Day 17
June 18th, 2007

The Big Sky continues...
Today's ride was intense. We finally got a real century, I rolled into the parking lot today with 102.27 miles. Not only was the ride our longest yet it also included some big climbs and long rolling hills. Originally we were scheduled to ride on I-90 today to Bozeman but we decided to take a different road that got us off the interstate. It added about 15 miles to our trip total but we were all more than willing to make the sacrifice. The alternate route also turned what was suppose to be a day with 3 summits into a day with only one. After our initial climb up the mountain we had about 20 miles of beautiful down hill. Although long today's ride was not bad at all. As far as fatigue goes I could have rode farther but there is no way I would want to sit on that seat any longer. After yesterdays blowout I replaced the tire and it seemed to hold up great today. After lunch we had an amazing tail wind the pushed us at a fast pace with little effort. Once into Bozeman the team went to a dinner at a place called Eagle Mount. They specialize in programs that get people with disabilities out skiing, horseback riding, biking and other things. They had a really great facility with a lot of horses. Many of the horses were retired racing and rodeo horses. We also got a special opportunity to ride a handcycle. The special cycle was designed to people who are unable to use their legs. It was a lot of fun to ride such a contraption.