Gildford, MT

A wonderful continental breakfast awaited us in our motel in Cutbank, as well as a few more entertaining stories from Jim. Biddle left us today, but managed to make one last moment of epicness when he made a double pass over our pace line in his friends’ plane. Parker managed to capture a picture of it after throwing the entire contents of his saddle bag onto the side of Rt 2 in order to reach his camera.

At a gas station (stocking up on skittles and snickers) Gwen spotted a Vermont license plate, and, being curious folk, we made a beeline to the gas pumps where the car was parked. As we got closer to the car, we noticed a small St Pauls crest sticker on the back of the car. Ellie rolled up to the window and knocked on it, asking “Are you from Vermont?” The driver hopped out of the car and we got to talking. It turns out she was a teaching fellow at St. Pauls for 05-06 and was now dropping her parents off to begin their trek across the country. The Van Woert’s (her parents) biked with us a ways, but we lost them on a hill due to their added 40 lbs of panniers and gear.

At mile 30 we were met with a wonderful surprise of three packages of icecream bars (drumsticks, sandwiches, and crunch bars) and a box of donuts. We managed to make it through 2 and a half boxes (about 13 icecreams for 7 bikers…) Gwen took the cake by eating 3 icecreams, and a maple stick donut. The sugar rush helped her a bunch because she took the lead in the pace line and within another hour ½ we made it to lunch.

The sun came out behind the rain clouds (yes, another day of rain) just in time for us to enjoy our food, and a few minutes after sitting down to eat, the Van Woert’s caught up to us bearing a gift in the form of a recovered cell phone. Unfortunately, it didn’t belong to any of us, however Mr. Stoner called the contact labeled “dad” and found the owner, a chic-looking golf player who was very grateful to have it back (his eyebrows were waxed). So grateful, in fact, that he bought us 4 cups of coffee.

The last 30 miles were slow compared to the morning due to the headwind/sidewind that we battled against. Every once in a while, there would be a really big sideways gust; our tires felt as if they would be swept out from under us. Parker lost two races…one against a train, and the other against me (although he claims that he was taking the brunt of most of the wind, he just doesn’t want to admit that he was girled.) And we made it through the last few miles of rolling flat by playing 20 questions. The environment out here is so completely different than anything we’re used to. At one point we could see a cluster of machines and buildings that were 20 miles off in the distance. It was very cool to be able to just look and look, but also a bit frustrating because it didn’t feel like we were making much progress. I’ve seen more road kill in the past day in the form of gophers than I have my entire life. Icky. It’s bad when you’re in a paceline, and the first person fails to tell you that there is a previously petrified gopher to your left… and BUMP… awwwww…

We reached our destination and were immediately greeted by a cute 2 year old showing off his bike. Our stay here has been so amazing, the Miller’s are so kind and welcoming, and it’s really nice to be in a home again. They let us smelly bikers right into their house and fed us and put us up in beds. Their generosity, and their good food, is so appreciated—thank you!!! Ellie, Gwen, Ellen and I are staying in THE coolest house that the Millers designed and built themselves. If you want an amazing architect, you should get in touch with Mrs. Miller because seriously… this place is amazing. As Ellie said, it’s the perfect mix between homey, rustic, and artsy (they have a garage door with windows as their patio door. Yeah) and I just watched the sunset from the second story windows.

We’ve pushed through another day, and there’s another one tomorrow (119 miles! Ahh!) Wish us luck!

Oh! And Happy Fathers Day, Dad! (PB)

—Sarah