Day #59 (7/4/24) – Bike Across America

As is my practice lately, I got up early to get some miles in before the winds picked up. I was biking by 5:30.

It was a cold morning. Only 45 degrees to start and the temperature wasn’t expected to reach 70. I had on my leg warmers, full finger gloves, and an extra long sleeve shirt.

I am basically following the I-90 corridor now for the next 400 miles. However, sometimes there isn’t a frontage road next to the interstate, and in those cases I have to take other country roads to get through.

That was the case this morning, I had a couple of possible routes to choose from. A longer Komoot route that went north of Columbus, and a shorter Google route that went south of Columbus. I chose the shorter Google route.

After leaving town on the highway, I quickly turned right onto a country road. I started climbing, but nothing too steep – some rolling hills. Then the climbs got steeper. Then, I saw the road sign that I was expecting, but dreading.

As you know, I’m not a big fan of gravel roads. But sometimes they are unavoidable. At first, the gravel wasn’t too bad, but the further I rode, the worse the gravel got. And the climbing continued. Between how steep the road was and how bad the gravel was, I had to walk my bike several times.

There was a lot of wildlife on these roads. Here is a picture of the first elk that I have seen on this trip.

I also saw lots of deer. Here is a picture of one group.

There were occasional houses on these roads. These people must really enjoy their solitude, and have a good 4WD vehicle! The climb was brutal, but at least the view from the top was spectacular.

What goes up, must come down. The decent was extremely steep (steeper than the climb), and the gravel was very rough. I was pumping my brakes all the way down and had to focus intently to get down safely.

When I got close to the bottom of the hill, there were more farms and the road turned back into asphalt. I coasted down to where Google wanted me to take a left turn. There was a sign that it was a private road and no trespassing. Also, the road was in bad shape. I would call it a dirt road with big rocks.

I’m not one to let a sign deter me. So, I biked down the road. A mile in, Google told me to take a right turn on another road. But this was all I saw.

I asked the cows about the road, but they weren’t any help. I was close enough to the interstate to see it, so I pulled out my phone and used Google Maps looking for another route to get to the frontage road. I biked down the dirt road another quarter mile to get to a road that would connect me, but that road didn’t exist either.

Now I was kind of stuck. I really could only think of two choices. First, bike bike back to Columbus and then take the Komoot route around. But, I had spent 2.5 hours to bike the 16 miles to that point.

Second option was to bike a mile down the road and then get on the interstate and bike the shoulder for four miles to the next exit, and pick up the frontage road there.

I chose option number two. And that is how I got to ride my bike on the interstate. It wasn’t too bad, there wasn’t much traffic, since it was 8:30 in the morning of the 4th of July.

I stopped at a gas station just off the exit (was happy it was open on the 4th) and bought a sandwich and a Gatorade. Talked with the clerk a little. A dog came up to me while I was removing my cold weather clothes and it was clear that he wanted me to throw his stick.

I threw it a few times for him, then I was back biking on relatively flat asphalt roads.

It was about 9:00, and I had done 24 miles. As I biked from there, the winds began to build and were directly in my face. I kept gearing down. The winds got up to 12 mph with gusts up to 25. That’s really too much wind to bike in. But, I was still 12 miles from the next town with a hotel. So, I just had to stay in a low gear and keep peddling.

These mountains keep getting closer to me. A sign of things to come, I’d say.

About noon, I reached the town of Big Timber. The local hotel that I wanted to stay at was sold out, but I was able to get into a Motel 8. I also had a great lunch at the best restaurant in town (surprised it was open). I was in my hotel room about 1:00. Looking forward to a relaxing afternoon.

For the day, I biked 50 miles and climbed 2,250 feet.

Tomorrow will be another early start to avoid the winds later in the day.

I also want to thank everyone for their words of encouragement. It really means a lot to me. Thank you!!