Week 7
Day 43
Broadus, MT-Lame
Deer, MT
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While the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful, the roads
were breathtakingly scary. We had very little shoulder to ride on, and it was a
main route for semi-trucks. Luckily, I finally bought a helmet mirror the day
before, and was able to keep a close eye in the trucks as they passed us, and
on the rest of my group.
Despite the roads, it was a fantastic day from the
beginning. Julie and a few member of the Savior’s Lutheran Church woke up early
to make us hot breakfast, complete with farm fresh eggs. We then broke up into
riding groups and happened to have an all-women’s riding group. We would have
talked more if they roads allowed, but we enjoyed each other’s moral support.
Our team name for the day was (CAUTION:SWEAR WORD) the Hard-ass Mutherfucking Amazonia Queens.
This is how Cheryl Strayed described herself once during her hike of the PCT in
her book Wild. We thought it was an
appropriate name for a group of ladies powering over mountains in Montana in
the boiling heat.
That night we stayed at the Chief Dull Knife College on the
Northern Cherokee Reservation. Richard Littlebear was our host, and was also
the president of the school. He did a questions and answer session for us as he
explained the origins of the school and the history of the Cherokee.
Afterwards, we hiked up a hill behind the school that had a legend about it,
and then took naps on the lawn.
Day 44
Lame Deer, MT-Hardin,
MT
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| Riding for Cheryl |
Today my wonderful friend Josie asked me to ride for a
family friend in Spokane, WA, Cheryl Gotzian. What is crazy, is that Cheryl was
the patient of Allison Perrine who is doing the 4K for Cancer Run this year.
She also did the 4K for Cancer Bike last year with two of my teammates, Gino
and Josh. I was able to meet Allison at the director’s training in February,
and drove to Spokane to fundraise with her in May. It is hard to comprehend how
small the world is at times, but I am so happy to be a part of Cheryl’s support
system.
Jessica Mussetter reached out to me a couple of months ago when
she heard through the chamber of commerce that a team, biking for cancer, was looking
for a place to stay in Hardin. Jessica is a successful 22 year-old who fought
and beat Leukemia when she was 11. She offered up her
dad’s lawn for us to
campout on, and a home-cooked
dinner and breakfast.
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| Riding through Crow Nation |
Highlight: Halle started off the day brilliantly by creating
two separate recycle and trash bags, and lecturing everyone she could about
which goes where. One was yellow and one was red, so we spent the day chanting “red
for recycle, yellow for yuck!” So proud of Team Seattle Recycles.
Most of the day we rode though both the Northern Cherokee
Reservation and the Crow Nation. A great part of the day was that most people
who drove past us waved enthusiastically or gave us a big thumbs up. When we
arrived in Hardin, we were treated to a lunch at the Ranch House Grill by Mia’s
father’s company. We indulged
in milkshakes, burgers, and vegetarian grilled
sandwiches, and then rode our bikes to the host
in a food comas.Shane, Jessica, and the rest of their family welcomed us to
their house by setting up a huge wall tent on their lawn. We set up some of the
tents we brought with us, and had a dinner of stew and rice and beans at Shane’s
house.
That night we sat next to the tents and shared our highs,
lows, and kudos for the day while being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Shane joined
our circle and shared how much it meant to him and his family that a bunch of
kids dedicated their summers to raising money and awareness for young adults
affected by cancer like his daughter. There is a rumor that Jessica and her
brother are both considering doing 4K for Cancer next year! Also, got my first flat tire!!!!
Day 45
Hardin, MT-Billings,
MT
A really hot, but short day, we got into Billings at about
1:30 pm and most people immediately fell asleep on the gym floor. The days have
been getting hotter, and the heat quickly sucks our energy. Montana has been
becoming more hilly, and climbing in the heat is killer, but being able to race
down the other side and see more than flat corn fields is worth the effort. Dinner
was graciously donated by our hosts, the Billings Central Catholic High School.
Day 46
Billings, MT: Rest
day
After a morning of casually biking around town, visiting
coffee shops, and buying spare bike parts, we headed to the Cancer Center of
the Billings Hospital. Bearing Chemo Care Bags, we walked into the room with
patients being administered chemo. We first visited with Colleen, a spunky lady
from Wyoming who was cracking jokes and laughing with us while hooked up to an
IV. We also met with Judy, another lovely woman who laughed with us and gave us
a little insight into her life. We were so touched by the chance to interact
with cancer patients, and we only hope the care packages and smiles we brought
touched them as well.
Dinner was again donated by the Billings Central Catholic
High School, and a vegetarian option by
Jared of the Knights of Columbus. Thank
you very much :)
Day 47
Billings, MT-Roundup,
MT
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| What we do with extra pancakes |
Pat Perrella is a Knight of Columbus who extensively helped
the 4K Team Seattle last year with food donations, and evacuating the team from
Glacier National Park when there was a wild fire. This year he has helped us
get food donations across MT, and served us a feast when we staying in Roundup.
We are extremely grateful for how much support (and pancakes!) we received from
the Knights of Columbus. I dedicated my ride to Colleen and Judy, who we met at
the Cancer Center the day before.
Rachel and I also made a visit to the Roundup museum and
were most entertained by looking through the Roundup High School graduating
class photos and comparing hairdos throughout the years.
Day 48
Roundup,
MT-Lewistown, MT
We had a very heartwarming dedication circle because Rachel,
the owner of a local restaurant, attended, and Pat as well. We dedicated our
day to Rachel’s father, Johnnie, who was just diagnosed with cancer. We also
dedicated our ride to Katie, Pat’s mother who passed away 29 years ago, today.
It was a perfect day to ride for them because the flat sage brush plains slowly
turned into big rolling hills covered in pine trees and it was just plain gorgeous.
We also saw our first mountain range
since the Appalachians today: The Little Snowies and the Judith Range. We had
just crested an especially large hill when Jess, who lives in Colorado and is
also mountain crazy, looks back at me and yells with happiness at the sight of
peaks. Our decent in Lewiston was a few miles of perfect downhill overlooking
hills and sparse forests that reminds me of northern Idaho. It feels like I am coming home.
Day 49
Lewistown, MT-Great Falls,
MT
It is 108 miles from Lewistown to Great Falls and we had a
6:30 pm deadline if we wanted showers. We have gone 100 miles that fast before,
and were confident we could make it in time. Wake up was at 4:45am, we out for
dedication early, and everyone was excited for a long, hard day. The night
before, we wrote down three names of people on the team who we wanted to get to
know better. That morning, Halle broke us up into groups with people who wanted
to get to know us better, and told us there would be a quiz at the next water
stop on the information we learned.
Right off the bat we
got off schedule by finding an early morning yard sale, and spend 20 minutes
playing with skateboards, buying shampoo, and wearing iron man masks. It was a
superb way to start the morning, and Josh managed to wear the Iron Man mask
while riding for about one mile before throwing it into Gino’s bike basket.
After the hilarity of the yard sale wore off, we realized
that it was REALLY windy, and blowing straight into our faces. That would set
the tone for the rest of the day as we ground out mile after mile, up and
down hills, in 30 mph wind. My saddle had been giving me issues and my butt
hurt, my wrists ached from 49 days of supporting my upper body in my handle
bars, and my knees were starting to bug me, however, I couldn’t help but beam
as rode through mountain country and think “I am so freaking lucky to be doing
this right now. I don’t want to be anywhere else.” By 2:30 pm, we had only gone
44 miles, and were obviously not going to make it for showers.
The scenery just got better as we climbed a plateau, and
dropped down into long valleys, and passed by a mountain range. My group that
day was Sherwin, Josh, Rachel, and Gino. We actually got to know each other
really well by asking questions such as “what is your favorite inspirational
movie (Avatar), what was your favorite Halloween costume ever (being a
butterfly and Forrest was the caterpillar), what was your favorite pair of
shoes (my duck boots), what is your favorite water stop snack (bagel with
peanut butter and cream cheese), what is your favorite Denzel Washington movie
(Remember the Titans)?”
By mile 94, I was a mess and only got through the rest by
Gino asking me a million questions about the Kinetic Sculpture Race I was part
of in High School. It was ridiculous trying to climb hills, avoid glass, and
explain the Rutabaga Queen, bribes, and Deadman’s drop. At 7:30 pm, we finally
rolled in after being on the road for 12.5 hours.
I rode that day for Susie, the aunt of my teammate Chris who
passed away from cancer, and Gladys, a coworker of Kelly’s who passed away from
cancer the day before. It was saddening to me to be riding for two people who are
gone now, but thinking of them helped me persevere throughout a mentally and
physically challenging day.
