{"id":9452,"date":"2013-07-15T19:10:27","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T23:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=9452"},"modified":"2013-07-15T19:15:32","modified_gmt":"2013-07-15T23:15:32","slug":"day-24-sunday-july-14-malta-to-glasgow-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=9452","title":{"rendered":"Day 24. Sunday, July 14 – Malta to Glasgow, Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overcast\"\"<\/a> and a brisk 53\u00b0 at 7:00 this morning, felt more like freezing with the wind chill. \u00a0Though the wind was only 10 mph, progress was slow, at best, with the wind in our face; it was going to be a long day.<\/p>\n

So let’s have a story.<\/p>\n

These here parts is antelope country, you know?! <\/em>If that’s the case, why have we not seen any? \u00a0Well<\/em> (a two-syllable word), we had a tough winter some time back and it killed most of ’em.<\/em> Surprising, are they not native to this land (climate)? \u00a0Long<\/strong><\/em> story short, the snow was so bad (over 4 feet high) and the only clear spot was the railroad tracks, so the antelope gravitated there in search for food. \u00a0Not a pretty picture!<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the sun was painting the clouds\"\"<\/a> and fields\"\"<\/a> with beautiful colors. \u00a0The forecast predicted the wind to pick up at ten, it did with a serious punch to the face…..the day was getting brutal.<\/p>\n

We biked through beautiful countryside,\"\"<\/a> but with heads down and doing our best to progress in the whipping wind, it was difficult to look around.\"\"<\/a>The long straight rolling hill road\"\"<\/a> offered little respite from the wind, but the overcast skies \"\"<\/a>kept the temperatures at bay. \u00a0It sprinkled on us twice, the third time giving way to rain, \"\"<\/a>but the wind was so strong it dried our shirts before the dampness set in. \u00a0We stopped at noon (at the only place to stop) for a reload….\"\"<\/a>only 42 miles down and we were beat, but there was no place to stay here <\/em>OR for the next 30 miles. \u00a0After our noon break and reload with sugar and caffeine we encountered trees for the first time all day. \"\"<\/a> We hoped they would protect us from the constant onslaught of wind, but they did not last. \u00a0An hour later, we took a break from the wind and to try to encourage our bodies to continue.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Had it not been for the wind, we would have thoroughly enjoyed the scenery.\"\"<\/a>We did our best to try to look at the silver lining of horses\"\"<\/a>and colorful vistas, \"\"<\/a>kept green \"\"<\/a>from the unusually wet spring they were having.<\/p>\n

It was a beautiful day, but we were just struggling to move forward,\"\"<\/a> so we didn’t have the energy to fully appreciate it. \u00a0We did manage a few more pictures we’ve posted below. \u00a0Made it into town about 4:30, but stopped at MacDonalds for a milkshake before dragging ourselves to the hotel, two miles Up the road. \u00a0Luckily, our hotel had a restaurant attached; 72 miles and over eight hours in the saddle, we didn’t even want to walk any more steps than necessary.\n\t\t