7/14/06: The Road to Bigfork

Oy! Hate to complain but the last couple days of ridin' have been tough. Bozeman to 3forks was smooth but ugly, mostely industrial ag. bs. 10mins outta 3forks the wind kicked up hard and I had to hunker down inna ditch for 2hrs. I was dissappointed and concerned about making it to my destination: Townsend. Basck on the road I hit a section thast according to the sign "pavement ends." I found myself struggling to climb 4 miles of muddy gravel while Semi's and RVs alike barreled past me. Very nerve racking. However after this atrocity I found smooth sailing and pulled into Townsend by 7:30.
I asked the Sheriff about camping and she recommended the high school football feild. Seemed shady but, oh well. It was odd fixing breakfast as the boys began morning practice. I tried to find water and was disappointed by the lack of help from the locals. The sheriff suggested a campground but I found all the pumps broken. I ended up replenishing in a RV park laundromat. Nobody was around, it may have been illegal but nobody will ever know.
First 10miles to Helena were up a gentle grade and through heavey wind. I couldn't get any momentum, going was real slow. Later the terrain tapered off and I regained lost time. Helena was weak. I considered getting a hotel and trying to track down Barry Hood, a local glass artist. I couldn't establish contact and decided to split.
The next leg included the Continental Divide. I probibly shoulda just waited for morning but something was driving me on. At first the road was real flat and again there wass wind. Finally I hit mountains and the road started to switchback and climb. It was brutal. After a while I thought I might just walk. I decided to take one more break and try once more. I got back on and hauled my poor ass over at 4m/h. 8:30pm 7/13/06 weary, beaten, delirious but never defeated I crested the Great Divide and began the plunge down into the arms of the West.

The feeling of triumph was slow to fade so I peddled on for another hour. 9:30 and I hit the sac hard. 85miles and I'm beat. Good day.