Chris Nadovich's 2009 Transamerica Bike Tour.

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Rt 200 Highway Rest Stop, Mosby, MT

Our goal today, originally, was Winnet, MT, a dusty, rancher town of 100 inhabitants in Petroleum County. However, when a day of tailwinds and favorable grades brought us to Winnet at 3 PM with only 95 miles in our legs, and we saw how "austere" the town was, we both wanted to push on. The man at the general store told us about the new "Taj Majal" they built along Rt 200, about 25 miles east of town. It was a highway rest stop with beautiful new bathrooms, running water, historical markers, the whole shebang. We could camp there easy, he said.

Can you imagine camping at a highway rest stop in the East? You'd be arrested.

In Montana they seem to think about this differently. People just assume you can camp in city parks, along roads, etc... I wonder if the right of travelers to camp overnight on public land is one of those unenumerated rights alluded to in the Ninth Amendment -- a right we have somehow lost most other places.

The high plains continue, as does the unsettled weather. It was raining when we woke, and this inspired us to wait till 7AM when the Cafe opened. By 8 AM I was loaded up with biscuits, spuds, eggs, bacon, all drowned in sausage gravy. Mmmmm.

Riding was easy. There was a 10+ MPH tailwind most of the day, and except for more negative mountains near streams, the grade was slightly downhill. Thus, despite our late start, we made Lewistown, a 45 mile ride, easily by 11 AM. I got sprinkled on once, but was dry when I reached the City.

Lewistown was a disappointment. We ate an unremarkable lunch and didn't see much to recommend the place. We split by noon and the winds blew us 50 miles to Winnet by 3.

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