Plain Plain (June 30, 2010)

Not a lot to say about the past two days of riding. Other than lots of green and brown rolling hills, trains (115 cars is my record count to-date), grain towers and small towns, there just isn't much to observe.

There are a number of dinosaur-related archeological sites scattered throughout the area, but I have chosen to not take the side roads to the sites. The metal artwork is outside of the town of Raymond, MT ... definitely a point of interest on today's ride.

Yesterday's ride, a 70 miler from Shelby to Hingham, was longer than I had planned. Originally I had planned to stop in Joplin, which would have resulted in a 54 mile ride. However, I met three touring cyclist in Chester, and they intended to camp in Hingham. I arrived in Joplin early afternoon, and still felt good, so I opted to travel on to Hingham and join the three in the City Park. Was a fun evening accentuated by a massive wind/rain storm in the early evening.

Today's ride into Havre was an easy 36 miler. Havre is a town of approximately 10,000 people, which makes it the largest town I have seen since Sandpoint, ID. I opted to hotel-it and take the afternoon to do some much needed shopping. It was quite enjoyable riding my bike around town without all of the panniers/weight. Found a very nice used book store, which was like an oasis of culture in this windblown lightly populated area of Montana.

Just a few more days until I meet-up with Rich in Williston. I am looking forward to riding with him along the Missouri River.

Hope the wind is with me.