News From Great Falls

June 6 - 2010 - On the trail of Lewis and Clark:
The Blackfoot Corridor: Today's ride to Lincoln, Montana took us along the route that Merriweather Lewis and crew took back to the Great Falls area. It cut weeks off the return trip. Much of hte territory is unchanged from that time. The Blackfoot corirdor is a beautiful stretch of Montana that was a joy to ride through.
Trixie's: After about a 50 mile ride we had a burger at Trixie's in Ovando. If you are ever driving through i highly recomend stopping and ordering the "Logger." You won't be disappointed.
Breakdown: For reasons no one can explain the RV would not start after lunch. The bike rider's had already left and did not find out until we recieved a phone call sometime later. We continued on to Lincoln and were given great accomodations at a very discounted rate at teh Blue Sky Motel. Our hope is that Gary and the RV are up and running soon.
Ray: The riders also took the opportunity to watch game two of the NBA finals. We are all pulling for Boston and are big Ray Allen (drafted by the Bucks) fans. It was fun to watch Ray rain down three's on the Laker's.

June - 7 - Pressing On:
The Roller Coaster: The ride up to Roger's Pass and the continental divide was beautiful and surprisingly not all that taxing. The grade most of the way is quite mild. I am so impressed with the beauty of the area aroudn Lincon. I can see why it is a popular tourist spot. The real climbing came after we had crossed the pass. It seemed that after every hill we topped we could see three more to climb. With good luck we had a nice tail wind which helped immensley. For mile after mile we were either climbing a hill or gliding dwon the other side. This was our longest day, over 90 miles of riding. We were pretty bushed by the end of the day.
Farewell Rockies: After riding on or 20 miles or so past Roger's Pass it was impressive to look back at the front range as it extended from the southern to the norhtern horizons. There was some meloncholy to be out of the Rocky Mountains and on to the Great Plains of America. Both have their unique beauty, but we are very partial to the mountains.

June 8 - Getting S0me Miles In:
Hospitality: I would be totally remiss if I did not mention the wonderful hospitality we are receiving from our family in Great Falls. Larry, Christie, Jarod, Casey, Wendy, Ollie, Soren and Ryan all came over to Larry and Christie's for a big feed last night. The coup de gras was the rhubard (sp?) cake for desert. WOW !!!! That was really good. The hot tub also felt great after the 90+ mile ride.
The missing link: We are still missing Gary who is now stuck in Missoula working on getting the RV going. We all feel for Gary because he is there alone. Hopefully we will all get reunited sometime tomorrow.
Gettin in some miles: We did press on with 61 miles today from Great Falls to Stanford. Lisa sagged along with us and brought us back to Great Falls after the ride. The idea is to start in Sanford tomorrow and get to at least Lewistown. Gary is confident he will be able to get there by early evening. Here's hoping.