Day 14 – Roundup to Forsyth, Montana

Another day, another huge empty space to cycle across. This is far from the end of this daily ritual; but today’s ride was particularly empty, even by recent standards. Knowing what lay ahead, I took the wise precaution of having three breakfasts. My first (fruit, yoghurt and muesli) was kindly provided by Sabrina, my host in Roundup, before she left for work at 6.30am, leaving me sitting on her back porch. Second breakfast (2 huge pancakes and maple syrup) came at the Backporch cafe in town, since it was open at 7am and I needed to be ready for the miles ahead. Then I used up some of those calories by riding the first third of the 102 miles facing me.

It was actually great cycling because I had the wind at my back and an essentially traffic-free road through undulating prairie and low, rocky bluffs. As a couple of hours of cycling goes, this was a lot of fun. Eventually I reached the small “town” of Melstone, which was bigger than I was expecting, because I was expecting a gas station. It boasts a bar and a cafe, post office, mercantile (the local word for general store, it seems) and not a few houses. A rare sight in these parts. I was the only customer in the cafe and a jolly man with a walrus moustache asked me what he could con me for. I went for the ham omelette. OMG. I took a photo and will include it here so you can see the extent of the challenge I faced. It beat me; but only just. The walrus man told me they get a couple of cyclists a week at least, which he seemed to think was a lot.

And then there was nothing but a long, mostly very straight road for the next 66 miles. There were a couple of dots on the map; but nothing to stop for. Two of the dots seemed to consist of a US Post Office in the middle of nowhere, perhaps with a few nearby ranches. The third, Vananda, is a ghost town. There was once a railway that followed this route (between 1847 and 1980 when it was abandoned, although there is not much left to see) and this would once have been a water stop. The old schoolhouse still stands hauntingly against the arid landscape, with just a couple of other buildings for company. Good thing I wasn’t banking on a refreshment stop here.

My destination today, Forsyth, is a proper place, however, with lots of active rail lines and a junction on the Interstate highway, which I will be cycling alongside tomorrow for a while. You can do that here, I was surprised to learn, although I will be keeping it to a minimum. Forsyth’s Main Street is a great example of old America. Many of the large brick hotels, including the one I am staying in, still appear to function and retain their original turn of the century signs. There is even an active movie theatre here. It has managed to retain a touch of its former style, and I like it, despite the temperature reaching 99F late this afternoon. I cooled off with a root beer float (ice cream with root beer poured over it in a glass) and that made everything OK!

Another big day tomorrow – bigger than today – and hopefully my last in Montana before I reach the next state. There’s nothing much to hang around for, so I’m pushing ahead while the wind is at my back. It certainly helped me today. Somehow I rode 102 miles at average speed of 16.5 mph. More of that would be welcome.