Day 20 – Lincoln, MT
July 12, 2012
Start: Reservoir Lake
Finish: Lincoln, MT
Today’s miles: 11.2
Total miles: 564.4
Splats: 0
Divide crossings: 0
Wildlife: Sandhill Cranes
What an active woods last night! I kept waking up to heavy footsteps and branches breaking. I swear I heard my food bags fall out of the tree. I didn’t hear my pots clanking, though, so I convinced myself that my food bag was still safe, and it was.
When I woke up this morning, more mule deer were rummaging about the campsite. I’m convinced there was something much bigger out there, though; maybe that moose I saw last night.
I arrived in Lincoln, MT, around 9:00 AM and got a room at the friendly Three Bears Motel. While checking out the town, I ran into a father-daughter duo on a tandem bike. I later met the mother, tasked with lugging a trailer behind her bike. Andy, Betsy, and Sarah are riding the Divide back to their home in Wyoming. I hope to see them again.
After getting groceries and doing my laundry, I faced one of the most difficult challenges yet. At the store, I picked up some razors; the beard was coming off. That’s not all. After seeing my face for the first time since 2004, I walked across the street to the salon and had my hair done—as in, done in and chopped off. 15″ are going to Locks of Love.
I ate one of the best burgers ever at the Montanan Steakhouse while contemplating my options for the next few days. Just before dinner, I was talking to some of the bike shops in Helena, my next stop, to arrange work on my usually non-functional brake. It’s hard to keep track of what day it is out here, and when I realized that my schedule had me arriving in Helena late Saturday and that the bike shops are closed on Sundays, I knew I had a problem. My options are to: 1) leave early tomorrow and push hard to get to the bike shop when it opens Saturday morning, 2) take my time and wait till Monday, 3) take a zero here or in Helena and wait till Monday, 4) put off brake work until I get to Butte, MT. I’m leaning towards the first option right now. It entails around 50 miles of riding with THREE Divide crossings. I’m not sure if I can do it, but I think I will try.