Bishop Bike Adventure Days 19-20 July 19-20, 2010

We’ve stayed in Great Falls longer than expected to tend to bike and butt repairs. The bike shop needed some time to change out our brakes and true the wheels. Carrying heavy loads and coasting and braking down long grades take a toll on touring bikes. The local bike shop repaired these on Monday and also counseled us on bike seat and glove alternatives to address health issues caused by protracted riding. We have developed sore butts as alluded to in an earlier blog and have used the time to allow them to heal. Debbie has a particularly sore spot that we had a local medical clinic check out. They have prescribed some medication to accelerate the healing process. In the meantime, we’ve enjoyed our stay in Great Falls. Tim rode down the River Trail along the Missouri River and recorded the video below. The photos show the Black Eagle and Rainbow dams. The City has several miles of bike path along the River where the locals and tourists alike can enjoy the scenery. We have also taken advantage of the time off to get longer rest. This has felt good after 15 consecutive days of riding. We both feel that our legs have gotten stronger with the early ride training, which will come in handy over the flat plains riding yet to come. Part of the time off has also been used to review the path ahead. North Dakota is experiencing a boom in oil exploration, which has caused an overbooking of accommodations. This has caused us to look beyond the one-day/two-day type of planning that governed our trip thus far. Big Agnes remains at the ready!