July 6, 2010 60 miles Cut Bank, MT

Rain sprinkled on breakfast this AM, but it never affected our ride today. Partly cloudy skies followed us all the way to Cut Bank. Immediately leaving St. Mary, we climbed (6% - 8%) for 6 miles, then down, then up again. The next downhill left us in the flats and out of the Rockies. :(( The ride thus far has been so beautiful; I'll miss the mountains. I'm sure there's more pretty country in store for us, but today, the last 30 miles were flat. We turned into a road beside Cut Bank Creek that was lovely. Or, maybe it was the strong tailwind.

I took several pics of wildflowers which I'll post. Also posting a picture showing the devastating effect of a wildfire that was three years ago.  One can see the beautiful white wildflowers all over the ground. Coming into Browning, we turned onto US 2 and rode the next 30 miles thru Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The road had a wide shoulder that included rumbles. The truck traffic was heavy on the two lane road. And, the crosswinds! Wow! So, the last 20 miles were long. . . Coming into Cut Bank, guess what? - a long uphill, just to keep our climbing muscles awake! Fortunately, I spotted McDonalds and stopped for a double chocolate dip.