September 25th, 2015
Facts about Bozeman
John M. Bozeman was a grandiose hustler who helped establish the town in 1864, while he was promoting the “Bozeman Trail,” a dangerous shortcut for white settlers traveling through Wyoming and Idaho to Montana gold camps. John M. Bozeman hoped that his new town would “swallow up all the tenderfeet … from the east, with their golden fleeces to be taken care of,” one immigrant reported. But the whole Bozeman Trail quickly became a fiasco, as tribes including the Lakota Sioux, the Northern Cheyenne and the Northern Arapaho resisted the intrusion on their turf; within only four years or so, Native warriors wiped out 81 U.S. Army soldiers in the infamous Fetterman massacre and shut down the trail for good.
Cycling Stats
Start Point: Wilsall, Montana, United States of America
Destination: Bozeman, Montana, United States of America
77.6 km trip, 5:10 time, 56.3 km/h maximum speed, 15.0 km/h average speed
What happened…
Andrew writes: I heard Rick outside of the camper before he knocked on the side to announce breakfast being ready. Rosie had cooked up a feast before she set off to open the store, and the five of us sat around the table swapping stories. Most of them were about the many stuffed animals that Steve and Rosie had hung in their living room. This included deer, elk, bears and birds. The stories that we heard lent substance to the “sport” aspect of hunting, and certainly there is a great amount of respect for the game amongst this group of hunters.
Rosie took off for work, and we set out down the road for Bozeman. Now, most people would have just continued south on Highway 89 towards Livingston, however I had two reasons to take Highway 86 through the Bridger Mountains to Bozeman. First, I had a problem with my Exped sleeping mattress, and they shipped me a new one, and I had picked Bozeman as the post office. Second, there was an REI in Bozeman, where we could exchange some of our gear, which had broken over the last 14 months. I had previously arranged for Warmshowers in Bozeman, so we weren’t too worried about where to sleep when we got there. Finally, it was “Homecoming” weekend, and there was a chance that Amanda and I could fulfill our dream of watching an American college football game at Montana State University.
The ride along Highway 86 was uphill for 20 miles and then downhill for 20 miles, and it was very beautiful. I’d say it was a normal day for Amanda and I, especially the part where I stopped for lunch at the top of the hill, and Amanda didn’t see that I had stopped and she kept going. I managed to catch up with her at the bottom of the hill, 10 miles later.
We sat and had lunch at “Bridger Bowl”, a ski hill outside of Bozeman. There was a disc-golf course and several groups were out playing. We played a few holes with our giant disc, and had a great time. Then a new group showed up and they were serious! Each person had a big backpack with about a dozen discs in it…and only room for 2 cans of beer!
Cycling in to Bozeman itself was a stark contrast to the peace and tranquility we had enjoyed for the previous week. There were cars belching out smoke everywhere, horns honking, everyone was in a hurry, and we narrowly avoided being struck in intersections on a few occasions. So as safely as we could, we stopped in at the post office and got our shopping done at the REI, and made our way to meet Nick and Leslie, our Warmshowers hosts. This young couple was super fun! There was bike gear all over their small apartment, and musical instruments, so it felt like an extension of our campsite. There was never a dull moment with these two, and the highlight of the day was walking down to the college campus to watch movies on the lawn on a big projection TV. There was free pizza, popcorn, and hot chocolate. The fun, college atmosphere of Bozeman makes up for the shitty attitudes of its’ drivers.
Amanda writes:
I really enjoyed the ride today. A big climb was rewarded by a fun downhill. As we got closer to Bozeman the traffic picked up a lot and as Andrew said the traffic was atrocious! So many people texting on their phones and driving … it was really scary.
Arriving at Nick and Leslie’s was great. So laid back and easy to chat with. I was looking forward to spending a day or two with them.