Day 47 – Thursday 7/14/22

Lewiston, Montana to Great Falls, Montana – 108.4 Miles

Finishing yesterday in Lewiston gave me three choices for today. One possibility was riding to Fort Benton, 101 miles away. Upon reaching there I’d have to cover an additional 42 miles another day to get to Great Falls. The second choice was to ride directly to Great Falls, which was listed as 105 miles out. This would save 40 miles while going through much of the same scenery. A third option was to have an intermediate stop between Lewiston and Great Falls, breaking the ride into two 50-to-70-mile days. In the end the direct route to Great Falls was the one I chose. The road conditions were excellent, with a wide shoulder for cycling, there were several supply points along the way, and it saved some extra mileage. The campground was also at the west end of Lewiston, which was exactly where I needed to be to begin the day’s ride. Perfect.

Putting my things back in the bags after a night of camping is tedious but getting easier. The tent, air mattress and sleeping bag have their own, space-saving, containers, and getting it all back into them is the magic trick of each morning.

The ride out of town was a joy. The air was cool and the road was flat, things I hadn’t experienced much recently. Seventeen miles from Lewiston I reached “Eddies Corner”. It’s a gas station \ truck stop \ restaurant that’s been in business for 71 years. All the signs and references to it are spelled without an apostrophe. Eddie may only think he owns the corner.

The roads were flat because I was traveling in the Judith Basin, between the mountains. That was okay with me.

Twenty-eight miles in, I reached the town of Moccasin. It was a homestead site over 100 years ago but has faded away today. A modern grain elevator sits along the railroad tracks nearby, but there are no other signs of commercial activity.

The only sign of life in Moccasin were two cyclists approaching from the west, who turned out to be Walter and Lydia, a father\daughter duo from Philadelphia. Riding the Northern Tier route from Anacortes, Washington to Bar Harbor, Maine, Walter was taking some time off work and Lydia had just graduated from college. They were having a great time and shared some valuable tips for food possibilities on the way to Great Falls. Lydia also warned me about two major climbs ahead. She wasn’t joking.

It’s easy to see a long way down the road when there’s nothing in the way. By the time I reached the top of the hill in the distance, I’d traveled over 5 miles.

I made a supply stop 45 miles out at Stanford. A little further along Walter had recommended a restaurant in the town of Geyser. When I reached Geyser, I still had plenty of food and water left, so decided to keep going and restock at the town of Raynseford, another 12 miles ahead. Unfortunately, when I reached it the Cenex station listed on the map was closed. Water was holding up well, so I targeted the town of Belt for the next stop.

Cattle always come out to look at me as I pass by.

As I neared the town of Belt, there was a backup on the road due to major construction ahead. After stopping at the rest area there to refill my water bottles, I asked the man holding the Stop\Go sign if continuing down the road was a good option. He said it would be much easier to turn around and take the old route to Belt, which was just a quarter mile behind me. While all the westbound traffic waited for those coming from the other direction to go by, I was above it all and heading to Belt.

The back road to town was a big improvement in traffic density and scenery. Along the 5 miles I was on it were the towns of Armington and Belt, which were both on the main highway before highway 200/87 was built.

Belt, population 510 is considered close enough to Great Falls to be part of the metropolitan area. The grocery store was a welcome stop, and their downtown was doing well.

The only negative on the alternate route was the long climb back to the highway. I hadn’t ascended very far to get on the road to town but leaving there had me climbing and grunting in my lowest gear for about a mile. As I looked back, someone had spray painted the word “Descent” on the road. That wasn’t any help to me at the top.

There were 20 miles left to Great Falls, and the wind was fluky. I was on a highway with a wide shoulder, but speed varied with the wind and hills. With the mountains behind me, the plains returned.

I hit the city limits around 6:00 PM and was in the Midtown Motel a half hour later. It was adjacent to a Perkin’s restaurant, which I took immediate advantage of. A good way to end the day!

The goal is to get to Missoula in the next couple of days which is the gateway to Idaho and Oregon. Not sure of the route to Missoula yet, but the distance is between 170 and 220 miles.