Day 62 (7/17): Richey to Sydney, MT

Mileage: 49.5; 1,684 total

Left Richey before 8 AM, after a quick breakfast of instant oatmeal.

On the ride to Sydney the rolling hills of the past few days were fewer and less steep.

I had a long break at the halfway point, the little town of Lambert. I spent most of the time in a little restaurant that is owned by the town and staffed my local residents (a mother and her daughter, about 10 years old, were handling it while I was there). When I arrived, I had a late breakfast of eggs and bacon, and an iced coffee which the woman fixed especially for me, first putting a cup of hot coffee in the frig until it cooled enough to pour it over ice. I lingered for awhile, getting my cell phone and camera batteries charged up, and then toured the little local museum (every little western town seems to have a museum, which is a nice way for them to preserve their past). I returned to the restaurant for lunch, at which time it was packed with about 15 local people. Interestingly, I learned that the "system" was to fill out your own food order, then walk behind the counter and clip it up in front of the cook/waitress -- a very casual place. I thought it was odd that the town owned the restaurant, but apparently any profits go into a fund for the kids.

After Lambert I completed my ride into Sydney, a relatively large town. I stopped in the local museum, which had a nice art show featuring work of Nancy Cawdrey, a Montana artist. I particularly liked her dyed silk paintings: view some of it at www.nancycawdrey.com

When I left the museum I bumped into Mike (see previous postings) coming out of a grocery store. He had arrived earlier in the day, and was about to leave to go another 10 miles or so.

I checked into a motel and found a laundrymat. After dinner, I flagged down two bicyclists, Josh and Natalie (pictured below, when I get the photo posted), who were making a beeline from Portland, Oregon to Buffalo, NY.