Pedaling Pilgrim Blog Home

Miles to date: 1,274.9

Well, actually it’s one state, but the stark difference in scenery from western to eastern Montana warrants a separation into two states. I-90 runs roughly 550 miles east-west across the state. Billings is about 280 miles from the eastern border. West of Billings – dramatic mountain landscapes; east of Billings – I’m at a sort of loss for words. I’m also at a loss of photos and stories as much of what we traveled today was not all that interesting. This is the stretch that Lecy has been dreading, and rightly so; though I drove through this three weeks ago, I forgot how uninteresting it is.

We did pass by some more Lewis and Clark historic point markers; and Little Bighorn battlefield is only 38 miles south of here. So there’s some interesting history, and I’m sure there’s some interesting people. But our current objective: let’s swiftly get the state of Eastern Montana behind us.

With that in mind, today we overachieved our 81-mile plan; we knocked out 101 miles and 902 feet today. the last 30 miles were in 90 degree heat into a consistently mild, but sometimes gusting headwinds. I don’t know if we’ve gotten so strong that this terrain seems easy, or if deep down we’re just motivated to get to North Dakota. Or, because my sister-in-law Esther told me that she’s been sharing our adventure with some friends, most of whom say we’ll never make it; I don’t know if we’ve gotten needed the extra motivation, but people expressing doubts is great fuel for our stubborn drive – thank you naysayers!

One moderately interesting thing on the day: Lecy got nailed. As we were leaving Billings, Geeto wanted to investigate a rock that was stuck in Lecy’s tire. That rock turned out to be a nail. Somehow, Lecy’s new tubeless tire replete with roofing nail was holding pressure. 50 miles later at the Junction City Saloon and Hotel… it’s still holding pressure. His studded tire is ready in case we come upon some winter weather in Bismarck.

So, I don’t have too much to say about the ride today, but I’ll share the limited media we have.

As we’re short on material for the blog, I’ll relay one personal story that started my day. Last night, we were driven into our tents by mosquitoes just after 9pm. I was optimistic about a good night’s sleep, but at 11pm some form of industrial blasting was going on somewhere across the river. After that woke me up, sleep was difficult to come by.

The agreed 6am wake up came around quickly. Groggy, I got up and made coffee for the pilgrims as it’s my morning routine. Both of my partners were quicker than me for their morning homage to the porcelain throne. The bathroom was about 300 yards (that’s meters for you UK folk) away, and I was in a hurry to get there when my turn arrived.

Pardon my transparency, but I rushed into the bathroom and locked the single stall door; I was not long on the throne before the waste product of 6,000 calories of fuel consumption was deposited. Then, in the brief pause between waste product delivery and tissue paper interface, the lights went out.

There were no windows, no vent, the door sealed tightly… it was pitch black. H🤔 I did a figurative head scratch. I thought, the lights are motion sensitive; I arose in the pitch black from the throne and started waving my arms. Nothing. I waved some more. Nothing. I opened the stall door, pants around my ankles, and sheepishly waved more. Lights not motion sensitive. There was no lock on the restroom door, so now I’m standing outside the stall, unclean, unpantsed and fearful of incoming company. Quickly, I shuffled to the restroom door, cracked it open for light, and found that there was a dial to operate the light on a timer. Very quickly, I cranked the dial and turned my bare backside to the door as I shuffled back to the stall.

Now, locked back into the stall I smiled quietly to myself. I thought, I’ll have to consider including this story in the blog. Which I will type on my phone. The phone that’s been in my pocket through this whole episode. The phone which has a very useful flashlight. 🤦‍♂️

Sometimes I consider myself smart. This wasn’t one of those times.

Tomorrow, our tentative plan is to ride 97 miles to Miles City. I say tentative, because now being 20 miles ahead, the playbook is sorta out the window. We fully plan to arrive Bismarck on Monday, but between here and there, we’ll see what the day brings. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and windier (the headwind kind), so we’ll see how this goes: Day 19: Custer to Mikes City

For songs today, I’ve got two that represent the dichotomy of my feelings thinking about today and plans for tomorrow. The first by the Record Company: Hard Day Coming Down. It good be got as blazes out there, and we could awake more spent than expected from today’s 101 miles. But also, this song speaks to how we approached today: controlled, methodical, synchronized, steady – I’m a Steady Rollin’ Man.

Thanks old friends and new for following along.