Beginning on the 18th of June, when I stepped off the train in Seattle, I have bicycled every day. Some of those days have been difficult rides, others relatively easy. Many of you can now look at my day-to-day progress via the app “Strava.” Today I have rented myself a motel room, electing to take a day off to rest, sleep in a bed, shower, take advantage of a 24 hour breakfast offering, and do some bike maintenance. Beginning tomorrow I will continue my ride through the Montana Wilderness toward Eureka, Whitefish and Glacier National Park: a route that promises to be challenging and beautiful.
In my last blog post I had mentioned a few of my encounters with “angels.” Two days ago I had another. After biking from Hope, Montana to a campground beside the Cabinet Gorge, I walked down to the shore and, spur-of-the-moment, decided to take my first swim of this trip. I stripped off my clothes and dove in, BUT had failed to remove my glasses, which were now somewhere lying in the silt. I had no replacement with me. I searched but could not find them. Feeling foolish, angry with myself and uncertain as to the future of this trip, I came back to my campsite. There I introduced myself to Mark and Mary, two fellow cyclists at the site next to mine. I began by telling them what I had just done. Mark pulled out a pair of swimming goggles, grabbed his swim suit, and followed me back to the shore. Within 5 minutes, he retrieved my eyesight. The next day (yesterday) took us here to Libby where we shared a campsite last night. They have traveled on today, while I have chosen this rest day. Mark has plans to ride to Maine, albeit on a different route than mine, so we may or may not cross paths again – but this is how it is with angels.
~Tom
