Day #61 (7/6/24) – Bike Across America

I woke up before my 4:30 alarm and slowly started getting ready to ride. I was biking at dawn (5:45). It was only 50 degrees to start.

The first 20 miles were a continuation of the downhill from Bozeman Pass, except without the headwind. So, I made good progress to start my day – all the way to the town of Three Forks. The frontage road I was biking on was quiet on this Saturday morning.

After Three Forks, my route left the interstate and I was on Montana Highway 2 as it snaked through a very scenic canyon. There was some climbing in this section, but not too bad. Here are some pictures.

This is the Lewis & Clark trail, and there were some good historical markers on the highway.

I rode through a couple of small towns at 10:00 and 10:30. Stopped in both to get some food and drinks. I had ridden 55 miles already. I had decided to ride to Butte, since I had made such good time in the morning, but that meant another 30 miles (without services) and a 2,000 foot climb.

The winds were starting to pick up. That, along with the climb made for slow going. I just tried to keep it in an easy gear, take my time, and take breaks when I needed them.

I was worried about the traffic on this stretch of my route. I had used the street view in Google Maps to know that there wasn’t a shoulder to ride on. And I was sure that the road would be winding up the hill. But it turned out that there wasn’t much traffic and what traffic there was had no problem getting around me (even at my slow speed).

It took me almost three hours (1:15) to get to the top of the climb. Here are a couple of pictures from the climb.

The top of the climb was my highest elevation of the trip at 6,455 feet. It was also the Western Continental Divide. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a sign, so no picture 🙁. The waters and me flow to the Pacific Ocean from here. This was also the biggest climb that I’ve done on this trip at 1,823 feet.

It was a fast descent while I was biking through the hills and trees. But six miles outside of Butte, the hills and trees disappeared and I was fully exposed to a strong headwind. Fortunately, it was still a little downhill.

These last few miles, my route was also the route for the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail. I saw a few bike packers, but only got to chat briefly with one.

I would have made it to my hotel by 2:15, but I was hungry and saw a sign for, “Dickey’s Barbecue Pit”. I had to stop! And the barbecue was excellent.

So, I ended the day in Butte. For the day, I biked 85 miles and climbed 3,900 feet. The high temperature in Butte was only 73 degrees. So, it was a great temperature for biking. Those miles put me over 3,000 for this adventure.

Tomorrow is supposed to be cool again and little wind. So, I’m thinking about sleeping in a little, but still putting in a full day of biking.