Week 7: Big Sky Country

Week 7

Day 43

Broadus, MT-Lame Deer, MT

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

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.

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

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.