Day 26 – June 29 – Circle, MT to Glendive, MT – 51 Miles

We got an early start today in anticipation of the heat.  We left Circle, MT just after 7:00 AM.  We are trying to adjust our schedule to get up early and get our miles in before the heat sets in.  Predictions were for mid-90s temps for Glendive, MT.  The temps coupled with 10 mph easterly headwinds caused us to re-evaluate making the effort to make it to North Dakota today.  The forecast calls for similar temperatures Saturday, but with the winds from the west at 10-15 mph.  As it turns out going to ND today would give us no particular advantage as we are planning to spend a rest day in Medora, ND and the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  So we called it an early day with an overnight in Glendive.

The ride from Circle, headed southeast, following highway 200S and a little used rail line.  We climbed for the first 16 miles before crossing a ridgeline.  For the rest of the trip it was nearly a constant slight downhill grade all the way to Glendive.  Normally this would mean an easy ride, however the headwind countered every bit of advantage that the hill gave us.  We made a couple short stops along the way to eat apples and talk with two groups of cyclist heading in the opposite direction.  We made it to Glendive just after noon.

I don’t know if was getting the early start, my lack of coffee before our start, the headwinds, the heat or the 16 mile grade to start the day, or all of the above, but I just lacked energy today.  If I could have found a shade tree, a nap would have done wonders.  A cup of coffee probably would have helped as well .

Tomorrow we are going to try for an earlier, coffee assisted, start at 6:00 AM.  We have 65 miles to cover to Medora, ND.  All the weather sites I have checked indicate the wind shifting from the east to west during the night.  We will be following the I-94 corridor to Medora with some of the riding on the interstate shoulder and some on parallel roads.