7/12-
after waking up in Lolo we rode along beautiful route 12 to Missoula,
the Adventure Cycling capital of the USA. Unfortunately, the
headquarters were closed, so we ended up visiting Bicycle Hangar, a
local bike shop that entertained us with free unicycle rides and
suggested an incredible route to follow to Montana's capital, Helena. We
set out later that day and rode along a scenic (and mostly flat!) route
that followed the Blackfoot river. We stopped for a late lunch at a
fishing spot where we enjoyed burritos and befriended the local
fisherman, then pedaled on to Copenhaver Park where we camped for the
night under a sky full of stars.
7/13- We started our morning
early and completed the majority of our miles before lunch, a new feat!
We rode along scenic route 141 where we passed by a handful of cyclists
riding all the way to Boston. We stopped for lunch just outside of Avon,
MT at a tiny diner; we were treated like royalty by the staff-they gave
us free key lime pie and fruit roll ups! After filling our water
bottles, we rode on towards Helena in an attempt to outrun the huge
thunderstorm at our backs. We fought through an icy, rainy climb on the
last leg of our day and made it to the 6235 Summit where we were greeted
with a rainbow and incredible views! We zoomed down the mountain,
stopping briefly at a scenic overlook, and celebrated reaching the
capital city with a big gallon of ice cream and warm showers at a hotel.
7/14-
we started our morning with a huge complimentary breakfast and set out
to reach the Lewis and Clark Caverns Park by nightfall. We are riding
out east towards Bozeman and hope to be there tomorrow night. Sometime within the next 2 days we will have made it 1,000 miles from Seaside ! We are on a roll :)
-- Trip Leader Lydia
