Day 12
Day By Day Notes From The Road
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This document updated July 11th, 2004
Townsend to Harlowton Montana - 101 Miles
By Lucija:
I know this is getting a bit old, but AGAIN I had my favorite riding day! I felt great all day, and rode very strong. When I got into camp, I was finally able to find out what happens to the people that get to camp early... as the 5th rider in, I found 3 old men, and Erwin, sprawled out asleep on park benches. They looked like a bunch of passed-out homeless vagabonds. I can't believe that I did not take a photo, it would have been priceless. It is pretty interesting that the fastest bikers on the trip are all men over 50 years old.
What else... the town of Harlowtown was pretty interesting. We camped in the public campground, next to the local rodeo arena. The town itself had about 3 streets, of which Main street is pictured below. Also interesting is the fact that despite biking 101 miles today, when asked "where did you start today?", I was able to answer "from two towns up the road". No kidding. We stayed on Route 12 for over 100 miles and only passed ONE town on the way.
By Erwin:
As Lucija said, the ride today was fantastic. It started with a beautiful climb through a damp, cold and green canyon. The climb was one of the most beautiful of the ride so far and kept on going. For 12 miles, we went through three consecutive passes, each one looking as if it was the last. I was feeling really strong so, with characteristic youthful enthusiasm I pushed myself up the mountain pretty fast.
It was fun on top of the mountain because I came in shortly after the strongest rider in our group, Andrej, and quickly after my a group of four others and Lucija came up as well. We had some fruit together and enjoyed feeling strong. We had only reached mile 20 however and had another 80 to go.
The rest of the ride led us through rolling hills and very nice scenery. We saw a group of antelope grazing on the hillsides around us. I saw some real cowboys in the distance herding about 50 cows over a ridge. Very nice.
Still, as the ride continued, it became warmer and I got more tired. I had given a lot in the first climb and became too tired to really enjoy the scenery. I realized that this is one of the paradoxes of the landscape that makes this ride interesting: on the one hand the landscape is absolutely beautiful, rewarding and inviting, not in the least because it is vastness embodied, but on the other hand, the landscape is relentless, unyielding and unforgiving. It doesn't give away an inch; to get to camp you must ride every inch. For me, this paradox almost everyday makes for an ambivalent psychological state during the last 30 miles.
In any case, we made it to camp. I rode fast and enjoyed it. Tomorrow is another day.
Photos:
Magnificent Montana Route 12!
Main street in Harlowtown. This is the WHOLE street. (ie, there was nothing behind me) Notice the beautiful backdrop!