We left our browning motel, and headed north to find lodging near Babb where our 2 wheels would arrive in the next 2 days. I have one cheapo one comeing from home, and one good one coming from the Hostel Shoppe. Thanks Dee. Thanks Ann. Shipping is over 100 bucks for the two wheels.

Oh yeah, our hotel had an organic continental breakfast. Kinda neat! The guy working the desk was a bit of a jerk, and the cleaning crew did not do a great job, but it is neat to see that the owners are trying to make the place better. All restaraunts and hotels we stop at seem to struggle to find good service staff. The culture of the people in this area just doesn't seem service oriented.

An amazing thing today, a tailwind. It was weak, and sometimes a crosswind, but everyone is loving it.

As we rode north on Duck Lake Road, we could see the mountains to our Left. They very slowly got closer, until we turned West after 25 miles. After 25 miles, we have done over a thousand feet of climbing, and are over 5100 feet in elevation! I swear I get winded sooner lately; I do not know if it is the elevation, or still remnants from the cold I was battling. Roger is fighting it now though, and we all notice he is struggling on the hills moreso than usual. We have time to take a lot of pictures.

We stopped at a buffalo farm. The guy says we can walk inside and pet the buffalos. The lady says no way, they are very aggressive.

My rim patch held up fine today, needing only a change of the rubber abrasion absorber that we made from a bike tube.

Duck Lake Road proved a bit harder than expected. We took that over highway 89 due to what other cyclists have said. Later in the day, another cyclist tells us that 89 is way easier. Oh well. It was 5 to 10 miles longer, but it was an awesome ride with less traffic than we have seen lately. Katie said it was her most enjoyable day of riding on this trip. She also commented that she felt like she was biking in a postcard...due to the scenery.

We turned West for 15 miles to Babb. The road was freshly blacktopped, and the Wind was a mild tailwind. We climbed some more, and we were over 2700 feet of climbing when it all came down. Literally, the road went down, down, down. With a mild tailwind, I think I could have gone 50 miles per hour! With my rim cracked, I tried to keep it under 25.

Man did I take a lot of pictures. It was a beautiful day. We took some of the most amazing pictures of my life; I won't even attempt to describe them....I am not word-smithy enough to put the views to justice.

Our first Rim, the junky one Dee sent had arrived in Babb. We plan to haul this one as a spare, considering it will work for 4 of the 5 of us, and 2 of us have had rim problems already. The second one should be here in 2 days. So, we head 10 more miles west into Glacier NP for a rest day tomorrow of hiking. The mountains grew fast over these 10 miles, and they were soon all around us. We were all in awe.

The girls are afraid of bears, and we found out at a road construction flagman that a grizzley had been on the road off and on all day right where we were sitting. The girls did not like to hear that. Also, they heard that a mountain goat killed a hiker in Olympia NP yesterday, so they are worried about that now too.

Every 10 seconds I see a photo opportunity that will be the best photo of my life.

The park charged us 12.50 per bike for a 1 week pass. Camping is 5 bucks per biker, per night. Showers are 2.56. So, our bill is over 100 bucks. They have a couple sites set aside for hikers and bikers, since we can't make reservations a year in advance like the others. The place is packed! Staying at city parks sure seems nicer than crowded campgrounds.

The kids at ramen noodles back at camp. The adults have a bit nicer budget, and we went to the cafe in the park. I had an Emu burger!

We showered, had food, hid our tasty items inside the bear box, and went to bed.....it was too late to do much today, hopefully we can hike tomorrow.

Sorry, no wifi or cell connections in the park. This post is surely going to appear days late.

50 miles (1294 total)