Only the femaLes bite

DAY 47
Dillon, MT to Wisdom, MT

Although irrational and nonsensical, I've always believed that if you squash a mosquito while or after it's bitten you, the bite shouldn't itch. It's only fair right? She died in the end so her voodoo itching venom shouldn't work. That's at least my thought process. Reunited with Flats McFarlane and Dirty B, the four of us are prisoners encaged in a 10 x 15 foot screened in covered area at the American Legion Park. The mosquitos taunt us by blocking every exit.

Badger Pass at 6,760 feet felt like a speed bump. It slowed us down but not significantly enough to halt our progress. The day began as another beautiful crisp clear morning same as the last two. The only differences were the positive ten degree shift in temperature and altogether lack of wind. Where as yesterday we had climbed a pass at an excruciatingly slow and difficult 6 mph. Today we glided up a similar slope at 10 mph. As we coasted to the bottom of the pass, Dirty and Flats are resting at the turn off for Bannack State Park. Having not seen them for the past three days, we catch up on all the trail gossip before attempting Big Hole Pass, the higher of the two passes for the day. This climb gives us a little more of a workout than the last, but eventually we top out at 7,360 feet.

A few cows to help guide us to the top of the pass!

My body tenses as my legs hold steady and my grip on the handlebars tighten. An alarm in my head is screaming at me that this isn't safe. I had the bicycle serviced less than 300 miles ago and had just added air to the tires. What's the worst that could happen? A vision of myself eating through a tube for the rest of my life flashes through my head. I gently squeeze the brakes as the road turns slightly to the left. It's just too perfect of an opportunity. I release the brakes allowing the tires to spin freely again. My bike computer registers the speed of my front wheel. I have an unobstructed view straight down to the valley floor. 3,000 miles ago at the beginning of this adventure I thought it'd be impressive if I travelled over 40 mph on a bicycle. The fastest I'd gone up to this point was 43 mph. Today I was approaching 50 mph. Is a bicycle meant to go this fast?

Having traveled 70 miles over two high passes, our day ends early. We use the time to sample local beer and eat homemade pizza at The Antler restaurant in Wisdom, Montana. Our emotions are put through a roller coaster as the USA soccer team loses to Belgium in an exciting overtime World Cup game. We retire to the free camping at the American Legion Park and proceed to sweat in the stagnant screened in enclosure. Being almost as far north as our route will take us, the sun hangs in the sky late into the evening. The relentless heat of the day persists until the sun's last rays drop below the horizon. Instantaneously, the temperature drops by 10 degrees, then 20, then 30. Only the mouse that foraged around our bags that night knows exactly how cold it got. My guess would be a 40 degree shift from day to night, reaching a bone chilling 35 degrees.

The Antler

Our mosquito free cage

Stats: 
Miles: 70.31
Average speed: 12.6 mph
Max speed: 47.6 mph
Odometer: 3309 miles