Approaching Glacier NP

Posted by Andrew on July 14th, 2009 -   

Glacier National Park is just about 100  miles away, which could be 1 day, 2 days, or 3 all depending on the wind.  Yesterday I left Havre, MT with a slight headwind headed toward Shelby, MT.  I was hoping to do 100 miles, but the weather had other plans for my day.  As I sat outside of a bar in Hingham (40-ish miles) eating a brownie (very tasty), I watched the wind pick up.  I got back on the bike, then it picked up again, and again, and again.  By the time I arrived in Chester (60 miles), the wind was around 30 mph straight at me, making riding extremely hard.  At one point I could only manage 5 mph, so I got off my bike to walk for about a mile.  Walking 4 mph was a lot easier than riding 5 mph.  That’s the first time I’ve walked anything - I don’t plan on making a habit out of it, but it was a nice 15 minute break.

The wind typically dies down in the evening and we see calm weather through 9 or 10 AM on most days.  Not so this time.  The wind did die down a little last night around 1 AM, but then picked up again when it started to pour at 2-3 AM.  Fortunately Alan, Grade and I were camped under a pavilion in the Chester Town park, so we stayed mostly dry.  “Mostly” because the rain came in sideways and through gaps in the wall on the west side of the pavilion.  We all spent a good 20 minutes this morning drying things out - in the wind again.  Lazy day for me so far - it’s almost 2:30, and I haven’t left down yet.    The thought of grinding into the wind again doesn’t get me going…  weather.com says things should calm down a little later this afternoon, so I might put in 40 miles to Shelby, but we’ll see.  I’d give weather.com a 70% success rate so far with a few really lousy predictions.

Aside fom the wind, things are great!  I’ve been traveling with Alan and Grace for about a week now, and we’ve been joined by several others along the way: Laurie, Kevin, Lucy, and Barbara.  Meeting up during the day, sometimes riding together, and camping with them reminds me of backpacking.  In the 6 months I was out on the AT in 2004, I only spend 2 nights alone, and even then I found out that others were within a mile or two of my campsites.  Sharing dinner, stories, griping about the road, or hints from other bikers is a fantastic way to end the day.  If I get out of Chester, MT today, I’ll meet up with them again this evening for a few more days before we split up: Alan and Grace are heading north, and I’m continuing west to the coast.  Thanks guys, it’s been a lot of fun!

I’ve never spent any time out west, just a few days down in Arizona years ago.  I’m really enjoying checking out the landscape out here.  Flats in ND and MT, rolling hills, and now I’m starting to see hills in the distance again.  I’ll follow river valleys for the next 2-3 days before my route does any real climbing, which is nice, I get a good look at what’s to come.

A few stories from the folks I’ve met are in the works: Gordon, 100% Sioux told me all about Golden Eagles and tough times on the reservation, a rancher from Saco who used to race bikes and builds bike frames, Karen and Jim who took 6 of us in for a night, and fed s truly amazing cinnamon buns.

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