Mother Nature smiled sunshine on us today and gifted us with a little tailwind.  We sailed on the flat, straight road east, paralleling the defunct Diamond R Freighting Company (railroad).  We would occasionally catch a glimpse of an old bridge, now grown over with grass and often used by the farmers that now reigned.  Trees were few and far between and you could see for miles.  We took an occasionally look back at the mountains becoming mere silhouettes on the western horizon.  By ten o’clock, we had already logged 30 miles, so stopped for a little break and cold water, but Not at this bar.After our short break the flat ride became mild rolling hills, some rolling longer than we would have liked.  But on several of the rises we would catch a glimpse of the Musselshell River weaving it’s way through the countryside.

Shortly before noon, we came to our last food outpost and the crossroads we would need to decide the direction on.  Heading south would take us to Billings (where we ultimately wanted to be), but it was another 45 miles.   Continuing east was only another 24 miles and a stop for the night.  Knowing we couldn’t make such a decision without food, we went in for a bite,after all, they said Bikers Welcome.  The gentlemen at the bar told us the south route from this point was much easier than the route from Roundup.  But we’d already clocked 50 miles and though the thought of not having a big climb to get to the city was appealing, we were a bit tired.  So after lunch, we continued our easterly trek; Billings would have to wait until tomorrow.  Though biking through these parts is gorgeous, the population is sparse and towns are really spread out, creating a challenge to our route each day; and as you may have noticed, we both prefer the comforts not afforded by a tent, even though we carry it with us, for emergencies.

 The road became a ribbon of continuous ups and downs, slowing us to half the pace we enjoyed earlier.  The breeze did nothing to cool us and in the full sun, our ODO’s were reading 104°; it was Hot (a far cry from our 59° start)!  An hour down the road of struggling to get up and over, only to climb again, the hills became a little more spaced and occasional clouds made the temperatures tolerable.  We finally came upon our cowboy town and a break from the heat of the sun.  For dinner we opted for the roasted chicken in the grocery store across the street, instead of biking back into town.  It had been a tough 70 miles and we were done for the day.

You were spared too many pictures today, as somewhere during the day, one of the camera’s decided it had had enough.  Unfortunately, many photos were lost, but our memories still remain.