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Written 2024 June 19, last updated 2024 July 2.
July 3rd, 9:40 AM
odometer start : 2726.5
After talking with a cyclist near Creston I decided to go along Flathead Lake down to Polson, where I now am. From here I'm going south to I90 via U.S. 93. (I saw a bumper sticker saying 'Pray for me - I drive U.S. 93') and visit Missoula in search for some Gatorade and maybe stop at a bike shop that cyclist suggested I visit. I'll get somewhere out of Missoula by night and get to Helena tomorrow where I can look for Gatorade if I can't find any in Missoula.
Turns out it's legal for bicycles to ride the Interstates in Montana and is actually quite safe, as the paved berms are generally pretty clean.
Met a lot of cyclists yesterday. While I was eating lunch, a group of 20 passed by and I almost left to try to catch them. From there I stoppped at a bike store to buy a new pair of cleats as my old pair were in bad shape. They're held in by 3 rows of nails and are ~4 inches long. Walking with them puts a lot of stress on the front row and I took only a couple of days on my first pair to break all 4 nails, leaving the front section a bit open and ready to catch on anything. I managed to break off that piece on one of them a few days ago, making it hard riding since then - hence the new pair. This is probably very confusing - you'll see when I get home.
After I bought the cleats, I met one cyclist going to Glacier N.P. and as I was chatting with him, a third rode up. The three of us had a good talk and I told one of them about the Kelowna Fire Suppression station. I then went to get the cleats nailed on and left Kalispell via a Diary Queen. While eating a chocolate malt, I noticed a loaded bicycle and cyclist parked across the street at a laundromat so I went to visit her. I quickly discovered she was one of the 2 adult leaders in that group that passed me and that everyone else were junior high kids. They were going from Mercer Island (the high class spot of Seattle) and heading for Glacier. She said that the Park Service was going to allow cyclists over Glacier mornings before 10 and afternoons after 6 starting on the 14th and hopes she can bend things a bit so they can do it today.
July 3rd, 6:15 PM
odometer now 2800.8
I cheated a little and accepted an offer to ride in a station wagon for some 12 - 13 miles. Turns out that it was driven by 3 fairly drunk Indian girls, but we made it okay. I'm now in Missoula, a rather pleasant town sort of like Painesville but neater in some aspects. It's a little more spread out and seems to have more tree-lined streets. A lot of people ride bikes possibly cause it's a bit of a university town (Univ. of Mont.) and is close to both Glacier and Yellowstone Natl. Parks.
Finally found a place that had Richmoor foods, but they didn't have any Gatorade. In fact, they had just recieved a letter saying that Richmoor wasn't shipping any for a while due to some undisclosed reason, so maybe I'll just give up and buy the bottled stuff. It has sugar in it which means you get all sorts of strange beasties growing in water bottles, but I suppose I can clean them out.
From here, it's I-90 to close to McDonald Pass tomorrow night and a couple days later I'll be in Yellowstone.
Maybe I'll wander over to the University and see what sort of Computation Center they have.
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Written 2024 June 19, last updated 2024 July 2.