Fort Benton, MT Monday June 28

Fort Benton, MT -- Monday, June 28
Today was a relatively short day (52 miles) with nearly all of the miles on Hwy 228 from Great Falls. It was a great route (very little traffic) except for two major climbs, one of which equaled our toughest climb yesterday, the other bested it. Today was also the hottest day that we have had (90 degrees). Unfortunately, due to a 11:30 AM start, most of our ride was in the hottest part of the day.
This part of MT is wide open country. Several times today you could see your next challenge from three miles away. All this open countryside means there is generally not a tree to be seen nor any shelter from the sun the be found. Because of the scarcity of services between overnight towns, we generally carry enough food to have a mid-ride lunch. Today's lunch stop was in ditch grass with full exposure to the beating sun. After our last big climb we passed through Highwood and stopped at a gas/service station (not to be confused with a convenience store). Although this gas station had nothing more than one refrigerator, it did stock a small selection of gatorade and refrigerated snicker bars. We all enjoyed both as well as the two people at the store whose sole job it appeared was to watch who and what passed through town.
Fort Benton is not only a friendly place but a place where 4 separate cross country riding groups have converged at the same time. It is here we found the WV teacher that we camped alongside on Saturday night, the two young guys (the 12 flat a day group) traveling to MI and beyond and an older couple pedaling a recumbent. All of this certainly makes the road less lonely. As for friendly, before we could make it th grocery store I was stopped by a Forest Ranger wanted to know more about our ride. He was a bicyclist himself. He is from Minneapolis, knows about RAGBRAI, and is here for seasonal work. We had a great conversation. While I was distracted, Andrea and Alex also became distracted by someone in the grocery store parking lot.
There are many reasons for our slow start this morning; however the primary reason was to allow Alex to recover from a strong headache induced by water dehydration yesterday. While Andrea and I both carry two water bottles plus 70 oz. of water in a Camelback, Alex only has three water bottles. We helped improve that situation today by adding two water bottle cages and bottles to the B.O.B. trailer using the mounts provided. Alex returned to his normal self later in the day as evidenced by a 'bike path' stroll with Andrea on Hwy 228 (remember this road had few cars). It was as if the two were on a bicycle riding date. Matching this casual slow speed about drove me nuts. With five miles to go, I decide to leave them be and ride ahead at a more reasonable pace.
Lastly, although this is a nice town, the mosquitos are plentiful, swarming, and voracious for blood. It has caused us all to find refuge in our tents early. As we look ahead, the next several days will be below our average day. This is due to the spacing of towns and services. The only other option is for 80+ mile days. No one likes that option.