygen bong in case we need a few hits to take the altitude edge off.

Chad grilled perfect steaks; we listened to a storm roll through; we went for a Big Sky safari ride (though we saw only mule deer)… and we’re headed to bed at 9:00pm. It was most relaxing start to our rest day.

As we finished the day, it marked the end of our 2nd leg. Not only are we still standing, we’re standing stronger. We’ve done battle with logging trucks, hot weather, climb after climb after climb, I-90, mechanical failures, poor decisions… though today my biggest complaint was getting gnats in my beard as we cruised through the canyons.

For playlist additions – here’s one that immediately came to mind listening to the storm in Big Sky: Thunder on the Mountain. And… it was odd as I came out of the shower to find Geeto in conversation with Cari and Lecy happily helping Chad prepare the grill for steaks. Then again after dinner when I called my wife Christin, the four of them carried on discussion without me. If anything, I felt like the most superfluous person of the group, the proverbial 5th wheel. It’s a great feeling when your friends appreciate your friends; it’s a validation of all involved. I think this song kinda fits as Dave Davies wrote it to express our need to be partners in humanity; that’s certainly been fitting for our threesome these past 15 days: Strangers