Day 3. Monday, July 13 – Helena to Townsend, Montana
Monday 13 July 2015
A good night’s rest and later start did wonders for the soul and hopefully the legs. The cool night air still lingered, though the sun was bright and warm. Rain clouds gathered in the western hills behind us, 
as we headed out of town on a busy road.
An occasional breeze blew through as the energy of the clouds behind us struggled to build.
We were enjoying our relatively flat and occasionally downhill road through the Helena Valley.
Fifteen miles into our ride, the rainclouds caught up to us.
We had a few miles of very scattered sprinkles and overcast skies, dropping the temperature down to 73°, cooler than our morning start.
The play of sun, clouds and hills made for beautiful scenery. 
With a short ride today, we enjoyed the luxury of relaxing lunch and a beer, 
while the Duckies relaxed in the shade. 
Like an oasis, a huge lake appeared to our left. 
As we shortly realized, this had just been a very wide portion of the Missouri River. 
At the edge of town on the side of the road, we stopped for fresh cherries; grown in the micro-climate of Flathead Lake (largest natural fresh water lake west of the Mississippi) just outside of Missoula.
Not sure why we had to pedal close to 200 miles to taste them, but it was worth it. One might think we are getting soft in our old age, biking only 33 miles, but we like to think of it as just getting wiser.
Once again, dinner was not spectacular and we felt a bit guilty for the pasta after such a short ride,
but in a town of 1900 people, we were happy the restaurant was within walking distance. We will need the extra carbs for tomorrow when we cross the mountains we admired from afar, today!
Don Says:
You felt guilty for pasta? You should’ve felt guilty for all those FRIES!!! You deserve a shorter ride today.
Courtney Says:
Ditto what Don said :)…… almost looked like a Fry Salad…lol…. that’s it…. that will get rid of the guilt.
MaryEllen Says:
What was under the fries? It looked delicious! Beautiful pics!
Bill Says:
Nice pics as always….wine is looking good. Flat Flat Flat…enjoy it!!!!!
Dianne carter Says:
Beautiful scenery. Don’t let anyone tell you that you did not deserve the lunch and dinner carbs…..Montana is not a flat place!
Travis Says:
Sounds like really great riding weather. Enjoy. Really like the pic of the curving road with the mountains in the background and the power poles in the foreground (colors are great too). That lunch was “Supersized” right?
Joann Says:
WELL, the topic of the day seems to be the fries- not the
Biking! LoL Keep having fun????
Robyn Says:
Beautiful scenery…..oh to be retired! Enjoy!
Randy, Laci, and Jenna Hoobler Says:
Hey guys! We heard about your trip and knew we would be close. We have been hiking Glacier and up into some of the national parks of Alberta and British Columbia. We checked the blog and found you had started before we were back in the U.S. We thought we could detour and catch you on the road as we drove back to western Colorado, but you are a few too many hours east of us. Best of luck! Have a great trip 🙂
Jerry & Lori Says:
To ME, fries, fries and fried pork chop sandwich! Courtney, not sure it qualified as a sandwich, but the fries were mighty tasty!
MaryEllen Says:
Fried pork chop sandwich – new idea for Happy Hour! 🙂