Bicycling the Lewis & Clark Trail
Circle to Wolf Point, MT

Thursday, August 05, 2004
Distance Cycled: 52 miles
Vertically Climbed: 1,790 feet
Average Speed: 14.9 mph

We awoke this morning to the dual sounds of rain on the roof and strong blowing winds. I felt like rolling over and going back to sleep but Mary Kay had other ideas and turned on the lights, so much for sleeping. We got out of bed, dressed, put on raincoats and headed for breakfast. The wind was still blowing but the rain had stopped. Ken and Jan woke up in the middle of the night when the wind blew open their motel room door. The good news was they were awake to watch the lightening display.

After breakfast Ken, Jan and us loaded our bicycles and headed north for Wolf Point. Our route started out by heading northeast and since the wind was from the south and a little east, Mary Kay had a hard time keeping the bicycle going in a straight line. We traveled at a speed in excess on 17 miles per hour with very little effort. The road then turned straight north and we flew across the flats and when up hills 2 to 4 miles faster than we went up similar hills the previous two days. After 30 miles we stopped to take a rest although we were not tired. With 12 miles to go the wind shifted and we were going into a slight head wind. Even so we continued to travel at over 15 miles per hour on the flats. We crossed the Missouri River, the first time we have seen the river since Fort Benton, MT.

We reached our destination by 11:30 AM. We checked into the motel, found that our rooms were not quite ready so we ate lunch in the restaurant, headed to our finished rooms, cleaned up and then some headed to do laundry while others headed to the library to get on the internet. Jane bought some special chocolate coffee ice-cream for us all to enjoy.