Nerd Em's Adventures
It’s a hot day today, so I spend some time at the local history museum trying to stay out of the sun. The museum is associated with the Smithsonian, and the newer exhibits are well-done, but it is a tiny place and not worth the admission fee. So far, Billings has not impressed me. Read more
I pull into the campground in Columbus at 10.45 am. My goal for this 4th of July was to get out of Billings and off the road as soon as possible. So I left quite early and was rolling through Laurel (where the biggest fireworks show in the state is held) while they were still flipping pancakes at the picnic breakfast. Lawn chairs all along the road were already set out to mark territories in anticipation of the morning parade. Several people yelled out “Love your hat” or “Love your sparklers”. My attempt at patriotism has not gone unnoticed. Read more
Yesterday I broke my ‘worst day ever’ record. This morning I break my ‘fastest pack up’ record. Normally, it takes me about 40 minutes to go from sleeping bag to pedalling. This morning I’m on the road in 24 minutes flat. I pack in the dark, brush my teeth in the dark, and hit the road just as first light appears. I’ll be 10 miles down the road before the sun rises. Read more
Some days on tour will stick in your memory forever. It is not because the day was perfect. It is not because it was horrible. It is not the day you climbed a massive pass or were awestruck by incredible grandeur. It sticks in your memory because it was the day that you knew you were meant to be there on that road, on that bike, under that sky and riding into that wind. Today was that day for me. It happens on every tour, and that is when you know that you are fully in the groove. Read more
Shhh, be vwery, vwery quiet…. (Say it in your best Bugs Bunny voice). There are people sleeping. I pack up and roll out in the early dawn. My tires crunch through the gravel and past all of the massive RV trailers. No one stirs. No dogs yip, yap or bark. I’m climbing the gravel hill to the road just as the sky starts to take on an orange hue. The sun’s ascent over the hills begins as I head north on the road down the Boulder River. Read more
My little thermometer says 37F degrees. The moderately high elevation here in White Sulphur Springs at 5041 feet lends itself to cold mornings even in July. I rustle through my pannier to find my long cotton gloves to go over my riding gloves.
I’m rolling down the main street just a bit before first light. Read more
In 1880, a merchant named Paris Gibson from Ft Benton decided he’d go have a look at the waterfalls not too far upstream that he’d been reading about in the journals of Lewis and Clark. Gibson was suitably impressed by their grandeur. But he was a businessman, so he also saw dollars flowing over the falls. He returned in 1883 with some others and platted a town. He wanted to exploit the water’s energy and build hydroelectric plants to power the town and industry. He hoped to build the Minneapolis (where he was from originally) of the West. Read more
There is no better way to start the day than to have to get on the interstate, negotiate a merge (I-15 and I-315), and then climb a steep hill. But there is no other choice to get out of town. So off we go. Read more
Helena is one of those towns whose downtown oozes history. The chaotic street layout that began as the old paths to prospecting holes and mineral loads tells a story of luck and chance. This is not a planned city like Great Falls with its grid streets. This is a town that sprung up from fortune seekers that had one very lucky day. Read more
Today happens in two parts.
PART I: The Rant
Okay, the next paragraph will read a little like an algebra story problem, but it is not, so please don’t abandon me yet (however, if you like algebra story problems, please add times, distances and vehicles as you see fit, e.g. if a car travelling 80 mph heading north on 287 meets a truck travelling 55 mph heading south, and a touring cyclist travelling 12 mph is in between….). But I digress…. Read more