It's been six days since my last post and we've made it into the USA! We've been riding in Montana for the past several days after crossing the border north of Eureka. Canada was great but I felt a great wave of excitement and happiness crossing into the US.

 

In Montana we quickly noticed more advertising and different stores and restaurants. In some ways Canada feels more civilized than the US.

 

On our last day in Canada we rode some fun singletrack through the hills above Fernie. The town seems like a great place to ski and mountain bike.

Winding our way through the hills, we eventually reached a trail that has a sign warning of a bridge out ahead. When I saw the sign, I knew there were several riders in front of me so I carried on along the closed trail. Eventually I rode up to a massive washout from what looked like a flash flood. The entire tour group was organized in getting everyone's bikes across the steep and deep gully.

After every bike and rider was across the gorge, we rode out as a big group. The trail continued down and eventually I found myself behind someone on some singletrack where I wanted to ride fast, but I couldn't find a way around them. After the trail widened back to doubletrack, I made the pass. Freedom! I accelerated down the next hill, dodging rocks left and right. As I reached the bottom the trail betrayed me - there was a small dip with a sharp rock waiting for me. I slammed into the rock at high speed and heard a noise that no bike should make. I slowed to a stop. I had blown out both tires on my bike and dented the wheels!

A few friends caught up to me and after hearing my story, they donated their help to repair my bike. Fresh tubes installed, we continued on. I had been humbled and rode more slowly and cautiously.

 

The next days were in Montana. Our second night in the US was in Polebridge - a tiny town that's completely off the grid and has only two structures in the town center. I had an amazing huckleberry pie bar at the Polebridge Mercantile store.

The town has a sign reading "Dust! Is a four letter word" on the road coming into town. It feels like a relic of the past, and the cars and tourists felt anachronistic.

I did see a great sticker in town:

Apparently the residents prefer to keep the route to the town unpaved as a rite of passage. I will say the road was very rough even on a bike.

After Polebridge we spent a rest day in Whitefish, a lovely lake town with a ski area. It teemed with activity compared to the last places we stayed, and we relished the variety of food, coffee, and beer. The folks at Glacier Cyclery fixed my bike up with some new tires as well.

After seven straight days of riding the rest day felt great, but soon enough we had to get back in the saddle. A few folks joined the tour the next day and we had some introductions at breakfast.

We started on the road to Swan Lake. After just seven miles one of the new riders crashed and injured himself badly enough that he had to go to the hospital. Word quickly spread around the group and we all felt terrible that his trip had ended so quickly.

With the tour crew helping him out, we had to find our own lunch. We stopped at a gas station and convenience store where I had a burrito. A few minutes into lunch we realized it was raining outside - a small disaster as few of us had packed rain gear that morning. We decided to sit in the store until the rain passed, which took several hours.

Finally we decided to depart, after some more food and coffee. We rode in a drizzle for a while but soon the rain cleared and we flew down the rest of the route for the day.

With the rain keeping the trail damp and tacky, we had another great day today heading to Condon. I had two cups of coffee in the morning and felt great - I caught the fast Dutch guys and rode in front of them for a while. As one of the first to lunch, I sat for quite a while and rode off with my normal crew afterwards. The long break sapped my energy and I felt terrible - it was good to have some friendly company to boost my morale.

The road continued to be beautiful and smooth.

I started to recover slowly as the ride came to an end. Back at camp a new rider showed up with a massive brownie - after some intense interrogation he revealed his supplier and I refueled with my own.

Bike touring is great for a highly food-motivated person like myself - you can eat as much as you want of whatever you want!

We went for a dip in the river after setting up camp. I'm writing from my tent now - it's good to have a quiet moment today as we all wait for dinner.

Montana is an amazing state so far - Big Sky Country lives up to its name, and the Great Divide route has traveled through some great back roads. I'm excited for another week in the state!