Day 45: Bozeman to Twin Bridges

Instead of backtracking to Ennis (up the beautiful canyon), we decided to loop around from the north to check out some new roads. It was a great decision! One, it's always nice to be on totally different roads and, two, the mountains, rivers, and canyons were beautiful along most of the ride.

For the first time since the south, we took an afternoon siesta, escaping the intense sunshine by sprawling on the cool concrete outside the Lewis and Clark Canyons. Though this meant we got into Twin Bridges kind of late, escaping the heat of the day was pretty delightful (and we got to see the sunset as we rode into the campsite!).

Riding into Twin Bridges

The view from our campsite!

The campsite was pretty amazing. The folks in Twin Bridges have built a little shelter, complete with shower, toilet, sink, outlets, and couches, solely for touring cyclists. Amazing! Of course, it helps the town, too, since cyclists staying in town tend to also spend money in town. (Well, we didn't, but most would.)

It was crowded at the campsite that night, 4 cyclists were there when we arrived: two French men doing a world tour, a guy from California heading east on the trans am, and another guy heading west. When we found them they had settled in and were sitting at a picnic table, hanging out, smoking, and drinking whiskey. We headed inside to escape the mosquitoes, and the guys followed shortly. It was interesting to hear their stories, especially those of the French guys, who were just a year into their three year journey.

As we often do, we asked all the cyclists what they ate every day. As they often do, their responses made us happy that we eat the way they do (although carrot and peanut butter sandwiches do sound pretty awesome). (But maybe not literally every day for lunch for six months...) We decided that we eat more vegetables than all of them combined. They also noted that they were impressed by how much we ate!

Being proper gentlemen, the guys set up their tents and offered to let us sleep on the couches inside (even though they were there first). So we slept rather well that night! In the morning, the more talkative Frenchman told us that not only was he impressed by how much we ate, but also how far we ride, how energetic we are, and how well we get along! This was nice to hear. :)  (It seemed he was also getting along great with his companion, although they had recently bought another tent so they didn't have to sleep in the same one!)

We are always so grateful for places like the campsite in Twin Bridges and left the town feeling quite content with humanity.