As I awake to a beautiful blue sky and a shining morning sun I hear the sound of the flowing Missouri River. I let out a contented sigh. Oh how great it is to be back in the wilderness, away from the bustling concrete jungle which doesn’t compare to the beauty and calm of the wild!
We enjoy breakfast by the river, and as the clock strikes 8:00 am, panniers, Burley and Bobs packed and loaded, we pedal away from our camp. We are ready to take on our biggest mileage day yet…70 miles of gorgeous, thigh-burning, rolling hills where we will get our first glimpse of the Rocky Mountain Front.
Up and down we go, straining and cruising, sweating and smiling, inching along and racing at 46 MPH… we are feeling good! The wind runs through our hair (err..our helmets…), the sun shines upon us (err.. gives us Neapolitan tan lines), and we only stop occasionally to let the cows cross, to see who can walk on their hands the longest, or to feed our peanut butter addiction (which has inspired our invention of the peanut butter camel back- otherwise affectionately known as the “butter back”).
Around mile 39 I find myself in the middle of our giant pod (two pods restricts the closeness we now desire) rolling into Augusta, a quaint little town reminiscent of an old western movie. As I pedal through I look for a tumble weed to roll by as two outlaws draw their guns in a show down. We park ourselves at Mel’s Diner where “price is dependant on the customers attitude” and we all gorge ourselves with copious amounts of fried food and huckleberry ice cream.
After lunch we are off to the hills again, and curiously find them a bit more difficult with our overly stuffed bellies. Then, faster than any of us expected we are at the pinnacle of our sixty mile ride, at the top of a giant cliff overlooking the vast, gorgeous spectacle of land where the rockies meet the plains. I find myself overcome with the beauty and tranquility of the land that lies before me.
Ten miles of an adrenaline-rushing descent later we coast into Eric Bergman’s driveway where we will camp for the night, victorious in our pursuit. We celebrate by throwing ourselves on the ground and basking in the glorious sun.
Finally, we end this nearly perfect day with a great home cooked meal, a warm shower and a talk of hope, inspired by our new friend and environmental economist with The Nature Conservancy, Pete Larsen. And as I lay in my tent and listen to the soft patter of the rain hitting my tent before dozing off to sleep, I think of the inspiring people we’ve met and the positive change that is taking place in the world, and I realize how happy I am to be right here, right now.
Lauren Green, graduate of the University of San Diego
We read your beautiful blog with pride and pleasure. The quality of writing and depth of observations have made it most enjoyable; and the focus of the work for the future of the planet, and Montana in paticular, give us pride in knowing that there is a growing cadre of young people who care and are preparing to work to help it during this troubled time.
We tell many of our friends about your course and they are all positively impressed. Thank you all.