Day 15 (7/7): Twin Bridges, MT --> Cameron, MT (54 miles)

(i thought this last pic was amusing..it was in the local post office..it's about identity theft...i wasn't sure why a man would try to steal the identity of a women...isn't that kinda obvious?...first pic is of valley where Madison River flows....second one is of Nevada City strip...and thrid one is of storm rollin on in...)

Days mileage: 54 miles

Our legs were dead as well as our spirit to pedal today. Yesterday was a long day with head winds for most of it. But, we had little choice...for, obviously, the miles weren't gettin any shorter with us sittin in one spot.

So, we were off after chattin with an English couple who had also used the random fields as a camp for the night. We bid each other farewell and then started the long, gradual climb up a no-name pass. The coolest part was the small towns of Nevada City and Virginia City...true ol' tyme Western Towns where folks used to shift for golden nuggets throughout the rolling and desert-like landscape....it was incredible to look at the remnants now and just see it as a ghost-town which tourists kept pumping wtih some money. We stopped in a small bakery, ate a cinnamon roll and started the climb...luckily there was some overcast in the sky so our bodies didn't suffer too much from direct sun.

And then the Madison River came into full view...this river, as I informed Stephen for the remainder of the day, was one of the most famous fly-fishing rivers in the U.S. and he should think himself a fortunate sole to be biking parallel to such hallowed waters as the Madison....he sped off ahead of me as I drolled over my handlebars and thought about fly-fishing.

We meandered through another 11 miles towards a small town called Cameron...hoping to just stop for lunch and then get in another 50 miles or so....but, when we got out from eating there was nothing but dark, navy blue clouds towards our desired direction of travel.

Damn.

We saw lighting, rain, traffic with their headlights on....and a German couple roll on into Cameron seeking shelter from the storm (a really good Bob Dylan song is "Shelter From the Storm, which is on an even more amazing album "Blood on the Tracks"...if dont' own it then go buy it before reading anymore of this post...)

We hung out under the yawning of the restaurant/inn and were soon reduced to calling it a day and settin up camp behind the local post office. The cross winds were too bad and the lightining was too near...so, we slept and rested our muscles hoping they'd feel a bit better for the next day to come....