June 22

 What a fabulous, great, fantastic day!!!

I got up early today, anxious about the bike shop and hoping they had the stuff I needed.  I got to the bike shop at 9:45 and was the first one in the door when they opened at 10.  I explained my situation and the guys at Big Sky Cycling got to work.  By 10:30 I was out of the store with a new tube in my rear wheel, 2 new extra tubes in my bags, a new patch kit, and a Schrader/Presta adapter.  What a tremendous relief.  I got on the bike and rode to McDonald's for a little breakfast.  At 11am I was on the road.  I had only planned 35 miles today considering the late start.

After I got outside the city limits of Helena the traffic really slowed down and I was riding well.  In fact I was riding too well.  That's when I noticed the grass on the side of the road bending in my direction.  There was a very slight breeze pushing me along my way.  How nice!!!

Just beautiful Montana scenery all day.  Enormous fields of grass and alfalfa, beautiful blue skies, and perfectly white clouds and mountains always in the background.

As the afternoon wore on the wind really picked up.  15-20mph and at my back.  I was flying.  At one point I was going down a 2.5% grade (like you would find on a rail trail), I wasn't even pedaling, and my speed was 33mph.  That went on for miles.  It was the best riding I could ever remember.

Look at that flag blowing in my direction.  Wonderful.

I finished my 35 miles in 2 hours and decided I should keep going.  The following day is scheduled to be 76.4 miles.  So if I could knock off some of those miles today then Tuesday wouldn't be so bad.  So after a 1/2 sandwich and some Gatorade, away I went.  Today was also a day of really long, straight roads.  It was amazing to watch the cars and trucks go past me and see them getting smaller and smaller.  And then they got to a point where they got caught up in this kind of silver shimmer - a combination of the very low optical angle and heat radiating off the road.  They would all go into this shimmer and then, poof, they were gone.  I watched so many cars and even huge trucks just disappear into the shimmer.  I guess I'm easily entertained because that kept me going for quite a while!!

Really long, straight roads today.

I crossed over the Missouri River today and thought about the Lewis & Clark Expedition.  Amazing to think they also crossed right here.  And to think of the tremendous hardships they faced on that journey  Amazing.  I also had a badger run across the road in front of me, saw 2 antelope, and a dead coyote along the roadside (hit by a car).

Along the way I was thinking about the Greek/Roman god of wind.  Turns out there was a god of wind from each direction.  So today I owe my speedy travel to Boreas, Greek god of the North Wind.  I decided to leave him a part of my sandwich as a token of my appreciation and an offering, hoping for more favorable winds in the days to come.

There's my offering on the ground!!  I don't know who the god of downhill slopes is but I left the sandwich near the sign hoping he would approve.  I hope both gods like turkey, bacon, and cheddar!!

This downhill ride was really great.  The view into the valley below was fantastic.  Unfortunately for you at home, I was going 43mph and not about to take out my phone for a picture!!

Here's a picture once I got down into the valley.  Enormous green fields of grass and alfalfa with the snow capped Rocky Mountains in the distance.  Really pretty.

This was a terrific day.  Really boosted my spirits after the recent bike troubles.