September 22nd , 2015
Friendly Faces
While we were watching baseball at Bob’s Bar in Neihart, Mike, Gary’s kitesurfing friend showed up. He works in the area. We shared a beer and watched some ball. It was strange running in to him, but still nice!
Cycling Stats
Start Point: Al Buck Memorial Park, Montana, United States of America
Destination: Neihart Community Park, Montana, United States of America
45.4 km trip, 3:54 time, 56.3 km/h maximum speed, 11.6 km/h average speed
What happened…
Andrew writes: We woke up early, but left late. How does that work? Well, we had a huge pot of coffee, listened to Amanda’s short-wave radio, and I read my book while Amanda stretched and worked out. Isn’t that how every day should start?
It was up, up, up, all day, although there was a really fun descent into Monarch where we ate lunch at the local watering hole. Then for some reason, it was up, up, up again all the way to Neihart, which is considered the “middle” of the Little Belt Mountains. The entire region used to be really into mining with huge populations, and trains, and all of the traipsings that come with silver and gold rushes. That’s all in the past though. Real estate everywhere was for sale, a lot of businesses are closed, and we were really glad to find Bob’s Bar open for business in Neihart.
We were just in time to watch the Yankees play baseball on TV, and we had front-row seats to some small town drama. The bartender spent the evening getting wasted on red wine, possibly due to some sort of mismanaged funds of the establishment. People were coming and going, and all the talk was about who was doing what with whom.
By the time the game was done, it was dark outside. We hadn’t scouted out a place to camp beforehand, so we were left cycling down the highway in the dark, trying to find somewhere out of the way to pitch our tent. Just as we left the town limits, we came across the Neihart Community Park, which by the light of the moon, appeared to be a large field. Walking across the field, we spotted a copse of trees, which as it turns out had a picnic table, and fire ring. Whew! Let’s call this place home and call it a night.
Amanda writes:
Watching the game was a treat and the vibe of the community was nice. The town gossip was intriguing and an interesting background. I could tell by the end of the night that we were more relaxed about our sleeping arrangements because it was dark and we had no idea where we were sleeping. Maybe it was the two beers but, it was almost nice. Riding in the dark not so much, but we made it safe and sound.