I had a 50-mile ride today, from Glendive to Circle, MT (pop. 615). It was a tiring ride–the tailwind I started out with quickly turned into a strong headwind, and the terrain turned increasingly hilly as I got closer to Circle. I finally arrived there around 6 p.m.

On my way out, I stopped for breakfast at Penny’s Diner, where Jason made me a great omelet, with just about everything you could think of in it, including mushrooms. Jason grew up in the area and gave me some advice on the only sign of civilization I would see on the entire 50 miles I would be riding–the hamlet of Lindsay (pop. 12). He told me that Lindsay at one time had a small service station and a bar but that neither of them may be open. Jason said when he was growing up, he used to fish for Northern in a creek in Lindsay, but then a new owner of the surrounding land stopped letting folks do that.

This bronze sculpture, “Born to Hunt,” prominently displayed in the center of Glendive, honors Ty Milne, a local businessman who ran a John Deere dealership founded by his grandfather. The sculpture portrays Ty’s love and passion for his family, hunting, the youth of Glendive, and the Glendive community.

As I headed out of Glendive, I crossed the Bell Street Bridge over the Yellowstone River.

I looked down at the river and it seemed to be moving pretty fast.

These signs tell the story of a couple noteworthy events in the history of the river and the Glendive community, including a disastrous flood and icy conditions in April 1899 that led to several tragic deaths, including two women who had been strapped to a tree with suspenders in an attempt to save them. Unfortunately, the tree broke when it was struck by a large chunk of ice and the women were washed away and drowned. The signs also recount a miraculous two-day journey of a horse on an ice floe in 1916.

Just about all of my route today and over the next week or so will be on Montana 200S. My experience thus far: the shoulder of the road isn’t huge, but the traffic is fairly light. A lot of the traffic is made up of large trucks, but it seems that wherever possible, most of them courteously moved into the next lane to give me as wide a berth as possible.

A remarkably long train of boxcars was parked alongside the road in the area around Lindsay, which was at the halfway point on today’s ride. These boxcars stretched on for at least five miles, maybe even 10. I’ll show you some of the artwork on them, which was often quite elaborate, and will start with my personal favorite, “Democracy.”

“Living every day like it’s my last.”

Seahorses?

I googled “Eckor,” and it appears that there is quite a bit of graffiti out there bearing this name. I learned that this is a tradename for an American urban fashion company making apparel based on graffiti art that originally focused on the hip-hop and skate culture but later moved into mainstream urban culture.

I tried to cite-check the quote attributed to ee cummings: “my specialty is living said the man who could not earn his bread because he would not sell his head,” but was unable to confirm its provenance. Here it is anyway.

If you were driving through Lindsay in a car, you might blink and it would disappear, but on a bike, after 25 miles of riding, it made a lot of sense to linger there.

I understand my lunch stop in Lindsay, the Ranch House Bar, Grill & Casino, was closed for 13 years but was recently re-opened by Mark, a rancher in the area. I was the only customer there for a late lunch at 1:15, and had a nice chat with Mark and Debbie, who manages the place. While I was there, Debbie, who claims to be an amateur surgeon, spent about 20 minutes removing splinters from one of Mark’s hands at the far end of the bar with a needle and tweezers.

I was in the mood for comfort food and ordered the corn dogs, which brought back memories of the Minnesota State Fair. Without prompting, Debbie brought me a separate plate to use in dipping the dogs in mustard and/or ketchup.

If you happen to be cruising through Lindsay, especially if you’re on a bike, I recommend a stop at the Ranch House. Do let Debbie know if you have a splinter.

The following photos give you a small glimpse of what scenery in the area is like.

I passed several creeks with names, like this Buffalo Springs Creek, but all of them were dry.

This shows the dry creek bottom.

I was very glad to get out of the wind when I checked in to the Traveler’s Inn in Circle. It is the only motel in town. Right next to the motel (depicted in the background) is a giant concrete dinosaur named “Big Orville.” The late Orville Quick, a local artisan, built the dinosaur in his backyard with his grandson. Ingredients included concrete, number nine wire, poultry netting, hog rings and tie wire, 1/2″ rebar, and 2,000 lbs. of sand and gravel.

Behind the dinosaur, with an excellent view of the dinosaur’s hindquarters, is a bench dedicated to the memory of Orville and his wife Myrtle.

Here is a view from the back of the motel at sunset. I have a surprise for you about my stay there. Stay tuned–I’ll tell you all about it in my next post.