"Entry for Wednesday, 6 August 1997

Cross country bicycler Neville Richter. Seattle to Boston in 35 days.

Last Modified on 9/3/97 at 4:08:28

Day's Narrative: The 4Bs restaurant across from the motel was open 24 hours a day so I was able to eat there at 5 am. I saw a paper bag behind the counter which said, "Save all Tabasco bottles". As I left I asked the waitress why they were saving Tabasco bottles. She said her mother crochets small, seated Mexican men with wide brimmed hats around the bottles. They had some there on display.

I was on the road before 6 am. The predicted temperature for today was 95F (35C). I hoped to be in Malta, 90 miles (147km) away, before it was brutally hot. There was absolutely no wind for several hours, which is very unusual for the plains.

The last town before a long empty stretch (at least on the map) into Malta is Harlem. I stopped at a convenience store about 9:30 and bought a submarine sandwich. This was to be lunch. As I was finishing the sandwich a fellow bicycler Neville Richter (47) rode up. Neville had also stayed in Havre last night and had just caught up with me. He lives in Seattle where he is a dentist, and he has given himself until Labor day to get to Boston. That works out to be about 35 days. This is clearly out of my league.

We agreed to ride together to Malta, and then chatted awhile longer as we rested before the next empty stretch through the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. The next store of any kind would be at Dodson, 17 miles (27km) before Malta.

The wind started as we left Harlem, and, thank God, for the first time in many days it was partly a tailwind. We made good time. The shoulder was wide so we could ride side by side and talk.

Connie caught up with us at Dodson. We stopped at the store for food and drink, and then Connie drove on ahead to get rooms in Malta.

We arrived in Malta about 2:15 pm. That's really good time for the heat and the distance.

[Connie] From the phone book, which covers most of north central Montana, I thought there were only 2 motels in Malta. As I drove in, I discovered there were a half-dozen or so, all Mom and Pop, but OK. I chose the Sportsmen Motel because their sign said they had DD (direct dial) phones. Our order of need in a motel room is ground-floor -- not a problem in one-floor motels like this -- non-smoking room, air conditioner -- this one doesn't seem to work too well -- and for Ray TELEPHONE for this web page. We had anticipated that there would be no phones in this area, so it was a bonus.

Return

© Ray & Connie Poore, 1997