Covid Cross Day #32 Wilbaux, MT to Circle, MT
Covid Cross Day #32
July 5, 2020
Wilbaux, MT to Circle, MT 80 Miles
Start 8:17 AM Finish 6:07 PM
Ride Time 8:18
Ascent 1455 Feet
Descent 1702 Feet
Tour Total 2736 Miles
I slept great last night in ghetto cabin number five on the other side of the door to the public bathroom at Beaver Valley RV and Cabins in Wilbaux. I was still used to Central Time and woke up early with the sun, but was able to turn over and get a few more winks. Everything was dry, clean, and charged. For those keeping track, I was at level one. It was drizzling when I went outside, so I put on my rain jacket.
I regret that I was too tired last night to go to the Shamrock bar, which seemed like it was still hopping at midnight. Wilbaux only had 589 people, but it was a lively little town with some great bars and restaurants. This morning as I rode back through town, there was a musician setting up his equipment in the City Park band shell. Other than that, the town was quiet. I rode out to I-94 and got back on the Interstate. The drizzle stopped and I pulled over to remove my rain jacket. There were large puddles and the rumble strips were full of water. The sky really was huge here in Montana! There was rolling grassland as far as I could see. It was partly cloudy with a strong morning sun.
There was very little motor traffic out on the Interstate. I spotted semi-truck trailers, pick-up trucks, cars, and RVs. After a few miles I left the freeway at exit 236. There was a road sign saying 'No Services'. I wasn't expecting any. It was going to be a twenty-five mile morning before breakfast. That was OK, because I had enjoyed two dinners.
I left the Interstate and crossed over a cattle grate, and found myself on County Road 106 aka Dawson Road. Kevin and Monique had told me that they had ridden through a cattle drive here. I once went through a sheep drive in Argentina, but I’ve never ridden through a heard of cattle. I had two-lane County Road 106 completely to myself. The shoulder was narrow and grassland extended as far as my eyes could see. I spotted the occasional scrub, brush, or tree. This was cattle grazing country, and there were more cows here in Montana than people.
I passed a roadside weather station that confirmed what I already knew. The wind was out of the southwest and was somewhat strong. I spotted a snake on the shoulder that I thought was sunning itself. It laid there motionless, so I threw a handful of gravel. It didn’t move, confirming that it was roadkill. The road finally split far away from the Interstate and I was surrounded by large grassy ridges. A Western Sandpiper flew alongside me. Sage brush was now a common site. I pulled over to cut some. Those stalks were tough! I remembered this pleasant stretch from last year. It was a long valley with badlands and eroding ridges to the north and smooth rolling grass ridges to the south. The road was scattered with brown stains and cow pies melting away from yesterday's rain.
At long last the road meandered back toward the Interstate and I spotted the junction where I would be rejoining I-94. I crossed the cattle grate and entered back on the freeway. Glendive was another ten miles to the west. I was hungry and passed a billboard advertising breakfast served all day at Subway in Glendive. I was aiming to do better than that. Last year I screwed up and rode down the big hill into the center of the town. All of the best restaurants were up near the Interstate. The Badlands opened back up again, as I descended into the Yellowstone River Valley towards Glendive. I was definitely seeing more RVs and vacationers heading west. Billboards started appearing. After Glendive, I-94 would cut southwest towards Billings. My route would remain westbound towards Great Falls.
Not wanting to repeat last year's mistake, I sought a restaurant up on the ridge near the Interstate. I went to C.C.’s Family Cafe. The parking lot was jammed packed with locals. I ordered eggs over easy, bacon, toast, a pancake, orange juice, and coffee. The syrup was blueberry flavored. I multi-tasked, wrote post cards, and took care of affairs. I noticed another cyclist pulling up outside the window. Bill from Naples Florida was riding from Philadelphia to Anacortes. He came in and sat with me. Bill was on the Four Corner Quest. He wanted to ride the Northern Tier and the Southern Tier, as well as hike the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail. He had stayed in Beach last night. He began on ACA routes but didn’t like the zigzag routing. He was using Google maps and riding a lot on I-94. Bill had told me that he had had an accident on his tour. His front wheel had got stuck in a rut. His bike came to a dead stop, and he went flying over his handlebars. He got his wheel fixed and took a day off. His wrist was in a brace. A friendly gentleman at the restaurant had come over to talk to Bill and myself. He said there would be no water between here and Circle. He promised we would pretty much have the road to ourselves.
After C.C.’s I rode down the hill into the center of town. I passed the Red Devils football stadium to my right and the train-yard to my left. The historic Bell Street Bridge was fenced off this year, but I was fond of old bridges and could be tenacious. I wound myself around the fencing and let myself in. I crossed the mighty Yellowstone River which was wide with a fast current. I was on State Highway 200 S going west. The sign for Circle said 47 miles ahead. I was on The Old West Trail. The Yellowstone River Valley was at 2,000 feet elevation and I would be rising to 3100 feet before the Dawson McCone County line. The wind wasn’t head-on but it wasn’t far from it.
Once again I was paralleling the railroad tracks that I had been with for days. I passed miles of lined up empty freight train cars to the south side of the highway. It was a single railroad track. I was slowly and steadily climbing. I had a headwind and burning sun. At least the wind cooled things down. I met eastbound cyclist Jack from Los Angeles who was riding from Portland to Brooklyn. He would be moving to the Bushwick-Ridgewood area later this summer. He told me about a good restaurant in Brockway after Circle, and said there were stretches of road ahead with little or no shoulder. He was enjoying his tail wind today and I encouraged him to go all the way to Wilbaux. We agreed that this was the perfect summer to be doing this. Jack told me that Adventure Cycling was open in Missoula. Unfortunately there were no ice cream sandwiches this year. I ran into east-bounders Eli and Adam who were riding from Portland to Michigan. They were doing the ACA Lewis & Clark route, and were enjoying the tailwind. They expected a century today and an arrival in Glendive. They told me the mountains between Missoula and Great Falls were tough. They had experienced a lot of wind.
The empty railroad freight cars literally stretched for ten miles. There were gaps at road and farm crossings. I thought I could see the grain elevator towers in Lindsey from four miles out. I wasn’t expecting services but a cold drink would have been nice. It figures that Montana would greet me on my first day with headwinds. We would be spending a lot of time together. My past Montana crossings have been transformative experiences. The long slow perfectly straight climb was thirty-three miles long to climb a thousand feet while enduring a headwind. I was surrounded by grass and there were no trees.
Lindsay took forever to get to, and when I arrived the gas station was closed. It was another 25 miles to Circle and according to Google maps the Wooden Nickel and the bar and other restaurant would be closed when I got there. I called the sheriff's office to get permission to camp in the City Park. She called me back to let me know that there would be fireworks tonight at 9:30 PM. They had planned for last night but the rain storm had canceled the festivities. The grocery store would be closed by the time I got to town, but a gas station would be open. Back out on the open road I was dealing with the headwind. I was averaging eight miles an hour, and it was pretty discouraging. I could see High Point Butte, at 3300' elevation, to the north. The road and the railroad track separated before the pass. I was tired of having the parked freight cars block my southern view, and was happy to have the landscape back.
I finally reached the top of the 3100 foot ridge. I doubted that I would enjoy a fast descent because of the headwind. The elevation profile showed a long slope down to Circle. A nice set of Badlands opened up on the other side of the ridge and, although I could see for miles, I was unable to spot Circle. I was amazed by the billowing cloud formations to the north.
O. M. G.! I finally reached the McCone County line! It was still another ten miles to Circle. I had half a bottle of water remaining. There was definitely fast-moving motorized traffic on State Highway 200 S and the shoulder was narrow. It had been a tough day. Thank goodness I had gotten a good night's sleep, two good meals last night, and two good meals this morning. The train track snuck back up on me on the left, and there were no longer freight cars parked on the railroad. There might have been twenty miles of lined up cars earlier today.
At long last I approached the 'Welcome to Circle' sign. The next sign said "Circle one more mile'. I could finally spot the water tower. I rode past the Wildcats football field. I saw a busy CENEX station, but decided to ride into the center of town to verify that everything was closed. The BP was closed but an Exxon was open. The bar where I went last year was closed as was the Wooden Nickel and the supermarket. I rode back out to the CENEX and bought two liters of water, two six-packs of Blue Moon, a large bag of Dot's pretzels, and a bag of ice. I talked with a friendly man out front. Afterwards, I heard him say to his friend, "That guy's riding all the way to Oregon! He's just like us! At the end of a long hard day he gets beer and pretzels".
I got a call from Bill saying that he was still an hour east of Circle and that he would be staying at the hotel tonight. I found a nice picnic table in town where I edited this report before heading over to the park to set up camp. Bill finally showed up. It had been an exhausting day, and he was planning an off day tomorrow.
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