Some ambitious riders were up early this morning, packed their gear, and headed off for breakfast in Harlowton. Most of us enjoyed our oatmeal out of doors at the fairgrounds/park where we had spent the night. There is a wetlands area right next to our camp. I awoke to the sounds of many different kinds of birds going about their morning business.
The first 45 miles today were a bikers dream. We dropped about 1000 feet during that time, had a favorable wind, and were riding on fresh morning legs. Then we made the turn south toward Billings and the fun began. We rested at the town of Livinia before taking on the second half of the day, and visited a unique mercantile store there.
The wind was either in our face or from the side all afternoon, and wasn’t our friend any longer. The long climb out of Livinia went on for about 10 miles. Then the bulk of the afternoon was spent on a long straight road that didn’t turn for almost 15 miles. By the end, we were wondering if we would remember how to turn the corner. Mr. Sun was smiling down on us as the temperatures got up into the mid 90’s.
Scott and I took brief stops for water and breaks for our sore muscles and seats, but kept pushing fairly hard through the day.
I’m feeling stronger on the hills and into the wind, and even though my shoulders and seat were aching, I was riding strongly and felt good.
Finally, we got to our last climb of the day. This one lasted about 6 miles, and didn’t climb the whole time, but enough to make us feel it. We were approaching Billings from the north and saw very little that looked like a city even though we were close to town. Finally, we got to the edge of a high cliff that forms the northern border of Billings. We could see the entire town laid out down below us. Some kind of refinery or ore processing plant to the left, with the downtown, universities, and miles of residential neighborhoods, all laid out in front of us for viewing. It was a welcome site after a 92 miles day in the heat and wind.
We dropped down the road to town, past the airport and on to city streets. A day off awaited us at the Rocky Mountain College. Jeff was there with the truck and the gear as we began our now familiar routine of unpacking for the night. We dried our tents outside and washed our clothes. One of the riders had gotten dehydrated during the day and had a visit to the emergency room. She’s back and resting and will be out of the road again soon.
We’ve really settled in as a group and as individuals to this amazing adventure. Tomorrow we get our rest, then on to Wyoming and the rest of the Big Ride.

Joe is our featured rider for the day. He works as a concierge in a large building in Manhatten. Joe is a strong rider and is always around during the day as we are riding. In the picture above, Joe does 20 pushups at a rest stop. He and several other riders have been doing this all along the route as a way of keeping and building upper body strength during the ride.