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July 13, 2006
Tour de Montana
In honor of That Event going on across The Puddle wherein beautiful men with beautiful calf muscles are pedaling their way around France, I'll provide a few highlights of the my mini-Le Tour.
My friend does long-distance bicycle touring. Every year, she and her friends endeavor upon a three-week trip of self-contained bicycle touring. Both last year and this year, I have been fortunate to join their group for a few days of riding. My version of touring is nothing like theirs. They travel with all of their worldly possessions upon their bikes, tents, sleeping bags, food, water, over 30 pounds of gear per person! Me, I packed a small Camelbak with some snacks and a change of clothes, slept in a cabin, ate in a restaurant, and briefly accompanied them for 140 miles of their journey over the course of 2 days.
I could get into my version of touring. Imagine: carrying a small load of gear, a few changes of clothes and a day's worth of water and snacks, sleeping each night in a hotel or cabin, eating out in resturants, and touring one's way around a state, or two, or three. It's posh, I'll admit, and the die-hard bicyclists are cursing me now, but oh well, I had fun.
The Highlights:
1) Zooming along the Montana countryside at a steady pace, with a tailwind, on the flats, with little effort, and feeling like heaven.
2) Eating my entire portion of veggie lasagna and breadsticks at an Italian restaurant, and having the waiter comment on how that much food could fit into that small of a person.
3) Leading a pace line of 8 bicyclists against a hefty, hot headwind up and over the relentless rolling hills of Montana.
4) Feeling the happy buzz of a single pint of cold Scottish ale while still fresh off a 70 mile ride.
5) Pedaling hard through an afternoon thunderstorm while listening to the pinging of small hail pellets against my helmet.
6) Coming face-to-face with 4 miles of impassible road construction in the middle of said thunderstorm, and resorting to sticking a water-logged thumb out for a ride from a Montana rancher with a black lab named Duncan who couldn't stop licking my salty legs and arms.
7) Enjoying the accomplished feeling of riding long and hard for 2 days, then realizing that my accomplishment is but a tiny goal reached compared to those 7 other people headed west for hundreds of more miles to ride.
And, on that note, best of luck to those 7 riders, Melissa, Nard, Judy, Ann, Carl, Norm, and the other kind fellow from the UK whose name now slips my mind! If you see these riders in Montana or Idaho, give them a wave, buy them a beer, and tell them I say hello!
Posted by Meghan at July 13, 2006 8:40 PM
Comments
Fun trip! And great pics!!! I can't believe the calf muscle!!!!
Posted by: Audrey at July 14, 2006 5:43 AM