bike your own hike

When I arrived at the Layby I was greeted by a family that has pulled in for the fireworks, 3-4 vehicles full of parents and children that turn out here every year to watch, this seemed to me to be the epitome of American life, families gathering for Americas day, enjoying it together, they told me they had just enjoyed a hog roast hand turned by themselves over hours. The gave me water, beer, candy, and let me join them with a comfortable seat. From about 9 pm fireworks were flying all over the city. It seemed from every household. At 10.30 the main even started, with giant fireworks dwarfing the hill from which they were launched from. A brilliant light show. Made even better by the will of the locals to have fireworks going off solid till midnight. As I had not sorted any accommodation I went a few yards down the hill from the layby, rolled out my camping pad and sleeping bag and slept, despite the noise from traffic heading home I was out like a lamp. In the morning the breakfast of champions- Mcdonalds.

The statue on the ridge line is known as ‘Our Lady Of The Rockies’. In 79′ Bob O’Bill’s wife had cancer, he said if she recovered, he would build a life size statue of Mary in his yard. When she did recover, he kept to his word. He started building the statue with the help of fellow workers, but what happened was it caught the imagination and support of all the locals in the town. Pretty soon the staute had grown from the planned 5ft, up to 90ft, with a presiding view on the ridge line over the town. Many volunteered to help, from locals blasting the rock platform, a local concrete company sorting the base, an engineer from anaconda designing it, donations from the public, right up to the national guard 137th aviation company airlifting it. The staute was lifted piece by piece, a dangerous job to an exposed rocky ridge with high winds. In 1985 it was finished standing tall over the community whose will and generosity put it there. At night it is illuminated and can be seen for miles.

The Boring Bits- Distances , So……. from Ovander to Lincoln was 27miles by road, followed by 54miles offroad/gravel to get me to the pass at Helena leaving a downhill into town in the morning. I started this day at 9.30am. In Lincoln I caught the parade for a hour or so. I was finished by around 8-8.30pm. 81miles without pushing myself too hard, nice breaks through the day

Helena To Butte

54 off road with some rough terrain after Park Lake going up Lava Mountain followed by 30miles on an Interstate sprinting to Butte for fireworks, this did miss a section of trail by taking the Inter Alternate but C’mon!!! Fireworks!!!!. I started this day at about noon or just after (i was waiting for route maps to download, as good as the maps are, they require a odometer for getting the right turnings, which upto Helena, i did not have). By 4pm and through baking 90 degree heat i reached Park lake and chucked myself straight in. I am currently sat in Starbucks probably smelling like bad lake water, can’t smell how bad i smell so not too concerned. lol. Lava mountain was hard , steep and rocky, a couple of northbound cyclists I met at the lake said it was the hardest section for them. My skimpy 40mm gravel tyres were skittering about, struggling for traction, but it was brilliant fun. I did have to push the bike up a few gruelling sections towards the top which reminded me just how heavy the loaded panniers are. The reward of the downhill was immense though, all fear of buckling the wheels out the window, this was too much fun; it seemed to last hours, I passed a few more divide riders heading north, with proper mountain bikes. Pfffff, I though; who needs that setup, then I came across a 50meter steep rock garden; this humbled me, I got off the bike and wimped my way around this before remounting. It was hard enough walking down, never mind riding. The single track widened and soon became a gravel road, which i hurtled down . At 7 pm I emerged at the interstate. 30 miles to cover by 9 pm when it would start to get dark, I have no bike lights so it was kind of a make or break thing, I plunged onto the interstate boldly; to be greeted with a head wind and a gentle but punishing climb. Reaching a sign saying ‘snow chain area 1/2 mile ahead’ the road kept climbing. I was committed, pushing as hard as I could, my legs building lactic fast. The sun disappeared behind the ridge to my right, I was running out of time and staring at the map couldn’t work out how far i had come but felt there were about 6miles to go. Time was up. I came to the continental divide crossing and the view over the other side was glorious, Butte still shining in the sun. I flew downhill to a layby I could see cars backing up into; I realised they were setting up for the fire work display. I made it. Being the showboating idiot I sometimes am I locked the back wheel and skidded to a halt. I felt like Lance armstrong for a second (before we all found out he cheated).