Tour de Franzia!

Day 6 (ctd.)- After lunching in W. Yellowstone and updating the blog we decided to call it a day. (yes a very short day of riding indeed). The four of us seem to travel well together and since deciding not to move onto Bozeman, we are all heading the same way. While we had the company we figured it would be a good time to split a hotel room, shower up and do some bathtub laundry. (I must say you get a lot more stinky riding bikes than you do on river trips, and that's saying something!) Lucy and I decided showers and a warm bed would make for a good campsite for the night. The Dude Motel ended up being the perfect spot. At the local grocery store we picked up some provisions for dinner and found a mini-grill on sale for about 4 dollars. Another delicious meal... steak, mashed potatoes and gravy with sauteed vegetables!

The tour group that arrived by bus seemed surprised to see us with our grill and stove cooking in the middle of the parking lot... especially afterwards when I tried to make the most of the coals to dry my socks. It seemed like a very sustainable thing to do until I got to talking with a few other Yellowstone tourists. In the middle of our conversation the smell of my melting socks quickly changed the conversation... one pair of socks down!

Day 7
Freshly cooked breakfast burritos and coffee got us moving in the morning. It was mostly downhill, and even though dark skies followed us most of the day I can't say it made Montana any less beautiful. We passed through the Quake Lake area where historical stops every few miles told the story of the 1959 earthquake the shaped the landscape we were riding through. There was a small climb to the Visitors Center where a gathering of middle school students cheered us on up the hill, promising us food at the top. About a half hour from Ennis we were slammed with rain and wind. It was about 5:30 when we arrived at the town park. The last half hour in the rain was frustrating, but reaching that park felt great no matter how wet we were, and for just a second I had a glimmer of hope... until I rode up to the others and could not clip out and fell over on my bicycle at a dead stop onto the wet ground. I could only be angry for a brief moment, and than just had to laugh. None of the others seemed to react at all, so I asked them politely to just consider the humor in what just happened and laugh.
Not a few minutes later two bus loads of kids from the visitors center about 30-40 miles back arrived to use the same rest rooms, saying "Hey there's the bikers, they beat us here!"

Looking up the road we saw a dry place to eat and figured we could stop in and ask about camping options in Ennis, MT. The Claim Jumper Saloon was a welcoming place after 75 plus miles. They invited us to roll our bikes out of the rain and put them in the dinning area. One waitress said that was the best use for that room she's ever seen, I could think of one better use... letting us sleep there! A very large cheeseburger and fry platter later we were told that the green patch of grass next to the bar belonged to the owner and we were welcome to set up camp there for the night. Into the wee hours of the morning I could here the locals coming and going and the traffic rolling through town, but could not have asked for a better spot to set up camp. The clouds and rain actually warmed the air up and I slept comfortably in my sleeping bag.
Day 8
One week down and leaving Ennis! Toby left his camel pack at the Claim Jumper, but it was quickly recovered when the neighboring coffee shop gave him the owners number.  The owner told him that "nobody ever steals in this town... and the one guy who did got the crap beat outta him". I like Ennis. (the good people of Montana rock!)A big climb immediately leaving town... 7 miles of vertical... probably only about a 4% grade, but it was tough. The view from the top was spectacular. The road below us stretching back into Ennis reached for the mountains in the background. Clouds were gently reaching around them and the sun was just barely peaking out and shining down across the land. Once we got to the top a man told us we were just around the corner from the downhill.

We packed our cold weather gear on... riding down is usually the coldest part of the day, and headed for that "just around the corner".

There was a downhill, but there was also more uphill "just around the next corner"... cursing the man we powered onto the top.

It was a much appreciated (and deserved) descent. We rolled easily into the historical town of Virginia City. The entire street is a museum itself. Many of the old buildings are closed, but if you peek inside the windows you can see the old toy store set up, the barber shop with figures going about their daily lives, you can go into the hanging building where vigilantes would hang thieves etc., and you can also get a pretty good cup of coffee at one of the little shops that is still running in modern day times.
With plenty more miles to cover we pushed onward. Too many times we would stop to re-group and it seemed each time my legs found it harder and harder to remember how to pedal. After the town of Sheridan it got worse. My butt began to become one with the saddle and I could hardly sit any longer, my knee really started to ache with each push of the pedal and the wind picked up. I started to get just a little grumpy.
When we finally reached Twin Bridges, MT it was either stay or push on for 30 more miles, to the next services area... the four of us stopped into the Lost Cabin bar to discuss with the locals what they would do.
They gave us the usual "local" response... laughed and told us that north was the wrong way to go this time of year. They also laughed about the snow and the rain we were probably going to hit climbing over our next two passes. We were also told about the cyclist rest area just down the road that was built by a local man. They told us it had a covered area, showers and a bathroom and was sitting right next to the river. It was one of the easier decisions we have had to make.
We went down and found an amazing space truly designed for cyclists. I can hardly describe what has been put together here. There is a shower, with warm water and soap and shampoo, a bathroom, a covered picnic area, a little cabinet with bike literature, bugspray, sunscreen and more random things that might be nice for someone traveling through. There is even a stand outside to put your bike on for repair and a grill. The only thing missing is a mechanic and a chef!

As we spread out our belongings onto every surface we could take up, two more tourists rolled on in. Will and Kala, traveling from New Hampshire told us that they were also heading towards Missoula. The boys went into town grabbed some Franzia boxed wine and brought it back to our new shack. We all started talking and decided that maybe the next day off where we had such amazing facilities didn't sound like the worst idea ever... and since we were out of wine we headed back into town to the Anchor Bar. The locals there wine-d us well and we had a good time getting to know our new friends. Kathy promised to come and cook us dinner before the big football game the following evening since we would still be in town. She really seemed to love "us kids". Finally we all walked back to our new little hideout in Twin Bridges and crawled into our sleeping bags.

I must say that the motto here "Twin Bridges- the small town that cares" is dead on.

Day 9
So, here we are day 9. I had breakfast with Scotty and Lucy in town at the WagonWheel, while Toby and the others stayed back to sleep and shower. When we got back and we began clearing our stuff off the floor we discovered that we had been invaded by worms in the night. We plucked them off the ground from below our sleeping mats and bags and threw them back into the world.
It was almost impossible to stop showering... it was probably my favorite shower I have ever taken, in my LIFE! yea, that good. Lucy and I took the clothes to the laundromat and we are now sitting in the public library. Compared to the 7 books on a shelf at the Crowheart, WY gas station (with a sign above that read "Crowheart Library") this library has a lot more to offer. Although Toby did just manage to print off about 60 pages of something without realizing it was 15 cents a sheet... hahaha!

Time to go check the laundry... hopefully it's still there. And then maybe grab some lunch. Toby posted some pictures at http://sustainablebicycling.org/  and I will hopefully be able to post some pictures later.

I am still hoping Kathy will pull through and bring us dinner to grill tonight. Tomorrow is going to be a long haul over some steep mountain passes... I think we are all looking forward to reaching Missoula. I'm hoping the weather will hold up and the cold will try and stay away for a few more weeks. If it doesn't though I've realized you just push on...