June 27, 2003 Today we traveled from Glasgow to Malta, MT. If you don't pay any attention to the state, these destinations sound pretty sophisticated! However, they are both cow towns, and just stops along the way to larger cities. Malta is sort of a "T" - the main street T's with Highway 2, and that is about the town. We had a little tire problem with the bike today. We hit something that cut right through the heart of the back wheel tread. This is the third tire we have lost this way on our journey, but the first to go through the tread. The first two were sidewall cuts. In any event, it cost a tire, so we weren't pleased. Otherwise, things went well. Ron did some work on BOB this morning to get rid of some noises that were driving LaValle nuts. At least for today, the work was successful. Duct tape works wonders - this time as washers between the metal parts of the fender and the trailer! The Team is doing all right. We are tired from battling the headwinds, but otherwise in fine shape. Sleep and icing do wonders in helping recovery. Ron, preventively, has been icing his legs. It takes time, but the next morning there is no soreness. The weather today was pretty nice. It was warm enough when we started that we used only arm warmers and vests. Those disappeared fairly soon, so we had a nice day is sleeveless jerseys and shorts. It was partly cloudy today, so the sun was in and out. When it was out, it was pretty warm, but when the cloud cover masked it, it was nicely cool. Rain threatened several times, and we had a few sprinkles - the largest amount just before we reached Malta. It was sort of misting on us, and Ron commented to LaValle that it felt really good. She agreed, and then it preceded to really come down, but only for less than a minute. When we did get to Malta, we learned from the wet streets that we were lucky, as we had missed a sizable downpour. The head winds were out in all their glory all day, and the temperatures were in the 70's. The scenery was a lot of the same today. The grasslands and ranges extended about as far as we could see to the right of our track. To the left, there were some formations were think are mesa's - it was nice seeing something other than flat. As we approached Malta, off to the West we could just make out what appear to be mountains. We are eager to see some mountains even though we know that we will have to climb them. Montana is interesting in that the eastern part of the state is very plains-like, and the west is very mountainous. it is almost like the eastern part of the state should be a part of the Dakota's. It is a very large state. We will need the better part of two weeks to get through it. Of course, we are wandering around to stay true to the Lewis and Clark Trail. We didn't discuss roads yesterday, and should have. Highway 2 is generally a very nice road. It is two-lane, but has a very broad shoulder that is separated from the traffic by a mean rumble strip. I mean this is a bone-breaking, brain shaking strip that you have to walk your bike over. In any event. This arrangement makes it much more comfortable fighting the headwinds. One doesn't have to worry about the traffic, so can focus on keeping the bike straight, and the speed up. In addition, there are a number of wild flowers out in all their glory. We don't know what they are, but the colors are purple, pink, yellow and white. They extend for mile, after mile, after mile - unfortunately, they are in the process of cutting them. In Montana, and also the Dakota's, after they cut the road sides, someone comes along and bales the grass - it is used for animal food. Speaking of Highway 2, we have been on it for two days, and will be on it again tomorrow - roughly 300 miles. We will leave it to go into Great Falls. We spent a fair amount of time near or alongside the Milk River today. It is a medium sized river that apparently runs deep and fast. It has been important to the develpment of the local area - they even have a gospel festival named after it that is in progress as we visit. The Missouri is many miles south of us at this point, and there are no roads that we would like to be riding that take us there. Well, we have another challenging day behind us as we continue west. We will pass 3,000 miles tomorrow, and we will give you a detailed report on that. For now, it is time to start winding down. Ron Note from LaValle... Today marked the second Canadian flag of the trip, the first was in South Dakota. Ever since we entered Montana near Culbertson, we've been any where from 30 to 90 miles from the Canadian border - Hwy 2 runs more or less parallel to the two countries dividing line the entire length of Montana. Dinosaurs are also becoming more prominent. Montana is not only Big Sky Country, it's also Big Dinosaur Country with many digs for their bones. Glasgow had quite a few wooden cut-out dinos and several sculpted ones were on the hillside as we left town in addition to a number of town statues. The Taiwanese family stayed in Glasgow, but they probably left quite a bit before we did. The lady in the Saco Convenience store told us they had been through several hours ahead of us. When we got to the Sportsman Motel in Malta, the owner told us they had been in to rent rooms but there were no vacancies that night. Today was another day of a magnificient horizon, the enormity of the landscape and the vast quiet makes this a special place. It is truly a great part of the state. Downtown Dinosaur Country Dinosaur Canadian Flag but no signs in French Montana Landsape