"Entry for Sunday, 3 August 1997

"Welcome to Cutbank, MT. Coldest spot in the nation"

Last Modified on 9/23/97 at 17:24:52

Day's Narrative: We learned last night that there was 17 miles (27km) of highway construction on highway 2 just after leaving East Glacier and extending 3 miles (5km) beyond Browning. Connie gave me a ride through all this and I started today's ride about 10:00 am as soon as the pavement started again just after Browning.

There's actually a reasonable amount of traffic on highway 2 toward Shelby. It's enough that I can't comfortably ride out in the traffic lane. A lot of that traffic are RBs, probably going to Glacier National Park. Some of the road had been recently paved with "popcorn" gravel, which makes for a ride with a lot of vibration on the shoulder. The traffic lane has been beat down by traffic and is a lot smoother. Hopefully, after Shelby, and the intersection with Interstate 15, there will be less traffic.

Somewhere I read that when driving in Montana you should never, repeat, never pass a gas station with less than half at tank of gas. The same applies to bicycling. Don't ever pass a food place with less than half a stomach of food. You can never be sure when you will eat next.

A couple of hours out while riding through wheat country I got "crop dusted" by a by one of the low flying crop dusting airplanes. That's not much fun. I tried to keep my mouth shut, and the sunglasses kept the stuff out of my eyes. It's actually not dust. It's pesticide in an oil to make it sticky. It certainly makes a shower after the ride take on a whole new meaning.

I had lunch at a drive-in cafe in Cutbank, MT. Near the restaurant is this huge statue of a penguin with a sign on the bottom which says "Welcome to Cutbank, MT. Coldest spot in the nation." (see photo)

Well, today it wasn't so cold. The last hour or so after leaving Cutbank and coming into Shelby, the thermometer on my bike was at 100 deg. F (38 deg. C). Actually, in the shade it was probably more like 95 deg F (34 C). All those Sundays recently that I spent bicycling in the Espanola Valley in 90+ F temperatures really paid off. I drank a lot more water, but had no problem otherwise handling the heat. This is another good reason to get off early in the morning and finish up the day before the heat of the afternoon.

I got into Shelby about 2:00 pm where Connie already had a room at the Comfort Inn.

Tomorrow we may be staying in the small town of Chester. If so, I doubt if we will have a phone to update the log.

[Connie] Since we left early this morning by 8:30 -- a time when I am usually, finally, deep in my dream sleep for a night -- my body was still trying to have more dream sleep, which is difficult when one is driving.

Finally, I pulled over about 3 miles from Shelby and nodded off for a few minutes, enough to enable me to finish the trip to Shelby where I went to the agreed-on Comfort Inn and tried to get a room. Since it wasn't even 11:00, the lady at the desk said it would be closer to 2:00 before a room would be ready. I reserved a room and moved the truck into the shade on the back side of the building and proceeded to pass in and out of consciousness.

I was trying to read, but the brain was turning off and the eyes closing. I made it until 1:00 and went into see if the room was ready. It was. A lovely 2 bed room with a kitchenette, but definitely a smoking room. I couldn't handle the smell. The poor frustrated clerk very nicely found a one bed room for the disabled -- the only non-smoking rooms -- that was ready and I went in and tried to sleep.

It didn't work, I was awake now and Ray arrived very shortly afterwards and unloaded the truck with the nice wheeled, luggage rack they have here. The on-site laundromat allowed me to get all our dirty clothes clean. Then I had a real nap.

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© Ray & Connie Poore, 1997