September 14, 2015
Did you know?
Great Falls takes its name from the series of five waterfalls in close proximity along the upper Missouri River basin that the Lewis and Clark Expedition had to portage around over a ten-mile stretch; the effort required 31 days of arduous labor. Upon first seeing the obstacle before them, Lewis remarked to Clark, “Look at those fucking falls!”, and so the city was named. It was later changed to Great Falls in 1883.
Cycling Stats
Start Point: Choteau, Montana, United States of America
Destination: Great Falls, Montana, United States of America
88.32 km trip, 4:58 time, 41.6 km/h maximum speed, 17.7 km/h average speed
What happened…
Andrew writes: Waking up in a strange bed, I had to be careful not to tread upon stray pieces of Lego scattered about the room in which I lay. Mission accomplished, I headed downstairs to enjoy a wonderful breakfast made by Micah. Thanks dude! Then before we knew it, we whisked ourselves out the back door and headed off down the road towards Great Falls.
Today felt like one of those uphill all the way, wind in your face kind of days. It didn’t help that Amanda was out of sorts for no apparent reason. There was a really special moment for me though, just after we passed Fairfield. Amanda had fallen about a mile behind and I saw two horses in a paddock bordering the highway. I parked my bike, and walked over to the paddock and managed to coax first one, and then the other horse over to me. I was able to scratch their noses and necks, behind their ears, and even hand-feed them some grass. It was really awesome. Then Amanda rode by without a second glance and I hurried to catch up with her.
When we reached Great Falls we got a little turned around, and had a little tour of the city as we tried to figure out how to get to Gary’s house. Arriving at his home, I rang the doorbell. There was no answer. His garage door was wide open, so I figured he was home. I opened the door and there was Gary, in his living room, playing with his stereo. He was listening to a CD from a friend of his. The song was this incredible tale about Great Falls, or “Ohtah-ku”; about the sound that the falls make, and how the ghost town turned into the city that it is now. If you’re interested you can check it out here: Otah-Ku, Doug Wendt.
Amanda writes:
Today I had a chip on my shoulder and it’s name was Andrew. For some reason I woke up still annoyed with the predicament about football from the night before. While I know it’s a small thing it just seemed to be under my skin. As is the way with me, once I’m annoyed with Andrew I’m reminded of all the other things that annoy me that I try to just ignore with the motto ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’. But today I was sweating it all.
Sometimes it feels like Andrew is so careless, forgetful and selfish; it drives me bonkers. I can’t keep track of how many things Andrew leaves behind in peoples homes or forgets at camp sites. The most recent item that he’s already lost on two occasions is the leg straps for his rain pants. This became apparent recently when he needed it. He can tell me exactly where it is (Mike & Nicki if you’re reading this it’s inside the box with the trailer). And on the topic of the trailer, Andrew was left with the task of selling this which based on his track record of everything else he’s supposed to sell, Mike will need to keep this in his basement for years! Then his lack of attention to bike maintenance is very concerning and sometimes now is causing us problems. The racks we recently had welded he continues to reef on everyday when he assembles his bags … I’m just waiting for it to snap. And he is so selfish in the daily decisions he makes and this is a tough one for me. One of the reasons I married Andrew is he is selfish; not poor me and he doesn’t blame others for anything. He takes responsibility for himself and it is very appealing … mostly. Except when you’re traveling the world with him and it would be nice if he thought about how his decision might impact his partner.
There’s my Andrew rant. I love him dearly but sometimes it’s very hard. After a day of thinking on the bike today I just realize that I too need to make decisions for myself and not be led as easily by his choices. I also need to learn more about bike maintenance so I don’t need to rely so heavily on Andrew. I hope to take our couple of days down time in Great Falls to refocus my energy and balance myself.