Yesterday it was my turn to repay the wind gods on the ride from Circle, MT to Glendive, MT. I started out with a brisk headwind and throughout the day the best wind I had was a stiff almost side wind, and I'd estimate that it was typically blowing around 15 mph. So it was basically like a 50 mile slog uphill - there was no coasting, even the downhills required a lot of work to maintain momentum. The bad news is that it would seem to be the prevailing wind pattern on fair weather days.
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| Yep, I love a headwind! |
We had planned on taking a day off in Glendive, MT (where we camped last night), but decided we'd look for a better place to spend a day where both of us will be out of the saddle, or else consider some shorter days if the wind continues to be against us. We at first thought we'd camp at Makoshika State Park, but they wanted $28 for a primitive site without water. Instead, we camped at Green Valley RV Park for $23 (power and water). It has been around since the early 1970s, but it may be nearing the end of it's lifetime, as the owners are rather old and things haven't been updated in quite a while (but everything is spotlessly clean and parts of it are freshly painted).
It used to be that years ago all the traffic in the area went through downtown Glendive along Bell Street. So there is still some architectural history from the 1930s and 1940s along that old route, which has been bypassed by the closure decades ago of the old truss bridge over the Yellowstone River. A few of those old places are still booming, including the Gust Hauf, a beer and pizza place that had some of the best small town pizza that we've yet to experience (we had the taco pizza).
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| The Old Bell Street Bridge, now a bike/ped bridge. |
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| Some interesting rollers, presumably to allow this mysterious piping to expand and contract. |
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| The Makoshika Badlands and Yellowstone River as seen from the Bell Street Bridge. |
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| The Gust Hauf's eye-catching sign. |
Since today was planned to be a fairly low mileage riding day, we decided to start out by hiking through Makoshika State Park. It was a bit too hot to do that yesterday when we arrived, but by heading out early we were able to hike the trails while it was still cool and the natural lighting was better.
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| Various views along the Cap Rock Trail of Makoshika State Park... |
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| A natural rock bridge. |
Before leaving Circle yesterday I had noticed that the tread of my rear tire had worn through to the cord. I attempted to patch it with some Goop, hoping that it might last another 100 miles or so. Instead it caused me to get a slow leak in the rear tube. So after our hike today I replaced the rear tire and replaced the inner tube with the one that I had patched for Alea the day before. I also took the time to clean much of the gunk out of the freewheel.
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| The worn out tire after 50 miles of riding on the repair. |
Alea was optimistic that her 30 mile ride to Wibaux, MT would be easy enough, even if she ended up with a headwind. But at the end of the day she acknowledged that it was perhaps the hardest day that she has ridden thus far. The forecast for me is more of the same for my 35 mile ride tomorrow to Medora, ND.
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| Alea completes our first segment of riding on the shoulder of I-94. |
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| Pretty wildflowers and a pretty hard slog into the wind. |
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| The bent grass hints at Alea's struggles on the last five miles of the day. |
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