July 5th – Glasgow to Wolf Point, MT

July 5^th Statistics – Glasgow to Wolf Point, MT:

• Today’s Biking Distance – 53.5 miles
• Today’s Average Speed – 9.2 mph
• Today Ascent – 703 feet
• Today Descent – 846 feet
• Today’s Ending Elevation – 2,034 feet
• Total Trip Biking Days – 16
• Total Trip Biking Distance – 1,179.2 miles
• Total Trip Average Biking Distance/Day – 73.7 miles
• Total Trip Ascent – 44,566 feet

Every day presents a new experience.  Even though today’s distance (53.5 miles) was flat and the second shortest of the trip so far, in everyone’s opinion, it was the most difficult day of riding we have experienced.  The 15-20 mph headwinds started the moment we got on the bikes this morning and never relented. In fact, it increased by the end of the day.

My speed for today was a snail’s pace of 9.2 mph.  One rider calculated  that based upon his speed today, the ride was equivalent to a 10,000 feet climb.  One of our better riders stated he has never ridden so slow in his entire history.  The fortunate thing is that it was a relative short day – tomorrow’s ride is over 100 miles.

The forecast tomorrow is for headwinds, but much lower – 5 to 10 mph.  I am going to start my ride by 7 am to maximize my chance of riding the entire distance.  The ride from Wolf Point to Williston is also the beginning of traffic and truck proliferation due to the oil boom in Williston.  We are all going to be flexible regarding the ride tomorrow based upon winds, road conditions/shoulders (lost of construction we have been told), traffic, truck behavior, weather, etc..  We have identified four different points for pick up by the van should it become unsafe or impossible to reach our hotel in Williston by 6 pm (we also lose an hour tomorrow as we enter Central Time in North Dakota).

A note about scenery today – there were two major changes from the past week – 1) The parallel railroad tracks moved from the left side of the road to the right side of the road and 2) I can’t think of #2.

Mile 31: Looking behind me on Route 1 on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Route 1 was straight for 20 miles with only one intersection.

Mile 31: Looking ahead on Route 1 on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.

Mile 51: Roadside Memorial example – One of the saddest parts of transversing Montana was the proliferation of crosses to grieve the individuals who died in auto accidents at a location. I saw 3, 4, and 5 crosses together and at one site, 9 crosses.

Mile 53: Historical Marker – Wolf Point.