Choteau, MT to Great Falls, MT 56 miles-Total for the Tour :908.2

Today was the last ride of the tour. The route from Choteau to Great Falls is generally downhill and not too far so this would be a nice final day to end the tour.

Sean and I left the nice hotel in Choteau about 7:30 am and went due south on Hwy 89. As we left town we could see buttes in the distance off to the right. The weather today was perfect to view the scenery.

Leaving Chouteau at around 7:30

As we passed some large buttes we could see three cross on the top of one of them. Traffic was fairly light early in the morning on 89. Sean and I didn't ride too fast as we planned to meet some other riders at the snack stop so that we could follow them into Great Falls.

Three crosses on a butte south of Chouteau on Hwy 89

About 20 miles into the ride we came to the Freezout Wildlife Management area. There were a lot of birds flying around but I did notice the water level was low compared to 2 years ago.

Freezeout Wildlife Area

Farther down the road we passed through Fairfield, the barley capital of the world. There were large silos for the barley right in town. In this area we saw Nancy, Chris and Vicki who caught up to us.
Silos in Fairfield

Continuing south we came upon Hwy 200. In this area the traffic picked up. Sean saw a sign going north that said Missoula was about 150 miles away. As we were riding on the shoulder we saw a green Excursion just like our support vehicle. At first I thought it was Blaine and Thea. It was pulled over with a flat tire. Then I saw that it had Montana plates and an unfamiliar woman behind the wheel.

In Vaughn near Interstate 15 we had our snack stopped. Sean and I decided to follow Recumbent Ken and Railroad John as Ken had a GPS with the route on it into GF. From here it was about 15 miles to the Ursuline Center, our final home.

Snack stop in Vaughn

We got to the center about 1 and waited to check in. Each rider was able to have his or her own room. Once showered, Sean, Tom and I walked to a store to get a
cold drink and a newspaper.

A chicken dinner was provided in the evening. I tried to blog but the only wi-fi available was in one lounge of the center. There was no A/C so we got pretty hot in this room.


The next morning, I called Avis and was told that a car was ready for us. Sean and I went to the airport and picked it up. We then drove about 1800 miles back to Norther Calif.

Both of us enjoyed the tour and will check other member blogs for progress to Minneapolis.


Riding the final miles with John and Ken

Railroad John

Recumbent Ken entering Great Falls

Sean crossing the Missouri River in Great Falls

Valier, MT to Choteau, MT, 58 miles

I was one of the lucky 7 guys who had to sleep in the downstairs large room of the B/B. Last night however, when I arrived at the B and B Blaine showed me a small room connected to the large room. I grabbed it so it was relatively quiet sleeping for me. Plus I had a bed in the room.

Stone School Inn, Valier

In the morning we all gathered in the downstairs dining room and had eggs and bacon with a few pastries. While we were eating, I asked Tom if he would like to ride with us today to Choteau. I enjoyed riding with Tom and he was nice to Sean too so he was a great person to share the day with.

Tom and Sean talking early in the ride

We rolled out about 8 am and went due east for about 15 miles until we hit a frontage road paralleling I 15. We took this frontage road south until we got to the town of Conrad. On this road Ken raced by us heading toward downtown Conrad.

Ken passing us

Our lunch stop was in a supermarket parking lot. Blaine and Thea said they would make each of us sandwiches to order. I have to admit the sandwich they made for me was better than any I made on the trip. I didn't eat it in the parking lot but saved it to eat later at a nicer location.

When we got to Conrad Thea and Blaine took orders for sandwiches and made each us a sandwich of our choosing.

Blaine and Thea inside the trailer making sandwiches for the riders

Tom, Sean and I then headed out west on Hwy 219/the Conrad/Pederoy Rd. Last time I was on this road we had strong headwinds, but not today. It was cool with not much wind. While on this road we saw a few oil pumps working and hay rolled into large bails.

When we came to the intersection of Hwy 220 we turned south. We saw Recumbent Ken in this area and he suggested we go a little farther to find a nice place to sit and eat our sandwiches.

There were several ups and downs with some good long downhills. About 10 miles down this road Ken saw some hay bails and called us to stop so we could have lunch. We hung out here about 1/2 and hour.

Sean trying to push a Montana hay bale

Tom, Sean and I then headed south and reached Conrad about 1 pm. We bought some drinks and tried to sit in a park but there were nasty ants that immediately jumped on us. We decided to skip the park and just ride to the hotel.

The hotel was very comfortable with large rooms. At dinner time Ken W. packed about 12 of us in the Excursion and we drove down to a restaurant for dinner.


After lunch the weather turned sunny and it was an easy ride to Choteau,


Mustard fields

Getting ready to leave our lunch spot on the side of the road

Sign on the right showing that we have a very long downhill coming

Rising Sun, MT to Valier, MT, 78 miles

Meeting night before in Rising Sun going over the route to Valier

Today we had another long ride, this time in rain showers. Sean and I left the Lodge in Rising Sun around 6 :30 am and easily got to Saint Mary.

Very early in the ride with Lake St. Mary in the distance.

From there we headed south on Hwy 89 and were met with a seven mile hill. It seemed about a 7 % grade. At that point it started raining stronger. I can remember thinking that we were in for a "long day" riding.

There were a number of rolling hills along Hwy 89. We had passed Nancy in this section and she warned us about cows on the road. When we came to an intersection on Hwy 89 with the mileage right to turn we did not see a sign showing it was "Starr School Rd." I check my GPS and confirmed we were on the right road. This is the start of the Blackfeet Indian reservation. There were some cows out wandering around the road.

Cows wandering on the road

About 6 miles along Starr School Road Sean said he could hear some weird noise coming from my bike. A short time later my rear tire was completely flat. There was a piece of glass that entered the tire. We pulled over near a bridge. It took about 10 minutes to fix and we were on the road again. Sean noticed a herd of horses in a gully below us while I fixed the tire. I couldn't fully inflate my tire to the high pressure I like because I was using my small hand pump on my bike.

We then continued east on Starr School Rd. We saw a few areas with run down houses. Once we got to Browning, Blaine and Thea were parked in a shopping center parking lot,which also doubled for our lunch stop. It continued to rain lightly during lunch. I got to use the tour pump to get my tire fully inflated.

Others started rolling into the lunch stop where I learned that several other riders had flats too. Ken W. had 3!

After about 20 minutes at the lunch stop Sean and I got back onto Hwy 89 heading south. The traffic seemed busy for at least 20 miles. As we moved south we came upon the southern end of the Blackfeet reservation. There where statues making the reservation. It sprinkled of and on all for several more miles.

A few miles farther, we turned left onto Hwy 44 due east to Valier. We had about 20 miles to ride on this stretch of road.

Sean and I were the first ones to arrive at the B/B. Blaine gave us a walk through of the place. Sean got his own room this time and Blaine said even though I have to sleep in a game room with 7 other guys, he pointed out a small room off of the game room that I could use.

For dinner we walked to the Panther Cafe. Everyone said the servings were big and I did feel stuffed.

Once we walked back to the B/B we played pool for a while before bed.

Leaving Blackfeet Reservation

West Glacier, MT to Rising Sun, MT 35 miles

This was the day were were waiting for. We were going up the "Going to the Sun Road" and over Logan Pass. (Last time I did it the weather was pretty cold with sleet).

Sean and I left after eating breakfast in our room. It was about 5:30 pm and it seemed like it was 65 degrees already. There was little traffic and we could here birds and small animals in the woods.

It took awhile to get to "The Loop" were we started a very long 6% climb. The views were good but I could see it getting clouding over the pass.

There was a 3 mile construction zone that helped slow traffic. Once we got through it we were almost at the tip. Fog still hovered around the top when we got to the "Logan Pass" signed. Ken was the only other rider from our group there.

As we headed down the other side the temps rose. Traffic was also very light.

At around 11:00 am we got to Rising Sun and went to the cafe to have lunch. Others started coming in and after lunch we all sat out in the hotel porch chairs and talked.

We went back to the cafe for dinner as it was the only place around for miles.
At our nightly meeting Ken said that tomorrow's weather looks wet.
Starting up Going to the Sun Hwy at 5:30 pm

Before the climb

Climbing on The Going to the Sun Highway

Weeping Wall, Going to the Sun Highway

Going to the Sun Highway

On the Going to the Sun Highway

Huge snow banks below Logan Pass

Final switchback to Logan Pass

On top, this time in fog

East of Logan Pass

East of Logan Pass

Saint Mary Lake, East Glacier

Sean with Ian at our hotel in Rising Sun

Whitefish, MT to Glacier National Park, 35 miles

We had a very pleasant stay at the church in Whitefish. One of the members (Donna) prepared wonderful meals for the group.


Great breakfast in Whitefish

Since this was a short riding day, we didn't have to leave Whitefish very early. Tom, Sean, and I took off before 9 am and rode until we got to Hunger Horse, a huckleberry tourist stop. I couldn't pass up another huckleberry shake.

Leaving Whitefish with Tom

Having huckleberry treats in Hunger Horse

Tom got us into Glacier National Park with his pass and we rode to Apgar before boarding a bus to Logan Pass. We had time to kill because bikes are not allowed on the road until 4 pm, The bus ride took about 1 1/2 hours to get to Logan Pass. There were some mountain goats at the top. Then we took the bus all the way back to Apgar and got there around 2:30 pm.

Once we got back to Apgar, we had buffalo burgers for lunch and waited until 4 to ride the 8 miles to Lake McDonald Lodge. I think we cheated a little and actually started riding around 3:45 pm.

Sean and I got a cabin which overlooked the lake. For dinner, Tom, Sean, and I ate in the Lake McDonald Lodge cafe.

We went to bed early as we needed to wake up at sunrise to start our big climb up to Logan Pass.

Made it to Glacier National Park

Eureka, MT to Whitefish, MT, 68 miles

I was not looking forward to today's ride because I remember in 2010 Hwy 93 from Eureka to Whitefish was very dangerous and stressful. The problem is that Hwy 93 allows cars and trucks to go 70 mph and there is a narrow shoulder for bikes. The last 5 miles of this road near Whitefish has no shoulder. Today I had Sean's safety on my mind.

We left very early from Eureka to avoid the fast trucking traffic down this main highway. It was cool and for the most part not busy at this hour. Twenty miles into the ride Sean and I stopped at a Ranger Station for a rest and had a snack.
So far there was a shoulder so it wasn't too bad.

After we passed Dickey Lake the shoulder became much smaller down to 1-2 feet.

Our lunch stop was at the second rest area about 40 miles into the ride. I remember thinking that the worst of the road conditions is ahead of us.

We got back on the road after eating some sandwiches. A few trucks got pretty close but for the most part cars were giving us a lot of room. About 5 miles before Whitefish, Ken W. came behind us and stayed with us until we made it through the bad area. I appreciated him riding with us through this bad section.

Sean and I first went to Glacier Cyclery as we entered town. Next we stopped at a coffee shop and had smoothies. It seemed pretty hot in downtown Whitefish.

We then rode to the Foursquare Church and found a room in the basement to avoid the heat. There was a pool table and a ping-pong table so we all played for a few hours.

For dinner, one of the church members, Donna prepared an outstanding
meal. We all loved it.

Leaving Eureka early

Heading south on Hwy 93 with a shoulder for now

Dickey Lake on the right

Tom and Sean playing pool in Whitefish

A wonderful dinner provided by Donna