I managed to sleep ok, despite a bit of an upset stomach. Too much junk food probably did it. I wanted to hit the route a bit earlier and get to Helena today. I quietly packed up everything, trying not to disturb Andy who seemed still asleep. I was the first person to leave the ranch that morning. I like getting out this time of day when it is quiet and peaceful.
I rode solo most of the day until Darren from Idaho caught me on one of the hills. His wife Lisa was somewhere further back. He was obviously much faster and lighter equipped than I was. I figured he was a lot younger as well. We talked a bit heading up to the summit of the pass we were on. He had done the GDMBR a few times before and raced it once with the Tour Divide. He waited for his wife up the hill, while I continued on.
Darren & Lisa
I made pretty good time to Helena and stopped at a Burger King for lunch. Yeah, yeah I know that food isn’t good for you but I was hungry and I didn’t see a “soup & salad” place. I left my bike outside so that some of the other cyclists I knew could join. Sure enough, Darren & Lisa stopped, and so did Andy and Javier. We made plans to later meet at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Yes, this trip is all about the food.
Andy wanted to camp out that night, but Javier wanted to find a hotel since he planned on taking a rest day tomorrow. I initially planned that as well, but felt I needed to put in a bit more distance. All the hotels were ridiculously expensive, nothing below $150/night, and that is for a Motel 6 type establishment. Javier’s daughter works for Marriott and he was able to get a great rate at one of the better hotels. I signed up to be his roommate.
First order of business was getting Javier a new bike chain since his had a crack in one of the links. I waited for him outside the shop while they were installing the chain and doing some other adjustments. A guy, who appeared to be homeless, stops in front of the bike shop with his bike that looked in poor shape. He walked in the shop , but came out pretty quick. I noticed that his rear derailleur was hanging on the chain, detached from his frame. He had another derailleur in his hand and seemed a bit perplexed. He turned to me and asked if I might have a hammer and screwdriver so he could take the broken derailleur off the chain. Obviously he didn’t have a clue on bicycle mechanics. I asked him if there was a bicycle place that did volunteer repairs. He shook his head and said that bike stores wanted $20 minimum, plus labor. Anyway, I dug out my tool pouch which luckily had a chain breaker, and took off the broken derailleur, and installed on the better one. He was so appreciative to be able to use his bike again. He seemed a nice elderly man, no signs of drug or alcohol problems, just someone down on luck. I gave him $40 and told him to bring his bike into a real bike shop for a tuneup. I know that he probably won’t, but at least I carried forward the charity I got at Llama ranch.
Javier and I biked through some of the residential areas near downtown to get to the hotel. I was very impressed with the neat colonial style homes and large trees. Very nice! Many had “No Kings” signs in their front yard which is interesting for a state like Montana. Linda and I traveled through Helena a few years ago, and we must have missed this.
We (Andy, Javier, Darren, and Lisa) met at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Yes, this has been a social filled ride so far, even if I ride solo some days. Linda is secretly laughing..
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