June 7, 2018 – From Fort Benton to Lewistown, MT.
I gave myself permission to ride only 65 miles today since the day’s allotment of 100 miles seemed a stretch for someone who has to admit that maybe they are slower than the Principal Rider because they are always behind her. The picture above was one I shot at the beginning of the ride coming up out of Fort Benton – one of the few times I was ahead of Mary Jo.
I did 61.6 miles to Denton, MT, home of the dire wolf. That was the strange animal shot on May 16, 2018, by a family who thought something was stalking their livestock. When we were there, it was pretty much up in the air about what this strange creature was. I was betting on the dire wolf, but the DNA says it was just a plain wolf. I was in it for the International Cryptozoology Society, since they have not had much since the coelacanth showed up for them back in 1938 after being extinct for 65 million years. Fake news, they all cried in their fishy voices.
We did have another nice lunch in Denton, siting at the park table out of the sun and away from any wolf dangers, dire or not.
The Principal Rider went on another 85 miles before we picked her up in the truck. Hills, wind and chip seal roads slowed us down considerably. We were riding 100 miles because there is nowhere to stay on in that part of Montana.
I did pick up this bit of humor from someone in Geraldine, MT:
We were talking to an older gent about biking and floating the Missouri River when another local fellow came up to him and opened a wadded up tissue for him to see something therein.
“Is that a tick?” he asked.
“Yes,” the older gent replied. “Where did you get that?”
“Out of my neck.”
“I bet he’s glad to get out of there.”
It was a beautiful day of riding. I could see the old grain silo way off in the distance and at first could not tell what it was. Thank-you John for sharing our ride. Love, Mary Jo