I nearly froze this morning.
I set off at 6:50 Am and had not put on either arm or leg warmers and
had only short fingered gloves. My rain
shell just didn’t cut it and I was frozen.
I know that if you are not cold for the first 10 minutes then you are over
dressed, but this was well beyond just a little chilly. At about the 3 mile mark I considered turning
around and riding back in to Townsend but my vow to never return keep me headed
down the road.
At about the 8 mile mark Ron the other Canadian and Graeme one
of the Auzzies showed up and suggested a pace line to keep the freezing wind
off. It was not a hard decision to join them.
So we set off and in no time picked up Ken T. and the 4 of us continued
on headed south on MT 287. Most of the
time there was a good shoulder with a rumble strip but when there was no
shoulder it was downright scary as there were a bazillion semi-trucks, and half
tonnes.
At the 30 mile mark we came to The Montana Wheat Bakery
which is right on the intersection of 287 and I-90. We rolled in there to get cinnamon buns, and
what cinnamon buns they were. I got the standard glazed and it was at least 9
inches across. The cinnamon bun was to die for. What a place. While we were there at least 4 bus loads of
Japanese tourists pulled in.
After we crossed the I90 the road got very quiet. It was quite nice rolling along. Ken T spotted a brown bear squaring off with
a big buck Elk. I saw the Elk but missed
the bear. I also spotted a couple of
deer frolicking in a meadow but they were too far off to get a picture.
A big climb at the 45 mile mark and then it was picnic in a
school parking lot and then more highway, another big climb and a downhill into
Ennis. Lots and lots of really beautiful Big Sky Montana.
The last 10 mile bit seemed to take forever as I was pretty
much done and there was a vicious cross wind.
All and all an excellent day. I had a lot of fun in the pace line and Ron
and Graeme are natural clowns. I also
had lots of fun barking. Barking at
riders, other dogs, cattle, horses, and everything I could see.
I got the same spot that Earnie found 4 years ago around the
back of the school. In 2014 there were 4
of us in the spot this year I have it to myself.
Terry
4 comments:
Great cinnamon bun! The basement dwellers commented that you should have put something known in for scale. . . The fork could be any size!
Agnes
I remember the calm that took over after crossing the Interstate, along the beautiful river on your left. Ahhhhhh. Great camping spot and you actually like to camp by yourself when you get down to it....... Here is hoping that you don’t have the killer headwind today that we had last time, boy that was hard! Later, Earnie
Okay, I admit it I actually had cinnamon bun envy this morning! Good that you rode with others until you got warmed up. I hate being cold like that especially when you know you have warmer clothes in the van, but I totally get the idea to never go back. Now I am totally caught up on your blog and photos and am looking forward to more. Sounds like you have your groove and are doing well. I so enjoy your stories.
I am heading out on Saturday to Canada to visit with Margaret, Hilary, Christopher, Howard, Merrilynne and a host of women from the "Sisters of No Mercy" bicycle club. Margaret and I are taking a side trip to the Calgary Stampede too. Looking forward to the cooler temps - it's just plain hot here.
Trying to catch up on reading your blog. So interesting and the photos are incredible. The cinnamon bun reminded me of my first race this year with U of C marathon group. It was on June 16, the Millarville Farmer’s Market run for a cinnamon bun race. I chose the 8 mile - didn’t feel that I was ready for the 1/2 marathon. I will do that in Vancouver in September, the Lululemon Seawheeze 1/2. Safe travels to you.
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