Day 18 of Da Ride

       What a night followed by an even more incredible day! Last night, a wind storm blew through the park for an hour or so and took the big tent for a little ride. Eric and Steve decided to brave it and slept on some tables under a pavillion in the park. Captain Eugenia and Harry posted the first century for the trip, 105 miles, and the team passed the thousand mile mark for da ride. Today’s ride went from Chester to Harlem(not NY), MT! Maybe the thoughts of home and some brisk tailwinds were the inspiration for the day. It can be a little confusing for the navigation crew as the town before Harlem was the thriving metropolis of Zurich with a population of less than 50 people. Most of the towns we passed on the Hi-Line (Route 2) between Chester and Havre had populations of less than 300 people, all friendly though!  We had lunch in Havre at a Wendy’s. It is one of 16 locations in Montana, but this is the last one on the route we are on. We keep meeting friendly folk on the route such as the group from PetroCanada today who were discussing plans with Native Americans on the Blackfeet Reservation. We broke bread tonight with another touring cyclist, Dale from San Francisco, who is headed to Minnesota and then Arkansas the old school way, fully loaded with front and rear panniers. We are camping behind the city hall tonight which is adjacent to the pool in town. We were blessed to take showers at the pool, and the local sheriff’s office, part of the city hall building, left the building open all night so we had a bathroom all night. Doubly blessed! A sumptious and healthy dinner of steak, spaghetti, spinach and onions was enjoyed by the team and Dale after being cooked by Eric. Another shout out to Steve’s sister, Margaret McCabe, who is celebrating her birthday today.

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