July 7, 1998 - Forsyth - Miles City

DISTANCE TRAVELED: 48.66 Miles

TIME: 3 Hours 30 Minutes

AVERAGE SPEED: 15.3 Miles/Hour

TRAVEL CONDITIONS: Hot and sunny with a few scattered clouds along with a small tailwind.

ROAD CONDITIONS: Good roads the entire trip.

TERRAIN/DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Rolling hills with a little more downhill at the end than the beginning.

DAILY JOURNAL COMMENTS:
I woke up at 9:00 and found out that I was almost too late for the pancake breakfast that we were supposed to have. I ran out to the kitchen and made two huge pancakes and topped them off with syrup. I also was able to have Honey Dew Mellon and Tropicana Orange Juice that was not from concentrate! After cleaning our plates I packed up my gear and tried to go onto the internet using the phones that were in the gym office. Unfortunately they wouldn't accept the tones that I was trying to put in so I couldn't gain access once again. After throwing everything into the SAG, I got ready to ride and hopped onto my bike. I noticed that it didn't feel right and then found that I had a flat that had slowly developed overnight. I tried pumping it up hoping that the valve had leaked but no such luck. I had to take the tire off the rim and pull out the tube. The only way that I found the leak was by pumping up the tube by itself and feeling for the air with my cheek since the hole was so small. I threw on a patch and found the culprit that was lodged in the tire. There was a slit in the tire that had popped a tube before and had gotten a small stone inside of it. It slowly moved towards the tube and finally went right through. I pulled it out with my Gerber and put a patch not only on the tube but also on the inside of the tire hoping that it would stop anything else from coming though the same hole. Finally I was able to leave around 11:20 a half an hour later than I had planned. I started out by using the directions that were given to us but soon found out that the road that they told us to go on was dirt so I went back to the Frontage road that I had been on the day before and followed it. It turned out the be the right one and took me most of the way. About 20 miles after I had left I looked back at my rear tire again and found that it was getting flat again slowly so I pumped it back up to 90 psi hoping that I could wait until that night to fix it again. It worked and stayed with some pressure until Miles City. I stopped at about mile 40 and ate a quick lunch around 1:45 of a day old peanut butter and jelly sandwich. After this I biked for about another hour before reaching my destination. When I got there Matt had just left to look around town and David was fixing up his bike and using his bike stand to help. I started out by taking off my tire again and this time I pulled it completely off of the rim. I made sure that there weren't any pieces of rock that I had missed before re-patching the tube and cleaning off the rim since there was so much dirt wearing away the metal everytime I put on the brakes. I put the tire back on and while I was at it I cleaned the front tire along with the cogs and my chain. The chainrings have no grease left on them and hopefully they will stay that way for a while now that my chain has only white lightening on it. After finishing up on my bike and adjusting the brakes, I went outside and was just in time for the barbecue that was planned for us. We had hamburgers with some sodas and lots of different types of salads and cookies. Finally we were able to have some red meat for a change. After eating, I went over to a dorm room where a person had a computer that was hooked up to the internet that I was able to use. I spent about 2 hours transfering the files to the web page and then a little more time getting my e-mail and trying to send a few out. Unfortunately the sending didn't work too well. During this time everyone else was watching some Scottish dancing with live music. I wish that I could have watched but I knew that you would want to see what I had been doing for the last 2 weeks. I finally finished around 8:30 and then took a shower before buying some candy and finishing up any last details on the bike. I was able to finally get to bed around 12:30.

TRIP ROUTE:
Go right on main and go over railroad tracks. Turn left at Ford dealership and follow road until there is a sign that says road closed 2 miles ahead no thru traffic.Get onto I94 East and follow until Miles City. Get off at first exit and follow road until Sewall Road. Take a right and the school is in front.