Day 11 Townsend, Montana (65 miles)

Today was a fairly easy 65 mile day. We climbed up and over McDonald Pass. Most of the riders went up further to the Continental Divide. I didn't because I, of course, was next to last up the climb (OK, Jeremy was behind me, but he got a flat).

Chuck said that there was a Couple up top that had binoculars. He used them and could see Glacier Park in the distance. After a short snowball fight we took a group picture at the top of the pass.


The Pond at Echo Valley camp ground this morning


Group picture at McDonald Pass

Going down was a lot of fun and the sky and air was very clear. The views were amazing. We actually had a head wind so could only get up to about 35 miles per hour going down. Some people were able to go faster if they pedaled.

In Helena we had our sag stop at the Safeway instead of in front of Big Sky Cyclery.
The store had moved just a few weeks before. Chuck and I had coffee and tea at Starbucks. Todd joined us. There were some locals sitting near us watching the traffic and laughing at the tourists and a lady in a powered wheelchair that cut in front of a car to turn a corner... They said to us, "I hope you guys don't do something as stupid as that." I asked them if what they were doing was a favorite pass time in Helena. They didn't think I was very funny.

Chuck and I went to the mall to see if we could get a battery at radio shack for Chuck's computer. We found a battery that fit, but his computer was ca put. We decided to back track to Big Sky Cyclery. They were very busy at the shop so it took over an hour to get the new computer mounted.

By the time we got out of the bike shop the sky behind us was starting to look very threatening. We were going to sit it out, but decided to ride for it. All the way from Helena to Townsend we rode all along the storm. Some of the riders behind us got hit by rain and hail but Chuck and I missed it.


The storm that we barely stayed ahead of into Townsend

The ride down the hill to Townsend was chilly but a relief after riding into a headwind up the hill out of Helena. Seems like you always ride down a hill to a town and have to ride up a hill out of town in the morning. Dinner was cold cut sandwich's, chips, salads and water melon. We went to the video/tanning/ice cream/electronic/taxidermy store for ice cream cones. I had to have huckleberry since of course we are in Montana.


Picture of the storm circling around Townsend that Chuck took on the way to get ice cream

Sleeping at the Townsend school is always an experience. The neighborhood has not changed in two years. The only thing that quieted the neighborhood down two years ago is the storm that came through and flattened or blew away several of our tents. This year there was no storm, so the neighborhood didn't quiet down till way into the wee hours of the morning.