Today was a 91 mile ride through the high plains of Montana. I spent the morning riding with Cara and we were speeding through the route with a tailwind at our backs and were able to hit the lunch checkpoint by 9:00. A fellow cross country rider crossed our path and joined the group for lunch. He was heading from DC to San Francisco all by himself. After lunch I got my third flat of the trip about 60 miles into the day. I stopped to change my tube and was rescued by Jeff, Melanie, and Olivia who had already done their share of changing tires earlier in the day. Jeff had two, Olivia had two, they stopped to help me, and we caught up with Cara a little down the road and helped her change her two flats as well. So between the five of us we had seven flats today. Anyone who tells you those gatorshell tires are bombproof has never biked in Montana. We finally made it to Billings around 2:00 after fighting the heat and headwinds which we encountered in the afternoon. We are staying in the dorms at the University of Montana tonight and tomorrow.
I was hoping this trip would be all the adventure I need to hold me over for a while, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It's been so great that I am already thinking about the future journies I want to take. And Jack Kerouac is not helping to quell my quest for adventure, either. I really can't express how wonderful it has been to get out of my usual surroundings and routine lifestyle and dive into something like this. I decided I'm not really afraid of anything anymore. After years of holding myself back from doing a lot of things I wish I had, I'm realizing that the possibilities are really endless when you stop letting fear dictate your life! Tomorrow we have a day off and although some of the Big Riders head to do crossfit to work out on our days off my plan is to eat and sleep and try and get myself some bike speakers.
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