Day 14: Cardston, Alta. to Shelby, Mont.

Today we returned to America, and have definitely entered the Prairie section of our trip. We started early in Cardston, expecting temps to rise through the afternoon, and knowing we had a long day. We quickly headed out of Cardston and continued on about 70 miles of rural farming roads through Alberta and Montana. Traffic was practically non-existent, and we slowly watched the Rockies disappear to our left. Around mile 30, we stopped for our first and only services of the morning in Del Bonita. The town appears to be essentially a ghost town, but there is one general store. Unsurprisingly, they see a lot of cyclists. We refilled our water and headed south to cross the border. The Border Agent was surprisingly friendly and curious as he joked about our relative strength and told us that the road ahead was "beautiful." After crossing back into Montana, we trampled a photo of the queen without fear of felony conviction, and settled in for some long, flat miles. (I'm joking about the queen). 

The road was certainly quiet and empty. Looking for a place to eat our lunch that was in the shade, we finally settled for the only thing we could find: a tiny sliver of shade adjacent a grain silo in someone's field. 

Probably our most substantial learning for the day was something we'd expected to encounter starting this segment of the trip: the wind will define our progress across the flatlands. Wind was definitely out of the west this morning, which was great for nearly all of our trip. The last 7 miles into Cut Bank, we turned south, then a little bit west. By the time we arrived for our second lunch, we were both completely exhausted, even though the previous 65 miles had been easy gliding. 

After lunch, we were glad to turn east again and we flew through our last 24 miles into Shelby with ease, despite rejoining busy highway 2. Even though this was one of our longer days, it ended up being one of our fastest as well, and we were here before 3pm. 

You may notice fewer pictures on the blog as we continue east in Montana and onto North Dakota. Be sure that we are not neglecting our documentation, just that there are only so many interesting shots of empty fields and grain silos. 

Mileage for the next few days will depend on weather, but we're hoping to continue with some longer days as long as the wind is in our direction.

A note from Ed:

You may find yourself on a fantastic bicycle journey
You may find yourself in north central Montana

You may ask yourself...how did I get here?  Well my son invited me to tag along and my beautiful wife encouraged me to go for it and my friends piled on support.

You may ask yourself....how steep are those hills?  Well they are 5 to 7% grade and 1,000s of feet tall.
You may ask yourself.... how hard are they to climb?  Well my heart jumps to 120 to 130 beats per minute and my bike slows to 5 to 6 miles per hour
And you may tell yourself....This is not a beautiful hill..... but when you summit  
This is a beautiful hill
This is an awesome journey

You may ask yourself,,,,, how do you keep your behind from going raw?  Well there are some fantastic padded bike shorts and a great invention called Butt Butter
You may ask yourself.... How many calories do you consume?  Well first off there are 4 meals in a day...breakfast 1&2, lunch, and dinner. Dinner is followed by beer and chocolate.  Certain days require ice cream as well.

Letting the days go by
Once in a lifetime

This is an awesome journey

Name the band

By the numbers:
Miles for the day: 96
Total elapsed since leaving Seattle two weeks ago: 1009
Total climbing: 2326 ft.
Average moving speed: 14.6mph 
Number of cars seen during the first 70 miles: about 2 dozen
During the last 24: near 2000
Number of halves in my "half sandwich:" 2
CBD trucks parked in empty farms: 3

 Expect to see more photos like this.

 Last glimpses of the Rockies.

 This is a field.

 Our lunch shade.

General Store in Del Bonita, Alberta. Our only resupply of the first 72 miles.

Our lunch grain silo to the left.