Eureka, MT

This morning for breakfast, we were treated to sourdough pancakes. THe man who came in to cook them didn't mess around, he had a pancake dispenser machine to use on the griddle. Also, since it's sourdough, you need to prepare the batter at least a day before to let the starter work. Most of breakfast I asked people around me about starters and yeast and such. From each batch, they save about a cup to use as a starter for the next batch of pancakes. When I asked the chef about where his starter came from, he said it went back to 1850.

Only 52 miles today and it was a great day for a ride. We weren't on Route 2 for any of it and on the whole, we were moving downhill. I spent the day riding in a fun paceline with Kate, Kathy, Erik and Jessie, with Derek joining in the morning, but he set forth on his own after lunch. As a group, we were riding really well together and things just felt right.

Lots of trees around and mountains to look at when there were openings. Also, plenty of lakes that we passed by with a pretty vibrant blue-green color. A stress-free and easy day's ride.

Only two things rather bothered me during the ride, two cars that honked at us as they passed by. I'm not sure if they were honking in support or if we were taking nup too much road (we weren't, we were square in the middle of the wide shoulder), but whatever the case, it surprised us all a bit. Don't honk at cyclists, it scares the crap out of me. And if you're letting me know that you're coming up behind me to pass, well, I've already heard your car coming up long before you honked.

The saga of the van and its troubles continued today. During our ride to Whitefish, the van gave up with about 25 miles to drive still and needed to be towed. All the electrical just went out. The mechanic worked on it on our day off, but this morning the brakelights and turn signals didn't work, so it's back at the mechanics in Whitefish. Which means, all of the riders made it to Eureka with plenty of time and we still won't see the van for about another hour or two. We're walking around town in our jerseys and bike shorts; it's quite the sight since it's such a small town.

I spent a good part of the afternoon at Cafe Jax where they have amazing milkshakes and massive root beer floats. I noticed that they serve asparagus in their veggie omelete, so I ordered a side of asparagus to go with my huckleberry shake.

Since we're come into Western Montana, huckleberries are everywhere. I never realized that they are an actual berry, I thought they were only a Finn. It's quite the local food and it's incorporated and used in everything. Hucklberries look like blueberries, but a bit smaller and more tart, like a combination of a blueberry and pomegranate. So, I've been loading up on my huckleberry ice cream since I'm not sure when I might see it next.

Last night, most everyone was out at bars along main street in Whitefish with the sole purpose of watching the Olympics. One of our new priorities on arrival at each day's host location is to see if we can get TV at the church and if not, where in town is a good place to watch it. Our commentary for the women's gymnastics was provided by Jessie, since she is a gymnast. And, we went wild while watching the American men smash the WR record in the 4X200 meter freestyle relay. Upon arriving, most of the other patrons thought we were crazy for our energy and excitement, by the end of the night, we had the whole bar cheering for the Olympics too.

Oh man, only one more day of Montana. Two more build days. One more mail drop. I can't believe that Vancouver is actually within reach, unthinkable at the beginning when we started in Portsmouth.