Day 15: Hardin, MT to Sheridan, WY

After a great night's sleep in our soundproof bomb shelter of a motel room, we were up early and eating breakfast by 6:30 AM. (Our motel was made of cinder blocks and the rooms were remarkably similar to my elementary school's classrooms with a bit more western flare.)

I lucked out at breakfast and had a choice of 5 different pies. I chose the Oatmeal Walnut Pie as it sounded interesting. And I thought that's one I'll never see again. It was similar to a pecan pie but with a walnut and oatmeal top and caramel-like gel center. It was okay, but not good enough to say I'd ever order it again.

We were on the road early today as we had a long 85 mile ride and an afternoon threat of severe thunderstorms. We followed the I90 corridor on frontage roads all the way to Wyoming. It was a gorgeous sunny morning and we practically had the road all to ourselves. Marc had the trailer loaded with extra water, Gatorade, food, etc. We anticipated no services (gas stations or restaurants) all the way to Sheridan. We rode on a virtually empty two lane highway, mainly through the Crow Indian Reservation.

The houses on the reservation were very depressing. They were dilapidated and each one had at least 5-6 junked cars in the yard. It was a bit reminiscent of the movie, "The Hills Have Eyes". If you haven't seen that one, its a horror film that takes place out in the middle of nowhere. I was a bit creeped out, glad to see all the guys out working along the railroad and the few random cars that passed us.

We were also greeted by barking dogs at the end of almost every driveway we passed. I had my pepper spray at hand and hoped that I would not need to use it to scare off any attacking dogs. Luckily most of the dogs stopped at the end of their property and just watched us roll by.

As we approached the town of Sheridan, we joined back up with the Interstate for the last 10 miles or so. As we crested a hill close to town, we saw the sky scattered with lightening bolts. We stopped under an overpass and watched the storm from a distance. We weren't sure how far we were from town and the lightening bolts were getting awfully close. So we took a seat on the cement wall and waited out the storm. I'm so glad we did!

After about 15 minutes or so, the dark clouds drifted right toward us and unleashed a tremendous down pouring rain. It was raining so hard that many of the cars were pulling off on the shoulder. In fact, our overpass quickly turned into a party with a motorcycle couple and van that pulled up aside us. Fortunately the storm was over as quickly as it started. Within 45 minutes we were back on our way with the added bonus of changing winds and a super tailwind that followed us into town.

As we exited the wet highway, I had my first accident of our trip. The road had been scraped for repaving and the cement was grooved with ruts. I was paying more attention to the traffic and the stoplight and not to the road surface. All of a sudden, I found myself with the bike tires stuck in one of the ruts. I had mere seconds before I felt myself loosing my balance. Once you get in one of those ruts, there is no way out. Luckily I have lots of experience with falling (on my mountain bike its a daily occurance). Instincts took over and I dove for the grassy shoulder The bike crashed onto the pavement and I skipped the roadrash by diving onto the grassy shoulder.

Marc heard my scream as I fell and he quickly stopped and turned around. "Wow, that was some dive!" he exclaimed.

My bike was still in the road and I was several feet away on the grass. I was fine, but I still fought off the tears that always tend to well up in my eyes when I take a tumble off my bike. I picked myself up off the side of the road and assessed the damage. It wasn't too bad. I had a couple lightly skinned knees and that was it. My bike was fine too, aside from a messed up front brake.

Tomorrow we have the longest ride of our trip - 110 miles to Gillette. Gillette is the closest town east of here. We are staying with my friend Kate's aunt and uncle and are extremely grateful given the long ride. The weather promises tailwinds, but rain and hopefully that should increase our rolling speed by 3-5 mph.

Off to enjoy some delicious Wyoming Beef. Thanks Kate for the restaurant suggestions and contacts! (Kate is my friend in Boulder that used to live in Sheridan for a few years.)