The gods don't like Perfect Days

Hey all:

Again, if this is your first time with this Blog, please read the first one - so you have some sense of what we are doing.

So, the gods don't like perfect days. On balance, we are having an amazing time, The weather is good, the people very friendly, the riding conditions ok. But the powers that be want us to remain humble. Take today for instance: It dawned a blue-skyed, warm sunshine, perfect temperature day. We were staying a in a town park for free that had showers that we could use. We had plans to start biking early and get in a 80+ mile day. Right.

I get up around 6:15 and head into the shower. The plan was to wake Jake upon my return so he could take a shower while I packed up the stuff. I return to find that he had moved the tent and was spreading all of our stuff across tables and sidewalks. A very nice woman who we had met the evening before assured us that she would contact the groundskeeper and let him know to de-activate the automatic sprinklers that come on every morning. Either she forgot, couldn't reach him, or they were across the street having a good laugh at our expense. While I was in the shower, the sprinklers came on full-force, sending a jet of water into the door that I had exited (not zipping the rain fly on that side of the tent as there was nary a cloud in the sky) right into Jake's sleeping face! Everything in the tent was soaked instantly. We waited about 2 1/2 hours for most of the stuff to dry before we finally got on the road. True to form, the rest of the day went very well, with good roads and a steady tailwind (we were averaging over 15 mph over 50 miles). Then, within sight of where we were going to have lunch, Jake has his ninth flat! We fix it and then find out that the only place to buy food within 30 miles in either direction closed just before we cycled into the town. There is always a yin to every yang (yan?).

Backing up a few days: We had a great one-day ride through Blackfoot country. Everyone we met was very friendly and inquisitive about our trip. We met members of the Hot Shots, a Blackfeet group who fight fires wherever they are needed (they had just returned from Alaska and were on their way to Arizona. One of them did warn us about bears, indicating that they have a preference for eating white people. I almost replied that I thought they preferred red meat, but discretion won out.

We also met an interesting guy whose Anglo name was Jimmy. We spent over an hour learning from him about tribal customs and laws and his involvement in implementing a Blackfeet curriculum in the tribal schools. He indicated that he may be next in line to be tribal chief. All-in-all, crossing the Reservation was a much more pleasant experience than we had expected.

Stayed in some nice town parks. In one town we were just able to secure a spot in a pavilion before the skies opened up with a pretty wild storm. Riding has generally been easier than in the western part of the state. As a matter of fact, we have to amend our Road Scholar award for Montana's roads, to just the roads west of East Glacier. Other than that, they've been pretty good. We have also started to have some winds out of the west for the first time. Yeah!

I need to give a big shout out to a wonderful woman we met in Gildford, Mt. Laura, her husband and two boys, run a small store where Jake and I stopped for breakfast. She was unable to cook anything for us as they had yet to hook up their kitchen equipment, so she made us the most enormous sandwiches you have ever seen. Once she heard about our fundraising, she told us about her best friend in California who has a son with autism who exhibits severe aggression and self-injurious behaviors. She and her family provided for this woman what every family needs who have a child with challenging behaviors - they remained their friends. She and her boys would visit often - taking the hits and kicks that the son would dole out. She taught her kids to ignore his often bizarre behaviors and to treat him with respect and dignity. She indicated that she may make a directed donation through Giving Back, Inc. annonymously, as her friend would not take anything from her directly. Thank you, Laura for your compassion and generous nature.

We head through a couple of more reservations as we head through the eastern part of the state - and should be in North Dakota soon. Between the floods and a mini-oil boom, it may be hard to find a pace to stay. Wish us luck.

Enough for now. Take care - Rob