Biking: 54 miles
We crossed into Montana today. Another milestone for us. We saw two bears and a moose. Got to love the Montana wildlife!
About 10 miles into the ride, we had a mechanical issue. Mark’s bike had a flat tire. He changed it, but the tire wasn’t seating properly.
After a number of attempts to get it seated, he decided just to ride on the tire and hope for the best. We continued to climb the mountain pass, and stopped at a ski lodge at the top. At the lodge shop, a nice young lady offered to pump his tire to get it to seat. After she finished, she noticed my riding shorts with the Bicycle Shop logo, and told us she grew up in State College. Turns out, it was Abby Matalavage whose parents managed Tussey Ski Lodge for many years. Mark’s kids grew up with Abby.
What are the chances of connecting with someone who used to live in State College on this trip? You would think very small. Well, not if you’re Mark. We’ve been on this trip for two weeks, and this is the third time this has happened to him. He ran into an old colleague at a museum in Port Angeles. They went to dinner together. Then, a couple days ago, another former colleague recognized Mark on the Coeur d’Alene trail and stopped to talk with him. The next day was a rest day, so Mark and Anita got to spend the day on his boat. Now this. So, if you’re Mark, chances are actually pretty good.
We left the ski lodge and headed down the mountain for 35 miles of descending on gravel…and not the Rothrock or Black Moshannon kind of gravel. No, think more like a neglected dirt road with embedded rocks, loose gravel, and huge potholes. Basically, nasty gravel. Not my favorite. Some stretches were better, but most were pretty rough. Lots of white knuckling it for me today.
Tomorrow we have a long one. Looks like 80 miles of riding, with some gravel (hopefully not like today) and lots of road riding. We might need to get up on I-90 for a little bit, so fingers crossed on that one. Our destination is Missoula, MT.
From there, Anita and Mark will continue on the route, covering the five days of riding that I did earlier (see RV trip days 15-19), and Brian and I will be flying home for the week to get Brynn set up in her apartment for the semester. We will rejoin Anita and Mark next weekend.
RWGPS for today:
Keep the Wheels Turning 
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