June 17 - June 19

Note: June 15 and June 16 were posted separately last night

June 17

What a difference a day made! Today was brutally miserable. I was riding west and the wind was out of the west at 55-60 mph. It was raining hard, and the rain felt like needles hitting my face. The temperature was 48 degrees, but the rain/wet made it feel colder. My top uphill speed was about 6 mph and the down hills were almost as slow - 9 mph with hard pedaling. One very steep downhill, where typically I would exceed 30 mph, I managed 15 mph, briefly. One group of cows that I passed was mooing loudly. I think they were saying, “We are out here because we have no choice. Why are you out here?” I was making little progress and it was, indeed, crazy to be riding in these near hurricane conditions. I decided I would hang it up after completing 20 miles. That distance was arbitrary; I just wanted to give myself a goal to achieve for the day that would give me a sense of accomplishment. After hitting the 20-mile mark I was exhausted, much more tired than after completing 91 miles the previous day. Jamye and I drove in to Winnete (pronounced win it), MT. We found a burger joint and settled in for a lazy afternoon.

My usual stop of every 10 to 15 miles to wait for Larry was way out of proportion to the inclement weather. We agreed I would stop every 4 – 5 miles depending on the available places on the road to pull over. Each stop I really expected Larry to call it a day, but he persevered. The only light moment of the day came after Larry had ridden about 15 miles. When he came up to the stop he just looked miserable and I asked him “Do you want to get in HiYo for a few minutes to de-thaw?” He shook his head no. “ Do you want to sit in the warm car?” He again shook his head, no. “Do you want to just put your hands in to warm them up a bit?” His reply? “No, I want my Mommy!” I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants, and we were good to go for the last 5 miles.

These regulars play pinochle every afternoon

When Buster (86 years old) walked in to the bar his first words were,

"It's so cold outside I put on everything I own!"

June 18

No ride today; a second day of wind advisories, with 50+ mph winds. There was light rain in the morning, but it began to clear as we headed to Lewistown, MT from Winette. As we approached Lewistown, we also began to enter mountainous terrain for the first time. The beautiful Snowy Range was to the south as we came into the quaint, rustic little town (pop 5000) of Lewistown. The burgers here were the best yet at Doc’s OK Korral, and Jamye and I found a specialty coffee shop, the Rising Trout Café for a late afternoon break. We made plans for a Saturday morning mountain bike ride (the two of us) along an old railroad bed that will take us through the Lewistown vicinity.

More on the town of Winette, MT (population 188), the evening stop we made after the grueling twenty mile “hurricane” ride. We knew before we made the turn off the main road that we were going to have a great end to the day when we spotted the Winette highway sign “Go ahead and blink, we’ll still be here.” We drove straight into the middle of town, which was one intersection with buildings on four corners.

We stopped at the Winette bar and perused the menu. When ordering the inevitable hamburger (will explain our obsession with red meat later) I asked the owner/waitress (Kendra) what “freedom fries” were. Her response with the only serious face of our time there was “They are American fries. My two boys went to war in Iraq when it first started, and we don’t like the French." We are sorry she does not know the wonderful people we know from France. My next question to her “are the freedom fries crisp?” Her answer, “We can burn anything” started the ball rolling with so many one liners I can’t put them all in this one day. The one I will share with you now was posted behind the bar. “Everyone brings joy to this business, some when they enter, others when they leave.”

June 19

We got started with a pancake and bacon/eggs breakfast at Pourman’s Café and soon after readied our mountain bikes for what turned out to be a relaxing 10-mile ride. I really enjoyed Jamye’s company biking, and I could tell she had a great time as well. We biked along streams and in the lowlands just at the edge of a rise to the foothills of the Snowy Mountains. The smell of spruce was in the air, and I was reminded of the valleys in Berchtesgaden, Germany with pathways that followed the rivers’ edge. After about 5 miles, the trail headed up toward the residential portion of Lewistown and we cruised along taking in all the interesting homes that you could sense were recently thawed from a cold, harsh winter. Spring was in the air, the temperature was a pleasant low 60’s and Jamye and I were like two kids riding bikes enjoying a carefree afternoon. We returned to the Rising Trout Café for a coffee after our ride and went to The Mint for a delicious steak dinner.

Our beloved daughters Emily and Sally worry about us, and we totally understand. It seems now as if our roles in this life are reversed. It is evident by their enormous concern for our safety in all situations as well as by their anxiety if we have not been able to call for more than a day. Well, this is what it feels like to have teenagers that own a car, are away at college and are slightly out of touch once in a while. You have faith that God’s angel is on their shoulder and they are in His hands. You pray that their judgment is always sound, that what you tried to teach them about life will influence their decisions, and that their mistakes (and there will always be some) will not be life altering.

Phone signals are non-existent in this beautiful wild west, so I drive 10 to 15 miles ahead and wait for Larry. He takes a short refueling break and we’re off again. Occasionally, he has had bike issues or the weather has turned nasty, so we’re both relieved that I’m not too far away. I take precautions for myself as well while I’m out taking photos. I keep a small vial of pepper spray in my pocket at all times and am always vigilant (my hand is in my pocket with my thumb on the release button if I have the slightest hint of uncertainty). I also don’t stop anywhere on the road that is dangerous (curves, over hills, too much traffic or too many large semis) and I always wear bright clothing. Larry also wears a GPS satellite signal device that immediately communicates his location (longitude and latitude). If we do not have cell phone service he also uses it to send a message to our daughter that lets her know we are safely in for the evening. On the lighter side, we are both smothered in sunscreen and I spray smelly chemicals on my clothing so any sane tick does not come any where near me.

Leaf (owner of Rising Trout Cafe) and her dog Duke.

We were pleasantly surprised to see her again, this time on the bike trail.