Ramblings

FRIENDS

On Monday, the ninth, I met Martha in the park in Cut Bank where I stopped for lunch.  Martha and her husband Pete live on a little island in British Columbia, Canada called Gabrida Island.  Each spring they take off for the summer on an adventure to see part of the country/world.  Because of a knee injury, Pete is no longer able to ride his bike so he shadows Martha on his motorcycle, meeting her for lunch, the evening's stay and other prearranged stops.  Martha and Pete became my travel companions for the next six days and it was great getting to know them.  When we parted it felt as if I was saying goodbye to old friends.

                                                      Martha, Pete, and I in Wolf Point


On the morning of the seventeenth I was all by myself in Circle.  By noon I had met Tom and Kathy Norton, biking west on the Lewis and Clark Trail and then Jaun Marie, a retired airplane pilot from France also biking west on the Lewis and Clark Trail.  By noon we were enjoying each other's company over lunch.  Later that afternoon Grant Korting rolled into town.  Grant is riding the Lewis and Clark Trail west to east to raise money for a friend who has M S.  We all arranged to meet for pizza that evening.  At the restaurant we met to gentlemen (names I cant remember, my memory is worse than my spelling) traveling east on the Lewis and Clark Trail along with their wives who were following them in a car.  There we were, all nine of us, strangers until the last six hours eating together, laughing and sharing stories.  The next day I rode with Grant for 88 miles.  I quit but he kept on.

The group in Circle

Grant and I on the road

It is truly amazing and wonderful how fast friendships are made on the road.


THE EYES OF YOUTH

When camping in Harlem a young boy of about eight years old came up to me to ask if that was my bike he say by the pool.  When I told him yes he asked how far I had ridden.  I told him "about 1,000 miles".  He responded: "Wow, that's a long way to ride to come see our town."  I smiled with the acknowledgement that we all share some of his myopia.

Camping on the lawn of the town hall in Harlem

NEW CLEATS

My new cleats arrived in the mail in Wolf Point.  It's a pleasure to hear that snap as they engage the pedals.

Ah, new cleates

MY BRUSH WITH THE LAW IN CIRCLE

I made it to Circle, Montana on the sixteenth and stayed at the Travelers Inn.  Sever weather was predicted for the following day, heavy rain, strong wind, thunderstorms, and a tornado watch.  I thought it best to stay put.  The only problem was that the Travelers Inn was the only game in town and they didn't have a room for me for the next night.  I figured that I had better get busy finding another place to stay.  Then it dawned on me that I had the perfect line, "no room at the inn".  I'd call a local church and see if they would let me sleep on the floor.  How could they refuse with a line like that?  I decided on the Franciscan church and gave them a call.  A very suspicious priest agreed to talk to me if I would come by the church.  When I spoke with him he told me that I would have to go to the local Sheriff's Department.  I found my way there and explained my situation.  The Sheriff  told me that I could sleep in the jail if nothing else came up.  As it turned out a room did become available at the Inn and I lost my opportunity to call home and tell Bev that I was in Jail in Circle, Montana for the night.   

The Travelers Inn in Circle.  Just like home.

NORTH DAKOTA

 I finally made my way through Montana.  Seventeen days.  They say that North Dakota is so flat that you can watch your dog run away for three days.