Helena, Montana

Note: we did not have any internet connection in Wolf Creek, so we uploaded yesterday’s blog today.  See the Wolf Creek entry below.

One of these days we are going to plan a bike trip by following the tailwinds and go where ever the winds take us.  Yes, we got beaten up again today and only cycled 36 miles. 

Before leaving Wolf Creek we had breakfast at French’s Café.  Despite the fact that the cook was late to open up, the meal was excellent.  During our breakfast several of the patrons spoke to us.  Fred, the most talkative, told us about his moving to Montana, his work, and love of the outdoors.  Before we left, he told us that no matter which direction we were heading we would have a headwind, thanks Fred.

Our first 8 miles out of Wolf Creek were in a scenic canyon that was, in effect, a wind tunnel.  Afterwards, we had our first climb before being dumped onto the interstate highway.  Thankfully, the highway had very limited traffic and wide shoulders.  Close to Helena we had a 2 mile climb that we estimated to be in the 6 percent range.  At the top of this mountain we met Marlowe Rames, who told us he had to stop because he remembered us from our rainy day ride between Fort Benton and Great Falls.  He said that he wanted to tell us how tough he though we were cycling in such bad weather.  Gee, we thought that we were just stupid…  Marlowe works for channel 3 KRTV, the local CBS affiliate and was out checking their towers.  He is also a cyclist who rides a Surly Long Haul Trucker and thinking of his first big tour.

From the top of the mountain into Helena was a drop of nearly 1,000 feet over 7 miles with the steepest drop in the first 2 miles.  Joe had a blast on the downhill, claming he didn’t have to pedal at all for the entire distance.  However Jeff was nervous with the crosswinds and made liberal use of his breaks. 

Today’sPhotos

Today’s Map