Start Location: Great Falls, MT
Ending Location: Glendive, MT
Miles Today: 350
Trip Miles: 1011
States Visited: 3
National Parks Visited: 0
Low Temp: 73.2° F
High Temp: 99.9° F
Min Elevation: 2070'
Max Elevation: 4748'
Route Map:
Sturgis 2021 - Day 03
Today was difficult. We were basically on MT200 for 350 miles.
When we left Great Falls it was very windy and we were glad we were on
the trike. If we had been on two wheels we would have been pushed all
over the road. The wind let up eventually but it got quite warm and
there was very little interesting scenery. The only good thing was that
there was virtually no traffic in either direction. We stopped in
Jordan MT for lunch and we can usually find a nice local park of some
kind with picnic tables and restrooms where we could stop and eat. But
all we could find was a VFW Memorial to soldiers from the county who
served in all of the US wars going back to the Civel War. We had shade
but no benches or picnic tables. I have to admit most of rural Montana
is pretty depressing - houses and buildings just not very well kept up.
Although we have ridden through many small towns in the last few days I
can't think of a single local park. Like in our area, everyone has help
wanted signs out but usually for jobs at around $12.00 an hour.
In
the afternoon we went throug about a 5 mile construction area where the
road was torn up but it wasn't too bad. Then a little later we saw a
sign for more construction ahaead with a suggestion that motorcyclists
consider an alternate route. Of course there really aren't alternate
routes that don't take you many miles out of the way. So we went on and
had 8 miles of hot, very rough, and bumpy road. My hands were actually
sore at the end of the construction zone from holding on to the grips
so tightly. We have been forced to ride through construction zones many
times but this was the worst. It also didn't help that it was 90+
degrees.
The most interesting thing we saw was 16 miles of
abandoned rail cars lined up on what appeared to be abandoned overgrown
tracks. I did a little research and the standard rail cars are 50' or
60' nominal in length and that means there were from 1242 to 1522 cars.
Very impressive but I have no idea what will happen with them.
I apparently lied yesterday when I mentioned that Linda hadn't taken
any pictures - she actually took two pictures and they are here and here.
We ate at a nice local diner and will head for Mandan in the morning.
