June 14 – Hamilton, MT to Sula, MT

June 14 – Hamilton, MT to Sula, MT (written by Eric and Michael)

Today was scheduled to be an easy 35 mile ride.  So we planned to stop at Chad’s bicycle shop to have Michael’s bicycle cleaned of grit and sand with an air compressor.  Knowing it was a short day, Michael led the group on a delightful tour of Chad’s neighborhood.  (How’s that for saying I took a wrong turn?)  Chad performed magic on Michael’s bike and now it runs like it is brand new.

We learned at the bike shop that the Rocky Mountain Virology Laboratory is in Hamilton.  They have many researchers from Europe at the lab and they told us that this was a big reason why Hamilton is such a bike friendly area.

It was a beautiful day of riding after a rainy day yesterday.  We enjoyed perfect bicycling weather, not too hot and not too cold. The scenery was beautiful today although we were not always able to see the rivers and streams near our roads.  We would have enjoyed fewer cars on the road, but had good luck with wide shoulders most of the way.  We stopped for lunch at the Montana Café in Darby, MT.

We arrived in Sula around 4:15 p.m.  There were no restaurants in Sula so we bought some pasta and corn for dinner.  I guess we should not have been surprised since there are only 30 or so people in all of metropolitan Sula.  The patron at the Sula country store was very nice when we told her that we planned to get an early start tomorrow and gave us ‘supplies’ to make breakfast in Gloria and Michael’s deluxe accommodation that includes a kitchenette.

We were joined by Matt and Kim for dinner who are also touring across the US.   They were caught off guard by the Sula store closing at 5 PM and the restaurant closing at 2 PM.  Now we plan to buy snacks or food in the only town before our stop tomorrow night.  We know one restaurant in that city closed permanently and we don’t know how late the other restaurant stays open.

Another great day of riding comes to a close.