Day 19 miles: 102
Total miles: 920
By bike:
After a delightful breakfast at Best Western I got a later start. Unlike the scenery of a week ago, the riding has become flat as I have been on the historic Highway 2 which follows an old 19th century railroad track.
Did not think I would make it this day.
My goal was to ride out a storm that was behind me. Trying my best to make great time with tailwinds, I made through the first 30 miles pretty quickly.
What lied behind
Then I hit some undeveloped road. Riding on gravel was so rough. All 8 miles of it. Trudging through zapped some of my energy but once I found the developed road it made me grateful for what I have had this whole trip.
It was terrible. This wasn’t event the worst!
Back on paved roads!
As I progressed through the day the scenery dwindled. I did find some solace in taking pictures of flowers that dotted the highway.
Ladybug dirt
It’s amazing how when you are taken away from some of the most beautiful places the small parts of your trip begin to pop out. Flowers on the road, railroad tracks, and trains. All of this I never really noticed due to the grandeur of the Rockies.
Historic Hwy 2! 
However, for one of the first times on the trip, the shoulders got short, and so did the people. I tried to make it work biking on 6-inch shoulders but eventually had to take over the right lane. It is interesting that people with large trucks will respect you more if you ride in the lane than on the side- or at least they did today. My flagpole would wave and they placed more value on not getting their vehicle scratched rather than my guts being pasted on the curb.
Smaller shoulders with dead fox. I was worried I would be next.
I finally made it to the Best Western Plus where there was a waterslide. If it weren’t for the tailwinds I may have not made such great time.
Tailwinds!!!
Havre, Montana!!!
By car:
Now that we’ve hit the plains, we’re gaining greater mileage days and finding limited side adventures. We’re beginning to see why a lot of cyclists hop on the Amtrak and cruise through the rest of this state. Regardless, we still find the small gems that add to the experience. Even when we both feel alone and in the middle of nowhere.
I had a late checkout today to work on the blog and other side projects. Yesterday I passed by a guy who looked close to our age on a loaded bike in the same direction as us. I wasn’t sure if we’d see him again since Matthew was hitting such high mileage. As luck would have it, we leap frogged again today!
You know what that means…
Another roadside interview!
Meet Eric. Eric is a teacher from Boston and decided to spend his summer vacation biking across the country alone. He was extremely welcoming of the opportunity to stop and talk for a while after riding on the open roads solo for several days.
He actually started in Canada near Banff. Apparently he met a father and son biking across the country earlier on, which isn’t unusual. What’s unusual is what Eric said next.
“The son is 6 years old.”
What.
“You mean the son is riding on the back of his dad’s bike, I take it?” I couldn’t imagine a six-year old actually pedaling up mountain passes and along shoulderless roads!
“No! He has his own bike and everything! He will be the youngest person in the world to bike across a country.”
Eric said we might see them up ahead, so I’ll be keeping an eye out.
We spent some time swapping stories. While I was all excited over my road-side black bear encounter and Matthew’s binocular view of a grizzly, Eric one-upped us with a grizzly AND black bear encounter on his first day.
In Canada, while he was riding on the side of the road, he noticed a grizzly bear in the grass. The bear was on the same side of the road Eric was riding. He was with someone else when this happened, so he turned back and warned the other cyclist. They both crossed the road to bike on the other side.
They were told later on that this is not what you should do. Since the grizzly was down in the bank, they lost sight of it once they crossed. These bears are known for being curious creatures, and their route alteration caught this burly guy’s (or gal’s) attention.
The other cyclist decided it was time to cross back over to the right side of the road. He noticed the grizzly standing on its hind legs trying to look over the road to see where they went. It now had its full attention on them. Thankfully it remained in place, though.
Later on they passed by a black bear, which promptly scurried off.
We exchanged the occasional fears that seem to cross all of our minds while out in the plains on our own- obviously more so when you’re on a bike.
“What if a sudden freak thunderstorm hits? Where would I go if there was a tornado? What about hail?”
We also became distracted by the trains passing by. He informed me that most of these trains are actually transporting oil from North Dakota into Washington state. Now I know!
I asked Eric if he needed anything, which he didn’t. We swapped numbers and I told him where we were headed. I’m not sure if we’ll be seeing him again, but I told Matthew we should check up on his location when we take our next rest day.
I was impressed with Matthew’s stamina for another 100 mile day. We both agreed that given the heat, the bugs, and the high mileage with goals to start at sunrise, maybe we’d treat ourselves to affordable hotels through most of eastern Montana.
After Matthew survived what sounded like a nerve-wracking day with minimal to no shoulders and an influx of trucks, we celebrated life with a cool dip in the pool. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day on the bike!
No Jobs, No Home, No Worries. A Shared Journey by Bike and Support SUV Across the U.S. 