It’s getting hot in here

(Susan here)

First, an updated itinerary:
Tonight, Glendive, MT, followed by:
Circle
Wolf Point
Glasgow
Malta
Chinook or maybe Zurich if we’re wimpy
Hingham
Shelby
etc
We estimate that it might take us almost two weeks to get across Montana, including rest days.

It’s a little frustrating because the towns are so sparse in eastern Montana that we either have to go a short 45 or 50 miles to a town with somewhere to stay or an epic 90 or 100. Not being particularly epic people, we’re opting for slightly shorter days. Tomorrow, however, we are getting a 30 mph tailwind, a situation so once in a lifetime that it seems rather a shame to waste it on a 49-miler to Circle, which we should finish up in just a few hours. However, tomorrow it’s also supposed to get up to 95 degrees F. So we might just count our blessings that we don’t have to be out in that inferno for as long as we might otherwise.

The temperature has been steadily climbing ever since we reached the badlands. After tomorrow it’s supposed to drop again, thankfully. It’s hard to believe that just a few days ago we were worried about hypothermia. Today, biking along the interstate from Medora, we sought out the one bit of shade we could find for lunch, a thornbush along the edge of the right-of-way, growing up against a barbed wire fence. We crawled underneath the bush to eat our peanut butter and cheese sandwiches, not able to move much because we’d either get scratched or expose a limb to the sun. Funny to think that we’ll be in snow at the other end of this state.