Day 50: 7/9/19: Broadus, MT to Belle Fourche, SD

The storm last night lived up to it's expectations.  At about 8:45 p.m., the electricity went off in town.  The winds blew so hard that the inside of my tent got wet even though I was under a pavilion with my rainfly on.  If I wasn't laying inside my tent, there is no telling how far away it would have been blown.  I quickly stuffed  my sleeping bag and sleeping bag liner inside waterproof bags to keep them from getting soaked.   This extreme wind and rain lasted about 45 minutes.  Hindsight, I think it would have been better if I had pitched my tent outside and staked it down (confirmed later today). I think the pavilion acted as a wind tunnel, and my unstaked tent was going nuts.

Today's ride was concerning me last night due to the distance between towns with services. I considered buying additional water to go along with my Camelback's 2-liters and my 4 water bottles.  Below is a pic of a sign about 4 miles out of Broadus giving information about upcoming towns.

Well, the Lord took care of me today.  I had about 95 miles of tailwind bliss.  Earlier in the day I was able to cruise about 17 mph with easy pedaling.  As the day progressed, my speed increased to about 23 mph with very little pedaling.  It was such a good feeling.

All you cyclists know the feeling.  You're going 17+ mph, but it feels dead calm because no wind is hitting your face.  To you, it feels like the wind isn't blowing at all, then you look at the grass blowing beside you and know that it is primarily the wind that is propelling you.  Then when you stop, the wind almost blows you down, and you are so glad it is your ally, at least for today.

Anyhow, I easily made it to Alzada and had a burger and fries at the B&J Convenience Store.  The convenience store is the "Services" I had seen on the sign 54 miles back.  It pretty much had everything you could need.

It's funny how the wind will also change your attitude toward distances.  I called Lisa while I was at the convenience store and we were talking about campgrounds for the night.  I told her I only had 36 more miles to get to Belle Fourche, SD.  In a headwind day, I would have probably said I still have 36 miles to go (and not in a pleasant way).

I crossed into Wyoming for a few miles (pics below).

But not before taking a few final pics of Montana (below).

I then crossed into South Dakota and made it to Belle Fourche.  Below is a pic of it's downtown and a statue.

I'm staying at a campground tonight that has showers. Tonight will be the first shower I have had since I stayed with Eric and Raylene a few days ago.  I made it into town just as a storm was brewing, and I got my tent set up just before it hit with high winds and rain.  The tent did remarkably better staked down than it did during the storm last night.  Lesson learned.  Pic of tonight's campsite below with storm clouds in the background.

Pic of tent standing strong during the storm.

Pic of a little friend at the campground.

Total miles today: 99.7